Loyola/Towson ROTC Ranger Challenge Team takes second place at Ft. Bragg,N.C. competition

The Loyola/Towson ROTC Ranger Challenge Team traveled to Ft. Bragg, N.C. from Oct. 22-26, 2009 to compete against the 38 other teams in the 4th Brigade.

The team consists of 11 members from both organizations. Representing Loyola were Cadets Christel Sacco, Meghan Clark, Joanna Pultro, Ben Goeller, and Nolan Dunn. Cadets Cody Inman (Team Captain), Matthew Miller, Chris McIntire, Neal Murray, Henry Hensley, and Brent Zimmerman represented Towson University.

The team finished second of 19 in their division, edged out only by the University of Maryland, College Park, and seventh of the total 39 teams competing.

The competition is composed of eight events to test the physical, mental, technical and tactical proficiency of the nine competing cadets.

Events included an Army Physical Fitness Test, day and night time land navigation, one-rope bridge construction and crossing, basic rifle marksmanship, a hand grenade assault course, a written land navigation exam, and finally, a ten kilometer weighted ruck march. The team placed third in the APFT, first in the rope bridge, third in the written land nav exam, and second in the 10 kilometer ruck march.

"Training and competing is different every year; but this was a completely different location with new events that we had never attempted before, and so many other schools… it was intense, and more mentally challenging than anything," Christel Sacco said. She is one of three females to train with the team, and a three-year veteran of the competition, which is traditionally dominated by male cadets.

The team traveled to Ft. Bragg on Thursday and competition began on Friday morning. The first event was the APFT, in which cadets are tested on their muscular endurance by a measure of how many push-ups and sit-ups can be correctly performed in a two-minute period, followed by a timed two-mile run. The team average in this event was 304, exceeding the 300-point maximum.

Day and night time land navigation were the second and third events. The team was broken into two to three person groups with the captain working alone during the day. The groups were sent into the woods with no more than maps and compasses, and forced to utilize skills learned in their training to locate designated points with little room for error.

Next was the one-rope bridge construction which was conducted using a single 150-foot rope with each team member having one nine-foot rope and a carabineer, which cadets used to make a harness. The bridge and harnesses were constructed following strict guidelines and standards. All nine members were able to cross the 52-foot gap in a little more than three minutes.

The basic rifle marksmanship was third, with hand grenade assault portions of the competition following. Here cadets demonstrated their technical and tactical expertise with the M16/A2 rifle and M69 hand grenades.

The Greyhounds showed proficiency taking first in basic marksmanship and running the 300-meter grenade assault course in three minutes and 30 seconds with all targets destroyed.

A written land navigation exam was given next, allowing the team time to catch their breath. In this event cadets were given 45 minutes to demonstrate their precision of land navigation techniques using a map, compass, and common military protractor. Attention to detail and focus paid off in this event placing the Greyhounds in the top ten percent overall and third in the division.

For the final event, the Greyhounds demonstrated physical and mental stamina in the 10-kilometer ruck march.

The event required each cadet to travel 6.2 miles with a ruck sack weighing a minimum of 35 pounds and an M16/A1 rifle, as well as standard uniform equipment. The Greyhounds demonstrated their raw intensity by covering the adverse terrain in 1 hour and 26 minutes, placing the Greyhounds third overall and second in the division only minutes behind the first place teams.

These Cadets are trained anywhere between five to six days a week in preparation for the competition, waking up every morning for physical training from 6:00 a.m. to 7:30 a.m.

In addition to preparing for the competition, cadets continue to excel in their academics and extracurricular activities at their respective institutions.

Cadet Meghan Clark, the only freshman cadet on the team, said, "This competition is a great experience for all of us, and I'm excited to be able to represent the program, and its underclassmen. I can't wait for next year."

Clark also represented the team during the awards ceremony as the guidon bearer. In doing so, she was able to represent Loyola in front of hundreds of other cadets and cadre.

For their outstanding effort and results, the Greyhound Battalion Ranger Challenge team is to be congratulated for their participation in the 2009 Ranger Challenge Competition.