Maine National Guard Holds First Best Squad Competition

Related Media

140904-Z-SC231--2.jpg

AUGUSTA, ME (09/05/2014)(readMedia)-- Sixty-five Soldiers from ten different Maine Army National Guard units travelled to Bog Brook Training Facility in Gilead to compete in a series of warrior tasks that tested them both physically and mentally.

The first ever Maine National Guard Best Squad Competition organized the events to be completed during one 24 hour period, testing their capability to perform with limited rest.

Squads were evaluated based on their knowledge, stamina, teamwork and competency in each of the events, with the 251st Engineer Company (Sapper) winning overall.

The event kicked-off at noon on Wednesday with the squads working their way through the first five tasks: Land navigation, obstacle course, knot tying, medical and the written test. Nine hours later, they headed to a local high school to complete the Army Physical Fitness Test. As Wednesday night became Thursday morning, squads stayed awake working their way through the weapons systems, vehicle repair and communications. At four o'clock Thursday morning, exhausted, the Soldiers picked up their rucksacks and completed a six mile road march before they were able to finally get a few hours of well-deserved rest before the awards ceremony.

Spc. Dominic Kelley, is an infantry soldier with Company B, 3rd Battalion, 172d Infantry Division (Mountain). His squad finished third overall even though both their squad leader and another soldier were injured and sick after the second event. Looking back at the previous 24 hours, he said the event was fun, challenging and educational.

"This really challenged my level of endurance," he said. "The being up for 24 hours, it let me know what I can still accomplish on very little sleep. It helped our squad develop rapport with one another. As our team got smaller, I learned to step up a little to fill in those gaps that we needed to fill."

Staff Sgt. Joshua Way, the training noncommissioned officer for 251st Engineer Company (Sapper) that won first place, said he thought the tasks did a good job of getting them out of their comfort zone.

"Events like this make sure our soldiers are physically fit and mentally tough," said Way. "It helps us with our basic soldiering skills. All of these tasks are things we need to be able to do, and more so, it helps us bring out the camaraderie and teamwork within our squads and units."

Not only did the event help bring together the overall cohesiveness of the individual squads, but because the event was a statewide event, it helped each unit learn more about what each of the other squads and units did, and support each other throughout the event.

Kelley said that coming out to Bog Brook gave him a chance to see all his counterparts and see how they interacted.

"We all wear the same uniform, regardless of what we do, what our specialty is," said Kelley. "This event gives you a better understanding of all of the different moving parts in the army, the big picture and how we all come together for common tasks. I can be more understanding of the Sappers' role, the communications guy's role, the medical role -- All of these different players and how they fit together make us a stronger, better organization."

Way said that a lot of the tasks at the competition were things his unit may not have focused on as much in the past, but he was going to take this experience back and start back with the basics, so that they would be ready and prepared for next year.

"We are going to take back all the lessons we learned from this, and we will put more emphasis on it for next year," he said. "Sapper Company owns it now, and we aren't planning on giving it up in the years to come."

U.S. Armed Forces Command command sergeant major, Command Sgt. Maj. Scott Schroeder talked to the Maine Soldiers during the closing award ceremony.

"Readiness is our number one priority," he said. "Things like this lead to readiness. We have to be trained. The more ready and trained we are, the less we have to do when we get mobilized. You guys aren't going to wait until next year to get ready for next year's competition. You are going to go back and start getting ready at your next drill. You had a good experience in the last day, and you can't teach that. You can't get experience on a PowerPoint. You can't get experience sitting in a classroom. You have got to live it. Things like this, give you the experience, so build off of it."