1st Lt. Daniel Butensky and Sgt. Elisco Guzman, 299th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, approach the finish line after completing the 15-mile ruck march in subfreezing temperatures during the Fort Carson Best Sapper Competition Dec. 7, 2017. (Photo by Sgt. Micah Merrill)
By Sgt. Micah Merrill
14th Public Affairs Detachment
Six teams traveled more than 40 miles in under 40 hours while competing in a variety of events, pushing them to their mental and physical breaking point during the Fort Carson Best Sapper Competition Dec. 6-7, 2017.
The teams consisting of a mix of officers and enlisted members were selected to represent their units in the postwide competition based on their competence in combat.
To simulate real-life situations faced by combat engineers, overall competition events remained unknown to the competitors, according to Maj. Daniel Brady, the 4th Infantry Division engineer.
“Teams will receive the task, condition and standards prior to accomplishing each event,” said Brady.
1st Lt. Eric Perez, engineer officer with the 588th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, cuts through metal with a Broco torch in subfreezing temperatures during the Best Sapper Competition Dec. 6, 2017. (Photo by Sgt. Micah Merrill)
The competition of both technical and tactical events included a test of all knots and rope systems in the sapper handbook, construction of a poncho raft, swimming and treading water in uniform, 15-mile road march, demolitions exam, nonstandard physical fitness test, obstacle course, breaching with a shotgun and explosives and building and detonating field expedient charges.
“The learning experience here is worth it, and (it is) excellent training,” said Staff Sgt. Joshua Reninger, a competitor with 4th Engineer Battalion.
One of the most physically demanding events is the ruck march. With competitors more than 14 hours into the competition and their rucks weighing 40 pounds or more, each hour made the weight seem heavier. Although teams carry their rucks with them to each event throughout the competition, the 15-mile ruck march would prove to be the most daunting. Temperatures, already below freezing, continued to drop as the sun set behind the mountain range leaving some competitors with frozen canteens. Nearing the midpoint of the competition, exhaustion was visible on the faces of Fort Carson’s toughest engineers.
“Their feet are bleeding, and they’re still going,” Brady said.
1st Lts. Eric Krueger and Eric Perez, engineer officers assigned to 588th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, plot and plan their route points during the land navigation portion of the Fort Carson Best Sapper Competition Dec. 7, 2017. Krueger and Perez won the best sapper title during the 36-hour competition. (Photo by Sgt. Micah Merrill)
Medical personnel were present and evaluating competitors to ensure their safety.
The competitors arrived at the next station near midnight, knowing their time to prepare would be short. Within three hours, in single-digit temperatures, they began the night land navigation course that would be completed just after sunrise.
The sun came up as the clock ticked down on competitors breaching obstacles while carrying a manikin, and building and detonating field expedient charges.
Their final event would take them back 15 miles to the finish line near where the competition began 36 hours earlier.
With members of their units cheering them on, 1st Lts. Eric Perez and Eric Krueger, 588th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Inf. Div., sprinted across the finish line to win the Best Sapper title, followed closely by 1st Lt. Daniel Butensky and Sgt. Elisco Guzman, 299th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team.
Sgt. Eric Guzman, an engineer assigned to 299th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, maneuvers through the obstacle course portion of the Fort Carson Best Sapper Competition Dec. 7, 2017. (Photo by Sgt. Micah Merrill)
“These guys were already hurting before they started this run,” said Sgt. 1st Class Collette Jarvis, 4th Inf. Div. construction operations noncommissioned officer. “They’ve got a lot of heart.”
1st Lt. Daniel Butensky, engineer officer with the 588th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, uses a Broco torch to cut through metal during the Best Sapper Competition Dec. 6, 2017. (Photo by Sgt. Micah Merrill)