Fort Bliss Monitor

MPs compete to enter 2004 Warfighter Team Challenge IX

SPC. STEVE BAACK
MONITOR STAFF

Every year, military police Soldiers from all over the Army compete against each other in hopes of having the opportunity to participate in the MP Warfighter Team Challenge at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. Last year, not all of the MPs had the chance to compete due to 978th MP Company’s deployment to Iraq.

From July 12 to 14, MPs from the 16th MP Detachment, 72nd MP Det. and the 978th MP Co. participated in seven different phases during the three-day event: the Army Physical Fitness Test, battle drills, a 12-mile road march, common task training skills, rope climbing, a weapons competition and a written examination.

The winners - Sgt. Hamid Conteh, Spc. Michael Wirth and Spc. Edward Vivier, all of the 978th MP Co – will represent Fort Bliss in the 2004 Warfighter Team Challenge IX during the 64th Military Police Corps Anniversary from Sept. 16 to 25.

“Traditionally there’s been about 35 to 40 teams at Fort Leonard Wood from around the world to compete,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Dorsey Newcomb, sergeant major for the 76th MP Battalion. “We conduct our competition to identify individuals, put them together to make teams, and for the next two months, that’s all they’ll do for 6 days a week is train for the competition.”

“A lot of the events are physically motivated – the road march, the obstacle course, the PT test, the land navigation course,” said Newcomb. “Then the second part of that is that they are mentally challenged because usually at the end of a physically strenuous event, they place something like a written test or CTT, where by now, they’ve got to think about performing a task like weapons assembly or a written exam.”

The competition started with the APFT at 5 a.m., Monday with sit-ups and pushups. Instead of running two miles around the German Track, Soldiers were sent to the base of McKelligon Canyon to run two miles up hill. During the actual event at Fort Leonard Wood, teams will have one Soldier perform part of the APFT and the other Soldiers perform the other parts.

After the test, the MPs participated in battle drills at Biggs Army Airfield. The first drill tested teams comprising three Soldiers to dismount a MK 19 grenade machine gun from a Humvee, and place and set up the MK 19 on a tripod away from the vehicle.

“In some places you’re going to have to leave the vehicle stationary and move to a covered position, but you can’t drive your vehicle because the vehicle will be seen by the enemy,” said 1st Sgt. Jeffrey Bishop. “So you dismount and take the weapon system up to a high point so you have less visibility to the enemy. Oftentimes you’d have to move that weapon system farther away from the vehicles.”

“It’s a little harder than what it looks like,” said Pfc. Leo Arce, 978th MP Co. “When I was watching it from the tapes, it looked pretty simple, but when you’re actually out here, it’s a lot harder than what it looks like. You get tired real fast. If anybody’s looking for a challenge, this is what to do. It’s challenged me in quite a few ways. It’s challenged me with all the things I’ve learned in the past from Basic Training to Iraq. It challenges your endurance as well as how well you can handle the pressure.”

The second battle drill had teams setting up an OE254 communication antenna. Soldiers were required to set it up as fast as possible in order to attain a good commo check in this timed event.

The next day, competitors woke up early again – this time, for the 12-mile road march at Biggs Army Airfield. During the timed event, each MP wore a Kevlar, load-bearing vest, carried a dummy rifle and was weighed down with a 35-pound sand bag inside the back of a ruck sack. The noncommissioned officers competed against each other, while the specialists and below competed against each other. Immediately afterward, with just enough time to take off their gear and drink water, Soldiers attempted the rope climb.

CTT testing was next, in which each Soldier tested on a total of 13 tasks, covering four different areas: land navigation, first aid, weapons and equipment maintenance, and nuclear, biological and chemical.

During the last day, Soldiers competed at McGregor Range using M9 pistols and M4 weapon systems. The competitors fired 20 round at 25 meters and only received points when they hit the targeted areas. The final task for the competition was the written exam. The test was 40 questions, consisting of training, counseling, weapons, map reading, corps history, leadership, etc.

“As a team, you just have to stay on top of the game,” said Sgt. Andre Johnson, 978th MP Co., 1st platoon. “As a team leader, you have to motivate your team no matter how much they feel that they’re in pain. You have to motivate them because the rewards are yet to come. There’s a lot of esprit de corps from all the different MP units [at the competition in Fort Leonard Wood]. A lot of times, you run into friends you went to Basic Training with, so that’s a reward.”



www.bliss.army.mil	Published for the Fort Bliss/El Paso, Texas Community	July 22, 2004

<map name="boxmap-b4"> <area shape="rect" coords="0, 589, 120, 600" href="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm/privacy-policy.html?o=1" > <area coords="0,0,10000,10000" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=&creative=92501&camp=8117&link_code=dl1&path=subst/misc/amazon-cobrand-cc/v3/marketing-from-associates-step1.html/ref%3Db1_assoc_29" > </map>	MPs compete to enter 2004 Warfighter Team Challenge IX SPC. STEVE BAACK MONITOR STAFF Every year, military police Soldiers from all over the Army compete against each other in hopes of having the opportunity to participate in the MP Warfighter Team Challenge at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. Last year, not all of the MPs had the chance to compete due to 978th MP Company’s deployment to Iraq. From July 12 to 14, MPs from the 16th MP Detachment, 72nd MP Det. and the 978th MP Co. participated in seven different phases during the three-day event: the Army Physical Fitness Test, battle drills, a 12-mile road march, common task training skills, rope climbing, a weapons competition and a written examination. The winners - Sgt. Hamid Conteh, Spc. Michael Wirth and Spc. Edward Vivier, all of the 978th MP Co – will represent Fort Bliss in the 2004 Warfighter Team Challenge IX during the 64th Military Police Corps Anniversary from Sept. 16 to 25. “Traditionally there’s been about 35 to 40 teams at Fort Leonard Wood from around the world to compete,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Dorsey Newcomb, sergeant major for the 76th MP Battalion. “We conduct our competition to identify individuals, put them together to make teams, and for the next two months, that’s all they’ll do for 6 days a week is train for the competition.” “A lot of the events are physically motivated – the road march, the obstacle course, the PT test, the land navigation course,” said Newcomb. “Then the second part of that is that they are mentally challenged because usually at the end of a physically strenuous event, they place something like a written test or CTT, where by now, they’ve got to think about performing a task like weapons assembly or a written exam.” The competition started with the APFT at 5 a.m., Monday with sit-ups and pushups. Instead of running two miles around the German Track, Soldiers were sent to the base of McKelligon Canyon to run two miles up hill. During the actual event at Fort Leonard Wood, teams will have one Soldier perform part of the APFT and the other Soldiers perform the other parts. After the test, the MPs participated in battle drills at Biggs Army Airfield. The first drill tested teams comprising three Soldiers to dismount a MK 19 grenade machine gun from a Humvee, and place and set up the MK 19 on a tripod away from the vehicle. “In some places you’re going to have to leave the vehicle stationary and move to a covered position, but you can’t drive your vehicle because the vehicle will be seen by the enemy,” said 1st Sgt. Jeffrey Bishop. “So you dismount and take the weapon system up to a high point so you have less visibility to the enemy. Oftentimes you’d have to move that weapon system farther away from the vehicles.” “It’s a little harder than what it looks like,” said Pfc. Leo Arce, 978th MP Co. “When I was watching it from the tapes, it looked pretty simple, but when you’re actually out here, it’s a lot harder than what it looks like. You get tired real fast. If anybody’s looking for a challenge, this is what to do. It’s challenged me in quite a few ways. It’s challenged me with all the things I’ve learned in the past from Basic Training to Iraq. It challenges your endurance as well as how well you can handle the pressure.” The second battle drill had teams setting up an OE254 communication antenna. Soldiers were required to set it up as fast as possible in order to attain a good commo check in this timed event. The next day, competitors woke up early again – this time, for the 12-mile road march at Biggs Army Airfield. During the timed event, each MP wore a Kevlar, load-bearing vest, carried a dummy rifle and was weighed down with a 35-pound sand bag inside the back of a ruck sack. The noncommissioned officers competed against each other, while the specialists and below competed against each other. Immediately afterward, with just enough time to take off their gear and drink water, Soldiers attempted the rope climb. CTT testing was next, in which each Soldier tested on a total of 13 tasks, covering four different areas: land navigation, first aid, weapons and equipment maintenance, and nuclear, biological and chemical. During the last day, Soldiers competed at McGregor Range using M9 pistols and M4 weapon systems. The competitors fired 20 round at 25 meters and only received points when they hit the targeted areas. The final task for the competition was the written exam. The test was 40 questions, consisting of training, counseling, weapons, map reading, corps history, leadership, etc. “As a team, you just have to stay on top of the game,” said Sgt. Andre Johnson, 978th MP Co., 1st platoon. “As a team leader, you have to motivate your team no matter how much they feel that they’re in pain. You have to motivate them because the rewards are yet to come. There’s a lot of esprit de corps from all the different MP units [at the competition in Fort Leonard Wood]. A lot of times, you run into friends you went to Basic Training with, so that’s a reward.”