Base Group M-02 competes in the sleusching event at the USASMA Olympics Friday. M-02 was the overall winner of the team-building competition. Photo Credit: Master Sgt. Cameron Porter
USASMA teams up for 'Olympics' Culminating event tests team building skills
Master Sgt. Cameron Porter USASMA Class 58
It was a competition of strength, agility, speed and skill. But more importantly, it was a competition centered on team building. About 45 teams, consisting of 15 to 16 members each, took part in the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy's Class 58 Olympics and five-mile Challenge Run Friday at Biggs Army Airfield.
The run kicked off at about 6:30 a.m. More than 220 academy students competed, with the first crossing the finish line in less than 32 minutes. Most of the other runners finished not far behind, many choosing to cross the finish line as a team or doubling back to run alongside their fellow students.
The Olympics competition, which took place at Biggs Park, began at about 9 a.m. Events included horseshoes, shot put, dizzy bat, a group relay, basketball and sleusching. Sleusching is a team event where five team members stand together on two long boards holding support ropes. By using a rhythmic cadence, teamwork and balance, the teams negotiated themselves through a short track for time. Command Sgt. Maj. Michael Huffman stood alongside the sleusching track during the competition, watching the students. As commander of A Company, Huffman witnessed just how important teamwork can be.
"The USASMA Olympics is designed to be low impact and low skill; it's more specifically for team building and for having fun," Huffman said. "It's the culminating event for the team-building exercise in Phase I (of the Sergeants Major Course). During this phase, the students learn about themselves as individuals, they learn about themselves as a team, and now they find themselves competing as a team against other teams."
Huffman said the USASMA Olympics competition, which has been a part of the academy's core curriculum for about 10 years, was recently changed from the end of the school year to the end of Phase I.
Sgt. Maj. Larry Schoppe, a student with USASMA Class 58, grunts his way through the shot put event during the USASMA Olympics Friday.
"Based off of students' comments from Class 57, I decided to move it up to the end of Phase I," Huffman said. "And the Class 57 students were right. Now that we moved it up, there is a lot more participation and a lot more enthusiasm."
Some USASMA students graduate the academy early because they are being assigned to a unit that is scheduled to deploy. Other students are overly distracted by end-of-course requirements such as dis-enrolling their children from school, out-processing Fort Bliss, clearing quarters and household goods appointments, said Huffman.
"It was the right decision," Huffman said. "In fact, we're thinking about repeating (the Olympics) at the end of the next phase - something similar - with the new small groups and possibly incorporating a chili cook-off into the events list."
Sgt. Maj. Luis Cruz, a USASMA Class 58 student, said he supports the idea of having more team-building events in the future.
"The Olympics competition was really good because it provided one more opportunity to interact with your peers outside of the classroom," said Cruz. "Every event required you to work as a team, and that is a key factor."
Cruz said the event he enjoyed most was the group relay.
"Our team came from behind and won, even though we are all short - about 5 feet, 6 inches tall," said Cruz. "And I really liked watching my base group play basketball because we only made three baskets in three minutes. It was funny at hell."
Huffman said team-building events like the Challenge Run, USASMA Olympics, Safety Day and Fall Ball are a lot of fun, but they are also used as teaching tools for the academy students.
"Hopefully the students will leave the academy and go to their units, plagiarize what we do here - the (memorandums of instruction) and sequence of events - and replicate these events at their new units," said Huffman.
These are great events for the Soldiers and their family members, Huffman said.
"I can tell they're having a lot of fun - high-fives, hugs and smiles," said Huffman. "If they're smiling, I know they're enjoying themselves."
'Olympics' Results
Challenge Run - Base Group R-10
USASMA Olympics
Overall Winner - Base Group M-02
Basketball - Base Group M-10
Group Relay - Base Group M-07
Sleusching - Base Group L-06
Dizzy Bat - Base Group M-07
Shot Put - Base Group L-08
Horseshoes - Base Group L-07