By Olga Mosiychuk
The Ranger Challenge is often referred to as the "varsity sport" of Army ROTC.
Focusing on basic infantry skills, squad-sized teams compete against other schools in the region on their abilities in things such as constructing a rope-bridge, land navigation and a 10k road march.
The competition took place last Saturday and Sunday and 22 University of Portland cadets took part.
Among the competing schools were Washington State University, University of San Francisco, University of Idaho and Pacific Lutheran University.
Senior Cadet Joe Price was the commander and compiled the competing teams - Alpha and Bravo - for the University of Portland.
Each team has 11 members, two of which are alternates and one of which has to be female.
"I am in charge of everybody," said Price, also the Alpha team captain. "I pick the teams, work out their training schedules and help them win, hopefully."
Ranger Challenge cadets train five times a week and many weekends, separate from the rest of the battalion, in order to gain the required skills for the competition.
"Cadets had to wake up at 5 a.m. for their 6 a.m. practices every morning for about 6 weeks," said Price. "This was all in preparation for this weekend-long competition".
Price stressed the importance of such rigorous training.
"You start at 5 o'clock in the morning and just go to 7 at night," he said. "It's all about endurance."
Cadets carry a 35-pound backpack and move continuously for the duration of the competition and complete many tasks.
Though physically demanding, this contest is also a mental one.
"Most people don't realize this, but Ranger Challenge is both physically and mentally tough," Price said.
Cadets are expected to exercise their land navigation skills, send out enemy activity reports, help injured individuals and make a rope bridge - they are evaluated on their skills in each of these tasks.
"All of these things are meant to enhance our performance as a team," said freshman Joel Barrett.
Along with mental tasks, cadets train for physical fitness, leadership tasks and team-building exercises.
The rope bridge challenge encompasses many aspects of ROTC training and UP's AROTC excelled in this aspect of the competition; the Alpha team won this event and the Bravo team came in 2nd.
That challenge was Price's favorite.
"We won that event," he said. "I'm all about winning."
Because the University of Portland teams were made up of many underclassmen, the cadets are confident that they will continue to improve and do better next year.
"We will build more experience over our time in college," said Freshman Cadet Private Lance Nielson, a first-time competitor, "I think that will help us earn a higher place in the Ranger Challenge."
Barrett agrees.
The University of Portland AROTC teams, Alpha and Bravo, placed 4th and 6th, respectively. Out of 9 competing teams, a squad from San Francisco won 1st place, and there was also an all-female team that finished last.
"It was a really good first-time experience," he said. "We are going to be really good next year."
To finish off the weekend, cadets had to complete a 10k march in all of their gear within 1.5 hours.
Barrett enjoyed this task and commented on the event.
"We finished with six minutes to spare," said Barrett. "It was a good feeling."
Both Nielson and Barrett look forward to next years' challenge and are proud of their accomplishments this year. Price shares similar views.
"It was a long and physical weekend," Price said. "But they all busted their butts and ended up doing a good job."
