Fayetteville, W. Va. –
Teams from all over the United States and Europe gathered for two days of a fifty-two-mile challenge that wound through the mountains of West Virginia, Oct 6-8, 2011.
There were three teams from Fort Eustis that were happy to take on the 11th Annual Wilderness Challenge, which consisted of a 5-mile run, 13 miles of white water rafting, 12 miles of mountain biking, a 7-mile "duckie" race and 15-mile hike.
"I'm extremely stoked, this is my first moral welfare and recreation event back in the states in a long time...I can't wait to start," said U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Steven Burge, from Team America Global Police.
Fitness played a role for the D Smurfs team, but they were also there to have fun.
"We're doing mountain climbers, Olympic lifting, gymnastic type movements, running on trails, picking up odd objects. This type of training will hopefully lend an advantage during this event. Being in the Marine Corp, things like this we call training. This is the first time doing this as a team for fun," said U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Juan Ospina, D Smurfs team captain.
Ospina went on to say the team's number one goal was to have fun.
"We are going to try and be competitive and win, but if we're not laughing, we're wrong," said Ospina, NCO in charge of Joint Task Force Civil Support J3 Operations.
Teamwork also played an important role in finishing the two day challenge.
"My biggest fear is the rapids, the water is pretty high and moving fast, I'm not experienced in those type of conditions," said U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer Rolando Sanchez, Team America Global Police team captain. "As long as we work together through teamwork, communication and crew coordination amongst the raft, we'll be ok."
Despite Team America Global Police's guide being thrown out of the raft during the white water rafting event, and Sanchez and his teammate U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Jason Loveday, falling out of their duckie (an inflatable canoe) the team made it through both water events safely.
"Safety was key throughout this whole event and that was awesome. It was a great challenge and I'll be back next year," said Sanchez, officer in charge of AH-64 Apache Longbow training.
The Joint Task Force Civil Support Team won third place for the Army, but they came to do more than win.
"We came out here to have fun and to finish, and we did that," said U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Michael Olness, JTFCS team member. "We came with a team of people who have never ridden mountain bikes. We came with a team of people who have never run long distances. None of us have ridden in duckies, and we had fun; so winning was never one of the biggest concerns for us. Finishing was always the biggest priority.