Early Friday morning, Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, set out by platoon to take part in the Currahee Challenge, a physical fitness event.
As Soldiers from each company in the White Currahee battalion lined up in the 2-506th Inf. Regt. motor pool, Command Sgt. Maj. Justin Grieve, the senior enlisted adviser, briefed them about the challenge.
The challenge included a 1-mile run while wearing ballistic vest and pulling a light-medium tactical vehicle, followed an impromptu quiz.
Captain Evan Bruccoleri, assistant operations officer for 2-506th Inf. Regt., said the event was based off the physical fitness requirement of the “Air Assault Big Five,” the five fundamental skills set by the 101st Airborne Division.
The event was designed to help team building that will benefit the unit, Bruccoleri said.
Once the questions were answered and the truck was moved, each team ran back down to the 2-506th Inf. Regt. motor pool, where they had to navigate an obstacle while carrying a casualty.
Teams scrambled on top of a shipping container, hoisting up a medical dummy, then bringing it down on the other side. Once they completed that obstacle, the teams conducted 506 pushups and sit-ups before going to the next event.
Running down to the obstacle course near the headquarters of 101st Abn Div. Sustainment Brigade, Soldiers navigated a vault, a rope climb, and the “tough one” obstacles before choosing one Soldiers to be carried back to the starting line on the litter.
The teams finished off the event with weapons familiarization, with their lowest and highest ranking Soldier and their youngest Soldier disassembling and reassembling an M-4, M-249 and M-240.
Private Vincent Claunch, an M-249 gunner with B Company, 2-506th Inf. Regt., said the event created unit cohesion within his platoon that will better prepare them for missions they may face in the future.
“I feel pretty good. I felt like my platoon and I got along and worked together,” Claunch said. “That’s the best part of this, having a good platoon that all work together and have that same mindset and motivation.”
First Lieutenant Daniel Bryce, a plans officer for 2-506th Inf. Regt., who helped organize the event, said watching the event come together after weeks of planning is an awesome feeling.
“I’ve been in this battalion for three years,” Bryce said. “I see my old platoon out there running, I see some of my friends who are platoon sergeants and platoon leaders out there. Everyone seems to be in good spirits after this event, more than anything it seems to be a good team-building event, and everyone is having a good time.”