2011 Best Ranger Competition

In This Issue
HON McHugh attends BRC
Video: SMA Chandler
Other Awards
Videos
Photo Gallery: Day 1
Photo Gallery: Day 2
Photo Gallery: Day 3
News
Final Standings: Complete List

Team 8 wins BRC 2011

"Best" Rangers named

by Kristin Molinaro  

   

The "super team" of Sgt. Maj. Walter Zajkowski and Master Sgt. Eric Turk are the winners of the 2011 Best Ranger Competition.

 

At an awards ceremony today at Freedom Hall, Secretary of the Army John McHugh, congratulated the teams on their accomplishment.

 

"I can't begin to express how truly impressed I was," said McHugh, who spent Sunday watching the competitors battle through the helocast and water confidence course before racing through the final buddy run. "It's truly a test of tactical, mental and technical proficiencies and those are the tools that every successful Soldier, every successful leader, has to have on the battlefield."

 

"Just qualifying for this competition says that you're among the best. But by finishing it, you are the very best," he said.

 

Zajkowski, a 2007 BRC champion, and Turk, who won last year, are the first repeat winners in more than two decades.

 

Turk is the second competitor in BRC history to win the competition back to back.

 

Sgt. Paul Scurka is the only other two-time champ, winning the competition in 1985 and 1986.

 

Team 14 of the 75th Ranger Regiment and Team 42 of the Ranger Training Brigade rounded out the top finishers.

 

Team 14's Staff Sgt. Charles Cogle and Spc. Chris Broussard were in close competition with Zajkowski and Turk leading into Sunday. But the team faltered in a series of missteps at the Darby Queen Obstacle Course which led them to finish second overall.

 

Cogle said finishing second, while an honor is bittersweet and the pair is already planning another run at the title.

 

Of the 50 teams who began the competition before dawn Friday, 31 crossed the finish line Sunday afternoon.

51

Old Guard takes the Buddy Run

 

A 3rd Infantry Regiment (Old Guard) team ushered in the end of the 2011 David E. Grange Jr. Best Ranger Competition.

 

Team 51's Capt. Hunter Southerland and Sgt. Sean McAlpine set a grueling pace in the final buddy run leading up to the finish line, crossing the 2.5 mile distance in under 16 minutes.

 

Teams from 4th Infantry Division and the 4th Ranger Training Battalion rounded out the top finishers.

Team 8's Sgt. Maj. Walter Zajkowski and Master Sgt. Eric Turk, dropped back to finish 7th despite leading in the standings going into the run.

brclogo

Final Standings    

Team 8: MSG Turk, Eric & SGM Zajkowski, Walter

First Place  

MSG Eric Turk & SGM Walter Zajkowski  

Special Operations Command

Second Place Team 14:  SSG Cogle, Charles

Second Place  

SSG Charles Cogle & SPC Chris Broussard

75th Ranger Regiment  

Third Place:  SFC Riepe, Mason

Third Place  

SFC Mason Riepe & SFC Raymond Santiago  Ranger Training Brigade

 

Secretary of the Army John McHugh attends the Best Ranger Competition and speaks at the Awards Ceremony.     

Secretary of the Army Honorable John McHugh

"I can't begin to express how truly impressed I was," said McHugh, who spent Sunday watching the competitors battle through the helocast and water confidence course before racing through the final buddy run. "It's truly a test of tactical, mental and technical proficiencies and those are the tools that every successful Soldier, every successful leader, has to have on the battlefield."


Photo Gallery:  SECARMY visits Best Ranger Competition

Video:  SMA Chandler at Todd Field      

Provided by Fort Benning TV

2011 Best Ranger Competition: SMA Visit

2011 Best Ranger Competition: SMA Visit

Click here to watch all of Fort Benning TV's Best Ranger Competition Videos 

 

 

Richard A. Leandri Award

Staff Sgt. Raymond Santiago and Sgt. 1st Class Mason Riepe, of the Ranger Training Brigade received the Leandri Award for being the best night orienteering team.



Capt. Russell B. Rippetoe Trophy

Capt. Russell B. Rippetoe Trophy is awarded to 3rd Infantry Regiment's (Old Guard) Capt. Hunter Southerland and Sgt. Sean McAlpine for being the top team in the road marching event.

 

Best Ranger Competition Videos | Fort Benning TV 

Day 1 Buddy Run/Foot March

Day 1 Buddy Run/Foot March

Start of 12 Mile Foot March

Start of 12 Mile Foot March

 

Canoe

Canoe

Malone Ranges 15 & 5

Malone Ranges 15 & 5

 

Urban Obstacle Course

Urban Obstacle Course

 

Day One Orienteering

Day One Orienteering

Team 35, Ranger Medics Lane

Team 35, Ranger Medics Lane

Team 41 Day 2, Stress shoot

Team 41 Day 2, Stress shoot

 

Team 29, Day 3, Darby Queen

Team 29, Day 3, Darby Queen

Finish Line, Day 3

Finish Line, Day 3

 

   Click here to watch all of Fort Benning TV's Best Ranger Competition Videos 

Day 1 Photo Gallery

Photo Gallery:  Day 1 | click here for more photos 

Day 2 Photo Gallery

Photo Gallery:  Day 2 | Click here for more photos

Darby Queen

Photo Gallery:  Day 3 | Click here for more photos 

Best Ranger Competition News  

Final Standings 

 

4.    SFC Greenwood, William - SSG Pasciak, John - 75th Ranger Regiment

 

5.    SSG Santo, Jason - SGT Isenberg, John - 75th Ranger Regiment

 

6.    SFC Boesch, David - SSG Payne, Thomas - USASOC

 

7.    1LT Goodman, Thomas - SSG Achee, Bryan - 4th Infantry Division

 

8.    SFC Higley, Jerry - SFC Wise, Derek - Ranger Training Brigade

 

9.    MSGT Newman, Jamie - SFC Biltz, Jonathon - Ranger Training Brigade

 

10.    CPT Lokker, Nathan - SFC Kaluzny, Conrad - 198th Infantry Brigade   

 

11.    MSG Carter, Robert - SFC West, Thomas - Ranger Training Brigade   

 

12.    CPT Southerland, Hunter - SGT McAlpine, Sean - 3rd Infantry Regiment (Old Guard)

 

13.    MAJ Arntson, Edward - SFC Rhoten, John  - 3rd Infantry Regiment (Old Guard)

 

14.    CPT Waters, Randal - CPT Norton, Jonathan - Ranger Training Brigade

 

15.    1LT Fender, Nicholas - 1LT Gorczynski, Joshua - 1st Infantry Division

 

16.    CPT Strathman, Daniel - SFC Allen, Robert25th Infantry Division

 

17.    CPT Seidel, Zachary - 1LT Latsha, Brett - 25th Infantry Division

 

18.    CPT Cox, Timothy - SSG White, David - 75th Ranger Regiment

 

19.    CPT Hunsucker, Joshua - CPT Ackerson, Steven - 1st Infantry Division

 

20.    1SG Pentz, Joshua - SFC O'Donnell, Russell - Ranger Training Brigade

 

21.    CPT Rhynedance, George - 1LT Werner, Kevin - 4th Infantry Division

 

22.    SSG Merriken, Kanaan - SSG Zosel, Matthew - 75th Ranger Regiment

 

23.    1LT Franklin, Benjamin - SGT Rolfes, Joshua - 4th Infantry Division

 

24.    SGT Hartnett, Peter - SGT Henry, Christian - 75th Ranger Regiment

 

25.    CPT Herbek, Michael - 1LT Boudreau, Travis - 1st Armored Division

 

26.    SPC Journeycake, Jeffery - SPC Cruz, Cristobal -  75th Ranger Regiment

 

27.    SFC Graves, Brett - SFC King, Cedric - 82nd Airborne Division

 

28.    CPT Stavros, Nicholas - CPT Mulkey, Robert - 25th Infantry Division

 

29.    CPT Tran, Thang - CPT Luth, Michael  - 4th Infantry Division

 

30.    MAJ Bush, Aaron - MAJ Furman, Reid - 1st Special Warfare Training Group

 

31.    Crowe, Steven - SFC Kirchofner, Dustin - 5th Special Forces Group

 

Not Ranked:  SFC Pena, Oracio - SGT Whitehead, Eric  - 3rd Infantry Division

 

Not Ranked:   MSG Schoch, Joseph - MSG Peterson, George - Asymetric Warfare Group

 

Not Ranked:   SSG Cardona, Harold - SSG Teter, William  - 7th Special Forces Group

 

Not Ranked:  SFC Anderson, James - SGT Del Rosario, Warsaw  - 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment  

 

Not Ranked:   MAJ Holmstrom, Ken - SFC Hill, Robert   - 1st Special Warfare Training Group

 

Not Ranked:  CPT Aguilar, Anthony - SSG Reidelbach, John  - 1st Special Forces Group

 

Not Ranked:  CPT Commons, Austin - CPT Hitzner, Michael  - 1st Cavalry Division

 

Not Ranked:  SFC Hoffnagle, Robert - SGT Sanford, Adam  - National Guard

 

Not Ranked:   SSG Fraley, Kenneth - SSG Vicker, Jacques   - National Guard

 

Not Ranked:   1LT Burns,  Andrew - SSG Madiar, Matthew   - National Guard

 

Not Ranked:  CPT Burkey, Glenn - 1LT Malcolm, Aaron  - 199th Infantry Brigade

 

Not Ranked:  CPT Boston, James - CPT Robinson, Andrew - 199th Infantry Brigade

 

Not Ranked:  SFC Pickens, Michael - SSG Nastari, Christopher - 1st Armored Division

 

Not Ranked:   SSG Waggoner, Jeremiah - SGT Morgan, Jonathan - 82nd Airborne Division

 

Not Ranked:  1LT Basher, Victor - CPL Tuttle, Tyson - 82nd Airborne Division

 

Not Ranked:  SGT Radford, Jackie - CPL Bell, Eric - 82nd Airborne Division

 

Not Ranked:  1LT Pothin, Shaun - CPT Johnson, Christopher - 1st Infantry Division

 

Not Ranked:  SSG Gomez, Francisco - SSG Skaggs, Kyle - Ranger Training Brigade

 

Not Ranked:  SFC Benjamin, Jason - SFC Benjamin, Jerrad  - Ranger Training Brigade