Email this page to friends About Tom Miller A former history professor, Tom Miller is a novelist and essayist. His most recent novel is Full Court Press (2000). His reviews and essays have appeared in numerous books, journals, and newspapers, including The Encyclopedia of Southern History, American History Illustrated, the Chicago Tribune, and the Des Moines Register. He also is a former Army officer and Vietnam veteran. View Tom Miller's Book Review Archives Your Two Cents Submit your stories, news items, or a benefits update -- and help Military.com bring the best, most important stories to your fellow servicemembers, veterans, and family members. Contribute here

April 18, 2005
By Tom Miller

The British are coming!

And the Canadians too.

On Saturday April 30, cadets from the British Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst (RMA) and the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC) will join their contemporaries from the four U.S. service academies (Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard) and six ROTC units from around the country in the annual international Sandhurst competition at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

The Sandhurst competition, named after RMA -- which originally proposed the competition and serves along with West Point's Department of Military Instruction as co-sponsor, is a military skills competition that aims to promote professional development and military excellence. The competition requires the nine-person teams (each team must include one woman) to navigate a six-mile course, stopping at nine sites along the way to perform a military skill. Points are awarded for overall movement time and for each of the skills. The RMA has dominated the competition recently, fielding the top-scoring squad from 1994-2004.

The RMA is represented by two teams, while the RMC and the American service academies -- except for West Point -- field one each. Each West Point company -- thirty-two in all -- fields a squad, and in an effort to end RMA dominance, the Military Academy has added a sort of all-star team selected from the entire brigade. Alas, it hasn't managed to break the British stranglehold on the competition.

Maybe this is the year, though. Cadet Lt. Dave Miller, A-4 (A Company, 4th Regiment) squad leader, points out that there are several outstanding West Point teams this year. And, Cadet Cpt. Greg Zielinski, the 4th Regiment Sandhurst Officer, notes that a West Point win is long overdue and would "bring pride to West Point, especially since we are doing this competition on our home turf."

A moment for reflection at the Start

The competition begins in the wee hours of the morning (0530) at Normandy Range 11 in the Academy's outback. Individual squads take off at ten-minute intervals throughout the day. Each team finishes hours later in front of the Commandant's house back at the Academy. In between, the squads will charge up and down mountains, wade through creeks and streams, negotiate slippery slopes, dodge huge rocks and fallen trees, and crawl through a culvert under Route 9W. And that's just the movement part.

Both Miller and Zielinski agree that movement is the most difficult part of the challenge. Zielinski notes that the addition of new requirements including an 800-meter stretcher carry will "make it very difficult for any team" to finish in the two hours required for the maximum points. He observes that in the past "very few teams achieved a maximum score on the movement time, so it will be even harder this year." Miller agrees about the additional tasks and estimates that the overall length of the course is longer this year. "It's very exerting having to stop about every mile or so and do some sort of physical event," he explains.

At each of the stations along the course, the teams perform a specific military skill, and with a maximum of 1000 points, each stop offers ways to lose points. Above all, the tasks require that team members work together to succeed. When asked the most critical factor for success, Miller says without hesitation "teamwork and precision. Teams that don't work together, communicate effectively, and help each other out end up self-destructing somewhere along the course."

Maj. David Waldron, a West Point Tactical Officer and a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom where he earned a Silver Star, seconds Miller's remarks about teamwork. Asked about the value of the competition, Maj. Waldron notes that "Any single soldier can shoot, move, and communicate with training. But if you can build a true team that can do these tasks and fight to win every time out, then that's a mark of a great junior leader."

The competition begins with an Equipment Inspection at Site 1. Each item of individual (BDU's, gas mask, M16 rifle, etc.) and team (radio, utility rope, etc.) equipment must be accounted for and in clean and serviceable condition. Points are subtracted for missing or improperly maintained items. From there, the teams run to Site 2 where they have to don and clear their gas masks within nine seconds, and run to Site 3 (nearly one mile) wearing the masks. Failure to wear the mask properly and clear in nine seconds costs additional points.

Site 3 is the Boat Movement Site, and the squads launch a RB-15 boat and paddle it through a slalom course on Long Pond. The score is based on time, and points are subtracted for failure to properly waterproof equipment like the radio, for dropping equipment into the water, or for team members falling overboard. It's not that getting wet is a big deal. After all, the team ran, sloshed, splashed, and waded through a creek to get to this point Being immortalized as the cadet who fell out of the boat: That's a big deal.

If all that running and rowing has got the team down, they'll welcome the chance to lie down at the next site (#4 -- Marksmanship). But while they get to assume a prone position, they can't relax -- or rest. First, they must disassemble and reassemble their M16's. Then, they take their places on the firing line and engage a series of targets that test teamwork, fire control, and marksmanship. Then, they're on their feet again and off to Sites 5a and 5b. Double-time.

At Site 5, the Squad Leader divides his team into two elements, one of which proceeds to the Grenade Site and the other to the Medical Site. At the Grenade Site, the selected grenadiers move through a tactical course engaging targets from various positions. Points are awarded for accuracy and proper procedure. At the Medical Site, team members are confronted with a group of battlefield casualties suffering a variety of wounds. They must triage the casualties, perform first aid, and move them away from danger. The overall problem is designed to test their proficiency in Combat Lifesaving.

River Crossing via Rope Bridge

With the "easy" stuff done, the teams then head for the River Crossing Site where they build a one-rope bridge, conduct a river crossing, dismantle the bridge and move out again. Time and proper methodology are crucial and points are subtracted for dropping weapons or equipment into the water.

Next up is the Ranger Wall -- a twelve-foot vertical wall that all team members must cross using NO equipment. And, all in less than sixty seconds. That's twelve feet, nine people, one minute, and no ladder. This requires ingenuity, agility, and precise teamwork, and it's fun to watch. (If you attend the competition and are running behind, skip the River Crossing. Don't miss the Ranger Wall. You'll thank me later.)

Once the squad has conquered (survived?) the wall, the real fun begins. The next site, #8, is Communications. That doesn't sound too difficult, but to get to the site, teams must run UP to the top of the West Point ski lift -- that's a mile uphill at an angle approaching 70 degrees. Once there and doubtless breathing hard, the teams must assemble a working radio out of a table full of spare parts -- some of which are faulty -- establish communications with headquarters, and send a Sighting Report. (This is not for the faint-hearted or anyone without four-wheel drive. My advice for you is to skip this one and head back to West Point so you can catch the day's climactic event.)

Before sending the teams scampering (staggering?) two miles downhill to their final challenge -- Site 9, the Commandant's Challenge and Finish -- there's one more little thing we haven't mentioned. Somewhere along the route -- it could come anywhere, at any time -- the teams will be stopped and confronted with the DMI (Department of Military Instruction) Commander's Challenge. That Challenge involves carrying a non-walking casualty (approximately 180 lbs.) on a litter for approximately 800 meters. With any luck, it won't be uphill, although the course has few flat surfaces.

A weary rush to the Finish

After a long downhill run from the ski lift, the teams arrive on Jefferson Road, the site of the Commandant's Challenge. Kept secret until the eve of the competition, this task is designed to challenge the squad's stamina and teamwork at a point when they are physically and mentally spent. There have been crowds of spectators at each site along the course, but Jefferson Road is lined two and three deep for this ultimate test. It is a stirring and memorable moment and a vivid reminder of the character of our young soldiers.

Miller, a four-year veteran of Sandhurst competition says that relief is the first sensation upon finishing the course. "But probably the biggest feeling," he adds, "is just the satisfaction of seeing all your hard work pay off."

Maj. Waldron notes that there is an even bigger pay off down the road. "Sandhurst is the most realistic training that West Point conducts for our officer candidates," he says. "Basic tasks such as communication, weapon qualification, first aid, and tactical movement are paramount to being a successful junior leader in combat."

4th Regiment takes the trophy for top-scoring Regiment

The last team should finish by 1730 hours, and after the results are totaled, there is an awards ceremony to announce the winners. Here is one time that an old cliché is entirely appropriate: In this competition, there are no losers.

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The 2005 Sandhurst Competition will be held at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, NY, on Saturday, April 30. The public is welcome. The competition begins at 0530 at Normandy Range 11. Teams will be sent off at approximately ten-minute intervals. The final team should finish by 1730 (5:30 p.m.). Shuttle buses will be available to transport spectators to the sites. POVs (Privately Owned Vehicles) are authorized around the sites, but all sites will not be accessible by automobile. The Awards Ceremony will be held on the steps of Washington Hall following the competition.

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