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About this video:
THE DARBY QUEEN
26 obstacles spread over 2,000 meters make this one of the most difficult obstacle courses known to man.
Yesterday, Team 21 Sergeants First Class Malchow and Collins, set the standard at Krilling Range on the second stress shoot of the competition. At sunset, the remaining 26 Ranger teams prepare to set out on the night orienteering course, knowing that daybreak would bring them face to face with the Darby Queen.
Day 3. Camp Darby: the finish line to the night orienteering event. It’s dawn and after 12 hours under a 75-pound pack in search of 25 weigh points on a map and nearly 34 miles on their feet, the Ranger teams arrive at Camp Darby.
Sergeant Major E. Solderholm: We’ll see how our points stack up against the first-place team. Hopefully, we got 'em. I don’t know though, they’re pretty tough.
Team 6, still in first place, is anxious to power through the final day.
MSG Eric Turk: One more event down, bring on the Darby Queen.
This is considered one of the most difficult obstacle courses in the U.S. military. It is one mile long and has 26 obstacles with names like “The Tough One,” “The Weaver,” and “The Dirty Name.” The task, conditions and standards for the Darby Queen are as follows: The Ranger buddy teams must stay together at all times. They must clear each obstacle together. If they do not complete an obstacle, a six-minute penalty will be added to their total time. The fastest time wins.
Sergeant First Class Chad Stackpole: Team 17 is getting ready to execute the course here. They’re one of the teams that I’ve trained throughout this year’s competition. They are currently in 15th place after last night’s orienteering. Right now they’re basically, they’re not so much in survival mode, they can make up a couple spots here. If they could go ahead and maintain on the obstacles and execute every one of them without having any deficiencies. A lot of these teams are coming through here and after walking all night aren’t gonna have any energy and they’re pulling off 30-minute times on the Darby Queen. If these guys are anywhere below the 25-, 26-minute mark, respectably, they’ll do pretty well against the field based off how everyone feels right now.
Sergeant First Class James Anderson: Twenty-seven years this has been going on, you know it’s a small amount of people that finish and to be one of those people it’s…you can’t get anything better than that. Being a Ranger is just, as a whole, it’s a mindset. In Ranger school, you learn about yourself and you learn about how you can overcome being tired and being hungry and still complete a mission. Living the Ranger creed, by living that every day, you know when you’re out doing your job that you can go further and faster. Wearing a Ranger tab and being a Ranger and living it is, you never quit. You just go until the mission is complete.
Stackpole: It’s something to come in here and to fall and take an injury like that, he’s not gonna let it bother him. He knows right now it’s nothing more than a gut check. Being a Ranger, just, never quit. Never give up and continue to drive.
Anderson: You gotta do what you gotta do to finish with the mission.
The final three teams are on course. Team 7, Sergeants Major Moran and Solderholm are in third place with only four events to make a move on the leaders, they are in it to win it. Sergeant Major Moran, the 1999 winner of the Best Ranger, knows it will take everything they have to pull it off.
Sergeant Major James Moran: Fourth place in the Queen, that’s not bad for a couple old Sergeant Majors. We’ve got the swim next, cool us down a little bit.
Team 5, Master Sergeant Quaint and Staff Sergeant Sanke, in second place, have been at the heels of the leaders since the start of the competition 51 hours ago. With 26 obstacles and a mile of hills ahead of them, they’re reaching deep for whatever it will take to overcome Team 6. Master Sergeants Turk and Ross understand that until you cross the final finish line, eight hours from now, nothing is given or guaranteed. At any time, you can twist an ankle, submit to the heat or succumb to the relentless pace. Turk and Ross are turning in a blistering time on the Darby Queen, posting the second fastest time behind Team 21, Malchow and Collins. Team 6 is able to hold off the other teams for now.
Up next, with all your equipment jump from a Blackhawk: the Helocast.
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SEE WHAT THEY'RE UP AGAINST
THE BUDDY RUN
Without knowing the course length, teams set out at dawn on this 7.2-mile trek.
THE DARBY QUEEN
26 obstacles spread over 2,000 meters make this one of the most difficult obstacle courses known to man.
MACHINE GUN RANGE
Using different weapons, teams must engage several targets while making sure they don't misfire.
STRESS SHOOT
Teams sprint to different shoot points where their firing skills are tested using different weapons.
WEAPONS ASSEMBLY
Teams will be timed as they try to assemble weapons from various mixed parts.
ADMINISTER IV
Under stressful conditions, soldiers will be required to administer emergency care.
TRI-TOWER CHALLENGE
Three massive towers that competitors will attempt to climb, then rappel down using fast-rope techniques.
HELOCAST-SWIM
Teams must jump from moving helicopters into Victory Pond, then compete in a swim event.
MEET THE COMPETITION
Team 1
SFC Mark Breyak / SFC Steven Fields
JFK Special Warfare School & Center NCOA
Team 3
MSG Joshua King / CPT Kevin Toth
5th Special Forces Group (Airborne)
Team 5
SSG George Sankey / MSG Kevin Quant
US Special Operations Command
Team 6
MSG Eric Ross / MSG Eric Turk
US Special Operations Command
Team 7
SGM Evert Solderholm / SGM James Moran
US Special Operations Command
Team 8
LTC Thomas Foster, COL Argo
US Special Operations Command
Team 9
SGT Anthony Vasquez, SSG Keith Back
3rd Infantry Division
Team 10
SSG Danny Shedd, SSG Warren Cash
3rd Infantry Division
Team 11
SSG Brett Graves, SSG Joshua Sullivan
82nd Airborne Division
Team 12
SSG Jeremiah Waggoner, SSG Bernado Mota
Team 14
SGT William Cole / 1LT Lauren Gore
1st Infantry Division
Team 15
SSG Raymon Santiago / SFC Mason Riepe
4th Ranger Training Battalion
Team 16
CPT Jeremy Shute / SFC Jared Sarten
4th Ranger Training Battalion
Team 17
SFC Larry Forrest / SFC James Anderson
4th Ranger Training Battalion
Team 18
CPT Andrew Smith / CPT Aaron Chonko
5th Ranger Training Battalion
Team 19
SSG Thomas West / SFC Jose Magana
6th Ranger Training Battalion
Team 20
SSG Kyle Skaggs / SSG Michael Ayotte
6th Ranger Training Battalion
Team 21
SGT Michael Malchow / SGT Jesse Collins
75th Ranger Regiment
Team 22
SFC William Greenwood / SFC Gerald McKinney
75th Ranger Regiment
Team 23
Eugene Mirador / SGT Jeremy Billings
75th Ranger Regiment
Team 24
SFC Brett Johnson / SSG Joshua Horsager
75th Ranger Regiment
Team 25
SSG Charles Cogle / SGT Frank Horbay
Team 26
SPC Cristob Cruz / SSG Wilton Gleaton
75th Ranger Regiment
Team 27
CPT Adam Patten / CPT Darrell Fawley
Team 28
CPT Sean Justi / MAJ Robert Risdon
199th Infantry Brigade
Team 29
CPT Ashton Ballesteros / CPT Luke Bandl
199th Infantry Brigade
Team 30
SSG Rommel Hurtado / SFC Cedric King
199th Infantry Brigade
Team 31
SSG Mark Taylor / CPT John Intile
199th Infantry Brigade
Team 32
CPT James Lostroscio / CPT Eric Schmitz
199th Infantry Brigade
Team 33
CPT Joseph DeChauny / 1LT Kevin Alger
199th Infantry Brigade
Team 34
CPT Mark Breugem / CPT Owen Broom
199th Infantry Brigade
Team 36
MSG David Roels / MSG Joseph Schoch
Asymmetric Warfare Group
Team 37
CPT Derrick Anderson / SSG Christopher Malone
3rd Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard)
Team 38
1LT Daniel Norwood / MSgt Michael Miller
USAF 820th SFG
Team 39
SFC Vernon Kenworthy / SFC Justin Brekken
3rd Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard)
Team 40
CPT Christopher Ahlemeyer / SSG Robert Tobin
Rhode Island Army National Guard
Team 41
1SG Kevin Dylus / CPT Robert May
North Carolina Army National Guard
Team 42
SFC Robert Hoffnagle / MAJ Jamison Kirby
Army National Guard Warrior Training Center
Team 44
1LT Matthew Schachman / CPT John Campbell
25th Infantry Division
Team 45
MAJ Ryan Hanson / SFC Keith Bishop
95th Civil Affairs Brigade
