RIT Army ROTC Captures First Place in Annual 'Ranger Challenge' Competition

Note: Digital photograph available

Rochester Institute of Technology's Army ROTC Tiger Battalion, 1st Brigade, captured first place in the Ranger Challenge Competition, Eastern Region, held last month in Fort Devens, Mass. The victory marked the second consecutive year RIT earned top honors in the annual event.

RIT beat 19 other teams in the three-day contest comprised of eight events. Cadets competed in the Army physical fitness test (including push-ups, sit-ups and a two-mile run), an obstacle course, orienteering, rifle marksmanship, rope-bridge construction, timed weapons disassembly and assembly using M16 assault rifles, a 10-kilometer road march, and a written test on basic infantry skills. Cadets trained six days a week for six weeks in preparation for the grueling competition.

“Ranger Challenge is the varsity sport of Army ROTC,” says Lt. Col. Paul Hansen, RIT Army ROTC admissions officer. “It stresses individual fitness, soldier skills and teamwork. RIT was so far ahead of the competition after the first day that it was almost impossible for any other team to win the competition.”

RIT's Army ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps) is part of the university's College of Applied Science and Technology, the college of innovation.


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