Commander ’ s
Commander ’ s
TROPHY
CO 1RAR LTCOL Jason Groat ’ s last task before leaving the Battalion was to accept the Commander ’ s Trophy from DCOMD 3Bde LTCOL James Smith ( right ) at the end of the Brigade Athletics Carnival
ENDURANCE and persistence were the hallmarks of 1RAR ’ s domination of the Commander ’ s Trophy in 2016 . Each of the Brigade ’ s three infantry battalions managed two wins in the eight disciplines contested during the year . The 2nd Battalion won the shooting and the cross country events , 3RAR won handsomely in the obstacle course and cross country , and 1RAR won the orienteering and the Pozieres Challenge . But when 1RAR wasn ’ t winning , it was running second , the only exception being the swimming when it sank like a stone to finish in fifth place in the Brigade and sixth place in the carnival ( all the Brigade units were trounced by 10FSB in the pool ). With 100 points awarded for each win , it meant 1RAR knew a long way from the finish line it was going to win . CO 1RAR LTCOL Jason Groat was all smiles at the Brigade Athletics carnival , probably because with his Battalion being 90pts clear of nearest rivals 3RAR and 110 pts clear of 2RAR even before the first race , he knew he would be collecting the Commander ’ s Trophy at the end of the night . As it turned out 1RAR increased its lead and finished with 710pts ( from a possible 800 ), ahead of 2RAR 580pts and 3RAR 560pts . While 2RAR won the opening event - the shooting - to go to an early lead , 1RAR caught them after the obstacle course , then went to the front with their third consecutive second place in the cross country .
There followed orienteering and the Pozieres challenge both won by 1RAR and the horse had bolted ... ( sorry , Seppy ). The RSMs ’ military skills competition and the swimming and athletics carnivals were the remaining events . The Commander ’ s Trophy has , under the guidance of COMD 3Bde BRIG Chris Field , grown from the original four events - shooting , orienteering , cross country and obstacle course - to include a more representative cross-section of skills required throughout the Army . It is expected the newlyintroduced convention of presenting the Commander ’ s Trophy at the end of the last event of the year - the athletics carnival - will become tradition .
The 1RAR orienteering team ( from left ) PTE Zac Cavanaugh , PTE Kelvin Hagley , PTE Johnathan Bean , PTE Adam Greening , with OIC of the event LT Nathan Lee ( 3RAR )
Problem-solving during the RSMs ’ Military Skills Competition , 1RAR soldiers prepare to fl ip a zodiac in the pool
FEBRUARY 2017 | 107