Campus Connection

A UWL Eagle ROTC Battalion Ranger Challenge team has earned second place at the 3rd ROTC Brigade’s Ranger Challenge. The nine-cadet team competed against the top five schools that had won their regional competition. The 3rd ROTC Brigade covers 41 universities from a nine-state region. The Nov. 4-6 competition at Fort McCoy near Sparta was the first time that UWL advanced to the Brigade-level competition in recent history. The competition consisted of 10 physically and mentally grueling events, beginning with marksmanship skill tests on Friday morning and ending Sunday morning with a physical fitness test and two obstacle courses. Between events, cadets took a written exam, performed day and night land navigation, completed an eight-mile ruck march, finished a medical challenge, and built a one-rope bridge. Similar to the regional competition that the Eagle Battalion won in October, the cadets dedicated a tremendous amount of work and effort preparing for the competition, says LTC Jane E. Brannan, chair of the UWL Military Science Department. Cadets in the competition left with a variety of skills to apply in their future military careers. The Eagle Battalion includes cadets from UW-La Crosse, Viterbo University, Winona State University and St. Mary's University of Minnesota.