The Utah Valley University ROTC Ranger Challenge team recently won first place against 13 other ROTC squads at a regional competition in Fort Collins, Colorado, followed by a next-level challenge in Texas last month, where they also took top prize against six other winning teams.
Next stop: West Point, New York, facing off against national and international-level competition.
The Army ROTC Ranger Challenge team has 11 cadets and two alternates who survived tryouts for the elite group. The UVU team — and all others in the competitions — must have a makeup of 11 students that includes two freshmen, two sophomores, two juniors, and two seniors. Additionally, at least two of the competitors are to be female.
Gwynyth Simons, UVU team captain and a rare female among Ranger team captains, is in charge of selecting members for the team, monitoring training, and utilizing the strengths of her teammates for each competition.
“As team captain, I wanted the people that committed the time to be on the team. I chose the best people who also made the time commitment,” she said. “We’ve been doing everything together for over two months, and everyone gets along really well. The amount of notes I have on my phone about who’s good at what is ridiculous. I have to keep track of everyone’s skills, and I review with my team where they feel their strengths and weaknesses are, and I take notes of all of that.”
In the first competition, the team competed in October against ROTC teams from Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado. Each team had a staggered start time, Simons said, so the cadets didn’t know their standing throughout the two days. It wasn’t until the end that the team discovered they had finished over an hour ahead of the second place team, she said.
After winning at the regional level, they competed at what is called the brigade level, in San Antonio, where they competed against other regional winners.
“The first competition was mentally and physically difficult. The second one took a lot more strategy,” team member Joshua Peles said. “Everyone on this team is self-aware. They know where they’re strong, they know where they’re weak, and there’s no pride to get in the way. If we have to switch somebody out for a reason, we do it.”
By winning in Texas, the team secured a trip to West Point in April, where they will face 65 teams.
“There are 14 international teams, and two of them are big competition from Sandhurst, in the U.K.,” Peles said. “There’s two competition teams from West Point, and they have 30 other teams that participate. Then the other service academies send a team such as the Air Force, Navy, Coast Guard, and so on.
“The only way this Cinderella story ends is with us on top. The only goal is number one in the country — or at least in the top eight.”
Team member Gilbert Burns said, “I feel like we’re that oddball team that came out of nowhere and won, and then won again, and we’re going to do really well at West Point. It just built our confidence that no one knows who we are, and we came in and dominated — it was just really cool to me.”
The UVU Army ROTC team consists of Simons, Peles, Burns, Sydney Garner, Joseph Lloyd, Josh Butikofer, Cooper Wimmer, Gilbert Burns, Travis Hall, Hyrum Ahlman, Tyler Miner, Austin Slade, and BYU cadet Ashton Winslow.
Events at each of the competitions can vary, but can include activities such as a ruck march (with 40-pound pack), which is actually an extended run; marksmanship; weapon disassembly/assembly; artillery simulation; evaluation of a casualty; hand-grenade assault course; fitness challenge; night land navigation; an academic knowledge-based test; and others.
The UVU Army ROTC has 120 cadets enrolled.
“This experience benefits every party involved,” said Wimmer. “Years from now it will be cool that I was a part of it. Winning this competition won’t influence every day, but I think that UVU winning the Ranger Challenge will always be a fantastic memory. It’s not just a win for us, it’s a win for UVU.”
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About Utah Valley University
At 39,931 students and growing, Utah Valley University is the largest public university in the state of Utah, and one of a few in the nation offering a dual-mission model that combines the rigor and richness of a first-rate teaching university with the openness and vocational programs of a community college. UVU’s unique model, which focuses on student success, engaged learning, rigorous academic programs, and faculty-mentored research, is transforming higher education by making it more affordable and accessible to students of all backgrounds.