Army ROTC

2011 Army Ten-Miler

Fighting Saints Battalion placed first in the ROTC division at 2011 Army Ten-Miler

The Fighting Saints Battalion was once again fortunate enough to send a team to the Army Ten Miler on October 8, 2011. The team consisted of Cadets Pittman, Marschall, Charpentier, Zilka, Gjevre, Lillehaug, and Heagel from Saint John's University; Cadets Holte, Stobb, and Leyendecker from the College of Saint Benedict; and Cadets Alex DeJesus, Ramos-DeJesus, Majkrzak, and Johnson from Saint Cloud State University. When the Cadets arrived in Washington DC they were struck by the beauty of the city and its monuments, the patriotism of the people around them, and of course the highest ranking officials in the Army walking around them.

For many Cadets it was the first time they had seen a Colonel, and still rarer, a General walking towards them. On October 9^th the Cadets awoke at 4:30am in order to prepare for the race. They knew that they were going to be competitive today because they're time trials were all in the 60 minute region. As they walked to the pentagon, where the race started, they saw many other teams assembling as well and not just from the army. Finally at 8:00am the race started with cannon fire. Looking back at the people behind you was amazing because there was no end in sight. The race ran all through DC's monuments and past the Capitol.

The Fighting Saints Battalion was the overall first place team in the ROTC division with a total time of 4 hours 3 minutes and 35 seconds. CDT Gjevre came in first for The Fighting Saints Battalion team with a time of 56 minutes 32 seconds. The FSB brought home a trophy for winning their division and a travelling cup for beating all the teams out of Minnesota. The next day the teams went to the AUSA Convention and saw all the new technology that the Army is developing as well as listen to speeches given by the Secretary of the Army and Cadet Command Commanding General. Finally on Tuesday the team headed back to Minnesota to relax and prepare for the Ranger Challenge Competition.

This article was written by Cadet Matthew Lahti