by S.L. Standifird
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. - Before the sun could rise above the peaks of the surrounding Ozarks and the Mark Twain National Forest, the son of a Great Bend couple was marching through heavy rain, over harsh terrain, while avoiding relentless bugs, and battling fatigue to complete the 2011 Military Police Corps Regiment Worldwide Warfighter Competition.
Army Reserve Spec. Scott A. Stein, son of Alan E. and Cindy S. Stein of Great Bend, is a military policeman with 346th Military Police Company, Fort Riley, who endured the competition with his teammates to finish 30th overall.
The Warfighter Competition is a three-and-a-half-day marathon of military police and Army skills designed to test and train the junior soldiers within the Military Police Corps Regiment. Each military police battalion in the Army is represented, often after having a competition of its own to determine which three soldiers will represent the battalion.
“My team leader was chosen, and then he chose me,” said Stein, a 2005 Great Bend High School graduate. “We trained for this for five months.”
The warfighter events included a written exam about military police and Army history, a physical readiness test that included modified army PFT events, night land navigation, battle drill and warrior task stations, various weapons drills and firing scenarios, a combatives tournament, and a 15 mile endurance march to mark the completion.
Going in, it was about more than just winning or finishing for Stein. The lessons learned were well worth the pain and effort, he said.
“We wanted to just try as hard as we can, and push each other,” said Stein. “I gained a new experience and more experience doing things the military police job requires.”
All of the 37 teams that participated in the competition finished the entire event, and for Stein, it was his first of hopefully many to come.