74th Engineer Dive Detachment Hosts the First Diver Fitness Challenge

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U.S. Army Central
Story by Spc. Adam Parent
Friday, August 31, 2018

KUWAIT NAVAL BASE, Kuwait (August 31, 2018) – Early in the morning U.S. Army Soldiers stationed across Kuwait came together at Kuwait Naval Base to participate in the first Diver Fitness Challenge hosted by the 74th Engineer Dive Detachment. Dozens of competitors in 14 teams of six Soldiers each raced between stations with different challenging exercises meant to test their physical capabilities.
What had originally been planned as a competition meant to stay internal to the 74th EDD quickly turned into a larger event for other Soldiers to face new challenges and build morale, said Staff Sgt. Royce Clark, a squad leader with the 74th EDD and the noncommissioned officer in charge of the Diver Fitness Challenge.
The circuit of events the Soldiers had to complete without any breaks began with a one mile run, followed by a 200 meter swim, 100 pull ups, 250 squats with an air tank, 200 hand release push ups, 100 meter tire flip, Zodiac rigid inflatable boat hand carry and high carry, 200 flutter kicks, and finished with 100 box jumps.
“I definitely think the one mile run into the 200 meter swim, that was pretty brutal,” said Clark. “It was definitely the hardest part.”
Even though each exercise was completed as a team it was a grueling experience for each individual Soldier to complete their share of the workout as the sun and the temperature rose. The exercises also challenged the competitors in ways they are not used to facing with regular physical readiness training.
“A lot of the Army doesn't participate in swimming really, it's not mandatory,” said Clark.
Despite the difficulty of the Diver Fitness Challenge, the competitors were in good spirits throughout the circuit of events. By the end of the competition every Soldier had proven to their teammates that they could overcome any obstacle they faced together.
After each team had completed the Diver Fitness Challenge and all the scores were tallied the Scouts of the 158th Infantry Regiment took first place.

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