Team from 2nd Cavalry Regiment in Vilseck tops field in V Corps' best squad competition | Stars and Stripes
Pfc. Matthew Simpson of the 41st Field Artillery Brigade low-crawls during the V Corps Best Squad Competition at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, on May 12, 2025. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
GRAFENWOEHR, Germany — Infantryman Pfc. Keagan Boston sprinted across the finish line of his second mile-long run through the woods of the Grafenwoehr Training Area during this week’s V Corps Best Squad Competition.
Close behind him were the four remaining members of his squad from the Vilseck-based 2nd Cavalry Regiment, breathing hard but smiling as they completed the Expert Physical Fitness Assessment, one of the final events of the grueling five-day set of challenges.
Despite being neck-and-neck with another 2nd Cavalry squad, Boston and teammates Staff Sgt. Caleb Rawlings, Sgt. Conrad David, Spc. Devin Schallert and Pfc. Elesban Ruiz managed to take first place.
“We worked about six days a week, working out every day two times a day, just going over (expert infantry badge) tasks, trying to get our strength and conditioning up,” Boston said Thursday.
A five-soldier team from the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade carries a casualty dummy during the V Corps Best Squad Competition at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, on May 12, 2025. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
A soldier in the V Corps Best Squad Competition unloads his weapon after a live-fire shoot at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, on May 12, 2025. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
A soldier in the V Corps Best Squad Competition at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, plots points on a map prior to the land navigation portion of the competition on May 12, 2025. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
Soldiers from the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade taking part in the V Corps Best Squad Competition arrive at the land navigation site at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, on May 12, 2025. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
Army Cpl. Mariia Kondratieva of 12th Combat Aviation Brigade goes in search of her designated coordinates during the land navigation portion of the V Corps Best Squad Competition at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, on May 12, 2025. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
Pvt. Tykeem Reed of 41st Field Artillery Brigade performs weapons drills during the V Corps Best Squad Competition at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, on May 12, 2025. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
Pvt. Tykeem Reed of 41st Field Artillery Brigade throws a dummy grenade during the V Corps Best Squad Competition at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, on May 12, 2025. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
Pvt. Yadiel Flores and Sgt. Esteban Ward, both with 2nd Cavalry Regiment, climb the Jacob's Ladder at the Grafenwoehr Training Area obstacle course in Germany during the V Corps Best Squad Competition on May 13, 2025. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
U.S. Army 2nd Cavalry Regiment soldiers taking part in the V Corps Best Squad Competition tackle the obstacle course at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, on May 13, 2025. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
Spc. James Short of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment crawls out of a tunnel at the Grafenwoehr Training Area obstacle course in Germany during the V Corps Best Squad Competition on May 13, 2025. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
Pfc. James Etling of 2nd Cavalry Regiment climbs up a rope wall at the Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, during the V Corps Best Squad Competition on May 13, 2025. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
Pvt. Yadiel Flores of 2nd Cavalry Regiment completes a challenge during the obstacle course portion of the V Corps Best Squad Competition at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, on May 13, 2025. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
Sgt. Esteban Ward of 2nd Cavalry Regiment fires an M249 light machine gun during a weapons qualification portion of the V Corps Best Squad Competition at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, on May 13, 2025. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
Pfc. Matthew Simpson of 41st Field Artillery Brigade performs an M17 pistol qualification during the V Corps Best Squad Competition at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, on May 14, 2025. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
Pfc. Anton Pavlov of 2nd Cavalry Regiment runs for cover during the chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear materials event in the V Corps Best Squad Competition at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, on May 14, 2025. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
The competition, which kicked off Sunday and involved a half-dozen squads, was designed to test the full spectrum of skills of the 30 participating soldiers.
Events included standard and expert-level Army physical fitness tests, live-fire weapons qualifications under stress, Expert Infantry Badge training, an obstacle course, land navigation, long-distance ruck marches and medical drills.
Throughout the competition, soldiers endured sleep deprivation while carrying approximately 80-pound packs and wearing full weighted tactical gear. The 2nd Cavalry Regiment’s three squads felt a strong sense of legacy going into the competition, following their predecessors’ third-place finish in last year’s Army Best Squad Competition while representing U.S. Army Europe and Africa.
The Army’s Best Squad Competition features a dozen teams from across the service that emerged from the command-level stages to earn a spot in the overall Army competition.
Rawlings, David, Schallert, Ruiz and Boston will move on to represent V Corps at the USAREUR-AF Best Squad Competition in August.
This year’s V Corps competition gauntlet was modeled after U.S. Army Europe and Africa’s format with the goal of preparing the winning team for success in August, V Corps operations Sgt. Maj. David Huntington said.
Huntington hopes next year’s event will place greater emphasis on the Army’s transforming in contact initiative, which focuses on adapting soldiers’ tactics to evolving battlefield technologies.
The other three entrants in the V Corps competition this week were from the Grafenwoehr-based 41st Field Artillery Brigade, which had two squads vying for the crown, and a lone squad from 12th Combat Aviation Brigade in Ansbach.
Many of those soldiers didn’t have the luxury of preparing for the challenges to the extent that their 2nd Cavalry counterparts did, but they gladly gave it a go anyway.
“We volunteered for this and we knew that we’re not the fastest, the smartest, or even trained for it,” said Cpl. Mariia Kondratieva, an aviation maintainer from 12th CAB.
Her team was considered the underdogs, as the five soldiers had kept their primary focus on their duties as aviation maintainers and therefore had only a week of training and studying before the competition.
“Every time that you feel like it is getting worse and worse ... you have to say, ‘Is that all that you’ve got?’ Kondratieva said. “It’s a mental game by the end of the day.”
A 2nd Cavalry Regiment soldier walks through yellow smoke during the chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear materials event in the V Corps Best Squad Competition at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, on May 14, 2025. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
A soldier in the V Corps Best Squad Competition provides security during the chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear materials event at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, on May 14, 2025. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
Soldiers taking part in the V Corps Best Squad Competition at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, carry a casualty during the chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear materials event on May 14, 2025. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
Army Sgt. Tousif Ahmed of 41st Field Artillery Brigade drags a casualty dummy during a medical evacuation in the V Corps Best Squad Competition at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, on May 14, 2025. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
Pfc. Carson Spencer of 41st Field Artillery Brigade does pushups as part of the V Corps Best Squad Competition at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, on May 15, 2025. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
Staff Sgt. Karame Appiah of 41st Field Artillery Brigade runs with weighted water cans during a physical fitness event in the V Corps Best Squad Competition at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, on May 15, 2025. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
Army Sgt. James Tranchina of 2nd Cavalry Regiment does pushups during the V Corps Best Squad Competition at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, on May 15, 2025. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
Teams of soldiers taking part in the V Corps Best Squad Competition at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, run the first mile of the Expert Physical Fitness Assessment on May 15, 2025. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
U.S. Army 2nd Cavalry Regiment soldiers throw weighted sandbags into a truck as part of the V Corps Best Squad Competition at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, on May 15, 2025. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
Spc. James Short of 2nd Cavalry Regiment low-crawls during the V Corps Best Squad Competition at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, on May 15, 2025. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
Army Sgt. James Tranchina of 2nd Cavalry Regiment puts on camouflage paint May 15, 2025, during the V Corps Best Squad Competition at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
A team of 2nd Cavalry Regiment soldiers participating in the V Corps Best Squad Competition at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, steps off for a ruck march on May 15, 2025. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
Command Sgt. Maj. Phillip Blaisdell of V Corps speaks to participants May 15, 2025, at Camp Aachen in Grafenwoehr, Germany, before announcing the winners of the V Corps Best Squad Competition. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
Staff Sgt. Caleb Rawlings, Sgt. Conrad David, Spc. Devin Schallert, Pfc. Elesban Ruiz and Pfc. Keagan Boston, all with 2nd Cavalry Regiment, were announced as the winners of the V Corps Best Squad Competition in Grafenwoehr, Germany, on May 15, 2025. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
