Test of Strength: ROTC Ranger Challenge 2014
By Brandon Choe
Oct. 27, 2014 12:26 a.m.
James Barnes, a third-year political science student and team leader, takes notes during the brief detailing the Ranger Challenge.
(Brandon Choe/Daily Bruin)
Barnes goes over strategy for the following day.
(Brandon Choe/Daily Bruin)
The UCLA Bruin Battalion was scheduled to deploy at 5:30 a.m.
(Brandon Choe/Daily Bruin)
In the first event of the challenge, Barnes lists out objects in a short-term memory test.
(Brandon Choe/Daily Bruin)
Nathan Baldwin, a fourth-year Pepperdine University student, maps out a problem in the first event of the challenge.
(Brandon Choe/Daily Bruin)
James Mumma, a second-year kinesiology student at California State University, Northridge, catches his breath after running a timed two-mile run during the physical readiness challenge, the second event of the Ranger Challenge.
(Brandon Choe/Daily Bruin)
Katherine Knobloch, a first-year biology student, ties a swiss seat, a rope harness for the one-rope bridge event.
(Brandon Choe/Daily Bruin)
Brandon Brown, a second-year biology student, pulls a piece of rope making the bridge taut enough to slide across with a carabiner.
(Brandon Choe/Daily Bruin)
Knobloch struggles to cross the one-rope bridge and reaches for assistance.
(Brandon Choe/Daily Bruin)
The fourth event, the first aid sprint relay exam, requires each member of the team to run 300 meters to a proctored exam where they answer one question about first aid and dash back to the starting point.
(Brandon Choe/Daily Bruin)
Brandon Brown, a second-year biology student, secures the area during the casualty evacuation event.
(Brandon Choe/Daily Bruin)
Louis Bethge, a first-year applied mathematics student, was selected to act as the casualty during the evacuation event.
(Brandon Choe/Daily Bruin)
Antonio Henry, a third-year biology student, bears some of Bethge's weight during the medical evacuation event.
(Brandon Choe/Daily Bruin)
Barnes, right, and first-year Pepperdine student Mick Ditlevson, left, carry the casualty to a safe evacuation spot.
(Brandon Choe/Daily Bruin)
Robert Burns, third-year geography student, ties a knot around metal poles to transport heavy equipment during the build a contraption event.
(Brandon Choe/Daily Bruin)
Team leader Barnes struggles to keep the load stable.
(Brandon Choe/Daily Bruin)
Burns low crawls in the grenade assault course.
(Brandon Choe/Daily Bruin)
First-year Pepperdine University student Mick Ditlevsun launches a dummy grenade.
(Brandon Choe/Daily Bruin)
Brown disassembles, reassembles and performs a function check on an M4.
(Brandon Choe/Daily Bruin)
Burns helps gather 'rubber ducks', rubber casts of M4's, during the stack arms event of the Ranger Challenge.
(Brandon Choe/Daily Bruin)
Barnes leads the pack in the final event, the ruck march. Each member must carry their 35-pound ruck and have their arm in low ready as they march eight miles through rough terrain.
(Brandon Choe/Daily Bruin)
Mick, left, Antonio, middle, and Brown, right, find relief in the shade finishing the Ranger Challenge.
(Brandon Choe/Daily Bruin)
Baldwin relaxes in the shade after a long day at Ranger Challenge.
