The skies cleared and the sun is beating down on the Best Ranger teams and spectators. Thankfully, if you are in the shade there's a nice breeze, which is great for the friends and families fortunate enough to be here to support their Rangers.
The teams are making their way through a series of marksmanship challenges. Most of them are through the first two ranges and about a third of the competitors have made it through the last event of the day. To get there they had to finish all of the marksmanship challenges, then make their way through the woods instead of walking on the road like they've been doing for most of the day to the litter carry.
When they reached the litter carry event, they were confronted by a "seriously injured casualty" who looked a lot like the first aid dummies you learn CPR on. They had to administer first aid, build a field expedient litter out of poles and blankets and then move the "casualty." Of course, this is the Best Ranger Competition so as an added bonus, a simulated IED went off shortly after they picked up the litter to evacuate the "casualty." This means that the team had to stop and reassess the casualty before continuing to move him. All this while still hauling a full rucksack, camelbacks filled with water and their weapons!
At last check, the night road march will start at around 8:30 p.m. tonight. Mixed in with a lot of mileage will be some additional Ranger tasks that the teams will have to perform in near darkness.
Tomorrow morning will find the teams surviving the road march on Todd Field in Harmony Church for Ranger Day Stakes.
There are 45 teams still in the mix. Best guess has it that there will be a little more than half that number starting day stakes tomorrow.
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