1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment claims overall win for 3rd Brigade’s military skills competition

1RAR has claimed a back-to-back win of 3rd Brigade’s military skills competition after a healthy rivalry pushed them past their limits. However one unlikely regiment out shot infantry in one test, find out which.

Australian Army soldiers from 3rd Brigade compete in the annual Brigade Military Skills competition at Townsville Field Training Area, Queensland. PHOTO: CPL Jack Pearce

After narrowly missing out on claiming the coveted Duke of Gloucester cup (DoG), the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (1RAR) re-emerged from Tully Jungle victorious after undergoing the 3rd Brigade’s “ultimate test”.

The 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR) recently took out the battle of the battalions so when the Brigade Military Skills competition rolled around 1RAR seized their opportunity for redemption.

Corporal Jarrod Webbers said that he had spent weeks in the lead up to the competition pushing his section to their limits to ensure their readiness ahead of the gruelling five day course.

“We had a few weeks of training beforehand which was pretty vigorous training, even pushing people mentally and physically through the training which definitely played a part in the results,” he said.

Eight sections trekked through the North Queensland rainforest and were tested on obstacle courses, marksmanship, tactical combat casualty care, communication, navigation, offensive and defensive tactics and physical endurance.

Australian Army soldiers from 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment conduct a mil float during in the annual 3rd Brigade Military Skills competition at Tully Training Area, Queensland. PHOTO: LCPL Riley Blennerhassett

“The conditions of living inside the jungle are really taxing just due to the wetness, the thickness, the insects and the bugs,” Corporal Webbers said.

“If you don’t put your survivability first and how you conduct yourself and the team then you’ll just easily collapse.”

Australian Army sappers from 3rd Combat Engineer Regiment stake in the gun during the annual 3rd Brigade Military Skills competition at Tully Training Area, Queensland. PHOTO: LCPL Riley Blennerhassett

After being named as a reserve for the DoG Cup earlier in the year, Corporal Webbers had an extra bit of motivation to push his section ahead of the others.

“3RAR just took out the dog cup so we obviously just wanted to beat 3RAR for that. That was our main rivalry, just to get one back up on them, not let them win both,” he said.

“It creates a good rivalry between everyone in Townsville and I think there’s obviously so many benefits to doing the competitions personally and as a collective. You push past your limits and learn how you can mentally be stronger.

“I was just like ‘I need to be better than them and I need to drive these guys to be better than them.’”

Australian Army soldier Corporal Jarrod Webbers from 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment accepts the award for "Overall Winner" at the completion of the annual 3rd Brigade Military Skills competition at Lavarack Barracks, Townsville. PHOTO: CPL Jack Pearce

After days of pushing themselves to their ultimate limits, the section reached the final culminator event; a 14 kilometre pack march followed by the bayonet assault course and a two and a half kilometre stretcher carry.

“It’s obviously tough, it’s designed to be tough,” Corporal Webbers said.

Commanding Officer of 1RAR, Lieutenant Colonel Brent Hughes said that the soldiers put on an epic display of resilience and perseverance and commended their section commander Corporal Webbers for his leadership skills.

“Last year we put our team forward and they came first which was awesome and then this year they came first again so we’re pretty excited about that,” he said.

“They get the job done at all costs, there’s no failure for them which I think is the right mindset for soldiers to have.”

Australian Army soldiers from 3rd Brigade compete in the annual Brigade Military Skills competition at Townsville Field Training Area, Queensland. PHOTO: CPL Jack Pearce

While 1RAR took out best overall for the military skills competition, a couple of underdogs were able to prove their military prowess including the 3rd Combat Engineers Regiment (3CER) who beat out the infantry battalions to come first in marksmanship.

3CER Australian Army Officer Sure Van Niekerk said that it was a well deserved win after the section had prepared tirelessly for the competition.

“It does feel pretty good winning the best shot in the brigade over all the infantry regiments,” she said.

“I think it was a bit of a shock when 3CER won it, no one was expecting it but it was a good surprise.”

Originally published as 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment claims overall win for 3rd Brigade’s military skills competition