Summer Survival

All the athletes, who took part in the International AFCR Championship Military Multi-Contest Summer Survival 2005 from the 12^th through 15^th of September, had to indeed mobilize the last reserves of their power. 14 teams, which was the record-breaking number, arrived to compete. 13 teams represented the AFCR units and facilities and 1 team came from Austria. In contrast with previous years, the starting list included more women, i.e. one mixed and two complete teams.

The championship, organized by the Military Academy in Vyškov, was held under the auspices of the AFCR General Staff. From the very beginning it was apparent that the organizers developed their experience and lessons learned during the previous four years. As confirmed by the athletes and from the retrospective view, individual phases were undoubtedly more challenging this year. “We take rest only in moving vehicles, since all phases, in comparison with last year, are more difficult”, said Sergeant Josef Kubernát from the 13^th Artillery Brigade. Impressions of the international competitors were clearly expressed by Mark Rammelmüller from the Austrian “Kosaken Team”: “Comparing the other exercises, in which we had participated, this one was much tougher than we expected”.

The entire contest was broken down into four competing days, during which the athletes had to complete 3 highly strenuous phases. Moreover, most of events took place in the area of the Moravian Carps, for instance in the Macocha Abyss, Lidomorna Cave and other similar spots.

“Getting safely, smartly and quickly over all artificial and natural obstacles” was the tenet of Survival 2005 announced by its organizers. Today, when we are reading these lines, we already know that safety was the matter of highest importance, as witnessed by the fact that no athlete reported any serious medical problem. On the other hand, not all teams managed to fulfill the second part of the tenet, i.e. smartly and mainly quickly overcome the obstacles. When we tried to set time limits for individual events, we couldn’t indeed anticipate that somebody would spend 20 minutes on the climbing wall or some soldiers would run the orienteering for 6.5 hours and make the 3 km distance no sooner than 2 – 2.5 hours, especially with regard to the fact that the best athlete ran the longest track in 34 minutes,” said Captain Jiří Pevný, the competition referee.

At the starting line all athletes apparently showed their determination to complete the entire competition with success, as also confirmed by the fact that a team was able to wait for their delayed buddy as long as 6 hours and continue in the following morning. The fighting spirit and resolution to beat all the difficulties was clearly visible on the faces of all contestants. It is hard to rate which event was finally the hardest or easiest. However, one of the most attractive events, both for the competing soldiers and invited guests, was certainly bridging the Macocha Abyss with a tightrope at the altitude of 160 meters, on which the athletes had to move to the other side and rescue a wounded person at the edge of the abyss. Everybody could see that the teams lost much physical power and mental endurance during the previous two days filled with swimming, shooting, running through the “Warfighter Track”, orienteering, “monkey course” and, in the early morning hours, water orientation event on Olšovec Lake near Nerovnice. Even though the first team was at the Macocha Abyss 30 minutes late, the following activity, in many cases, undoubtedly tested the teams´ ability to surpass themselves. However, for some individuals, it was just a matter of routine: “Since we are from a rescue battalion, we must have some experience, hence this event is a piece of cake for us and we enjoy it. Two weeks ago we had to accomplish something similar in Hradec Králové at the Rescue Teams’ Championship, but the event wasn’t as attractive as here in Macocha,” said SFC David Sodomka from the 154th Rescue Battalion.

The last two days were mostly filled with adrenaline challenges, as was the case of the activities at Macocha or in Lidomorna Cave, where the athletes had to prove their mountaineering skills and move to a designated point in the shortest time. In the Baldovec Outdoor Center, the soldiers had to climb up the 20 m tower in three different ways, pass through the track consisting of rope obstacles suspended at a 10 m height, and reach the maximum points in shooting with a bow within a specified time limit.

In its five-year history, Summer Survival 2005 was the most challenging competition. “The aim of the contest was to give the competitors an opportunity to test their abilities under extreme conditions so as to be able to see that they can surpass themselves,” explained to us Colonel Josef Husár, Director of the Championship. Only the best prepared team could win this competition. In his final speech, COL (GS) Milan Solík, the Vyškov Military Academy Commandant, emphasized: “In contrast with previous years, we wanted to make this competition more difficult and challenging, which we indeed managed to do. You all have shown the fighting spirit, tackled difficulties on the tracks, fought natural obstacles and in many cases had to mobilize the last reserves of your physical and mental endurance. I do appreciate your resolution and active attitude during the whole competition”. The prizes for all participants, including the cups and certificates, were handed out by COL (GS) Jan Neplech, Deputy Director of Training and Doctrine Directorate, COL (GS) Milan Solík, Vyškov Military Academy Commandant, and COL Josef Husár, Director of the Championship. Accompanied by the sound of fanfares, the following best teams stepped on the winners box: Military Police Team II (3^rd place), Military Police Team I (2^nd place), and the winning team consisting of WO1 Lukáš Brožík, WO1 Lukáš Kyrych and WO1 Petr Smutek from the Military Department of PT and Sport Faculty of Charles University in Prague.

Summer Survival 2005, the 5^th year of the military summer multi-contest, is history; therefore, let me already now invite all courageous candidates for the sixth year that is planned for October 2006.

Text: MAJ Ľubomír Sedlák