75th Ranger Regiment team wins Best Ranger

The 75th Ranger Regiment team of Capt. Michael Rose and Master Sgt. Josh Horsager finished on top Sunday at the 34th annual David E. Grange Jr. Best Ranger Competition at Fort Benning.

Officials with the Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade made the announcement.

The team maintained the No. 1 ranking going into the third day after a strong showing overnight and through the final day of events, which included the Darby Queen obstacle course, water confidence course and the final buddy run.

They were able to edge Staff Sgt. Carlos Mercado and 2009 winner Master Sgt. Chad Stackpole of the 82nd Airborne Division who finished in second place.

Rounding out the top three was last year’s winning team of Capt. Robert Killian and Staff Sgt. Erich Friedlein of the National Guard.

Only 21 of the original 53 two-man teams from around the world finished the competition.

Over three days, soldiers covered 58 miles with a series of events that included running, shooting, 20-mile road march, maneuvering through a 4-mile obstacle course, swimming and more.

The 1st Infantry team of Capt. Mark Gaudet and 1st Lt. Timothy Nelson won the buddy run, the final event.

For Rose, it was the second time he took first place in the grueling three-day event.

In 2014, he won with his partner 2nd Lt. John Bergman.

Abbie Rose was not present when her husband, Michael, finished first in the 2014 event.

“We were stationed in Hawaii,” she said.

So she watched the live-stream on the internet.

Seeing it in person is different, though.

“It is very intense,” she said. “At times, it is almost hard to watch.”

Even though her husband did not compete the last two years, she believes the experience of 2014 helped.

“He had that knowledge base of what to expect,” she said.

She is glad to see his hard work pay off.

“We are all proud of him,” she said.

Last year, Killian won the event with partner Friedlein. Killian had finished second the two previous years.

This year the team finished third. It was Killian’s fifth competition.

Taube Roy adopted and raised Killian.

Roy is a retired lieutenant colonel Ranger who was deployed when Killian first began competing in the competition. He now teaches JROTC at Mount Heritage High School in Burnsville, N.C., and was at Fort Benning last week for the competition.

“He really likes the challenge and trains very hard,” Roy said of Killian.

Roy said he never thought about competing in Best Ranger.

“It was never on my radar,” he said. “I don’t think I could have done it.”

He said the event is “nerve-racking” to watch for someone with a family member or friend competing. But he loves the competition.

“It is good for the Army and the one team concept as soldiers from different divisions compete,” he said. “It is extremely well run.”

This story was originally published April 9, 2017 at 4:28 PM with the headline "75th Ranger Regiment team wins Best Ranger."