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History was created when the 2nd Fiji Infantry Regiment (2FIR) 38 Battalion Force Skills team ended the six years of title drought for any Fiji team after Team Benjamin and Team Judah respectively won the Force Commander’s Trophy of Excellence awarded to the individual team that achieved the best overall and the Ai Karua Trophy awarded to the team that won second place in the overall results of the annual Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) Force Skills Competition held on the 17th to the 18th of February, 2020 at the MFO South Camp in Sinai, Egypt.
The competition for contingent based teams (US, Canada, New Zealand, Uruguay, Colombia and Fiji) comprised of ten different stations where teams were expected to attempt as it provides a competitive environment to test individual and collective skills relevant to the mission. In addition to this, it tested the group’s resilience in the face of physical, mental and emotional adversity.
Designed to pre-fatigue competitors in order to better assess the skills being tested, in the remainder of the day and to start off the two days competition, each team began by carrying 15 kg each of military equipment’s on a 11 km loaded march. Teams earned points through their performances in a diverse set of events that simulated real-life scenarios such as their reaction and reporting procedure when identifying an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) during a patrol, the appropriate employment of both passive and active use of Force when faced with threats, the ability to react to an incident and perform Combat First Aid and the submission of timely and accurate reports to name a few.
Team Benjamin manager Warrant Officer Class Two (WO2) Mosese Kurulala who is on his last deployment after more than 30 years in the military said that while they were excited about the win, they were confident that they were going to create history.
“We left no stones unturned during our seven weeks of training making sure that physical, mental and spiritual preparation was well balanced. We were realistic about our preparation, so we had to do our part and let God do the rest.” WO2 Kurulala
WO2 Kurulala added that the victory was one of his greatest achievement and was something that he would always cherish. He said that despite lying on the bottom half after the loaded march event, both teams fought with determination throughout the contest and began to pick up the pace and positioned themselves as they maneuvered their way around the rest of the stations to emerge as champions.
The Battalion’s Training Officer Warrant Officer Class One (WO1) Joseva Adrole said he was proud of the team’s performance and added that the achievements of both the team were a feat that would be impossible to match. He added, that the victory was the result of hard work, teamwork, and sacrifice not only by the teams but by the whole battalion.
For the oldest member of the victories Team Benjamin and a veteran of the force skills competition, Corporal (Cpl) Etika Rokovesa said he knew what it feels like to be on either side of the same coin having won in 2007 and losing in 2016.
“During our training, I shared with the team the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. So we worked on identifying individual strengths and weaknesses within our team and map out a game plan that we trust will bring victory.” Cpl Rokovesa said.
With less than two months away from the end of their year-long tour of duty, the twenty members of 2FIR Battalion 38 force skills team lived up to their Battalion Commanders Intent based on three pillars of ‘Trust, Teamwork, Respect’ to put the icing on what has been a very successful tour.
For those that will be retiring on their return, the legacy they’ve left behind, the challenges and success story of Batt 38 will definitely be talked about by those on their first tours in years to come.
The full result is as follows:
First – Team Benjamin (Fiji #2)
Second – Team Judah (Fiji #1)
Third – COLCON (Heroes Bicentenario)
Top Score Shoot 1 – Lieutenant E.L Nawasa (196/210)
Top Score Shoot 2 – Lieutenant E.N Suliano (102/120)
Top Driving Team – Lieutenant Jerome Taoi & Pte Ravualala
