The Eddie Reed Ranger Co. was founded at ETSU in 1986. In the 20 years that the ROTC program has been in operation it has never placed in a single challenge.
That all changed when the selected group of 10 cadets traveled to Fort Jackson, S.C. for the annual Ranger Challenge, Oct. 27-29. Competing in eight events testing both their mental and physical endurance this highly trained group placed third in their division.
“We have been training everyday for the past eight weeks,” stated Capt. Mack Tugman, “It all comes down to this weekend.” Tugman, along with Maj. David Campbell, Col. Mark Mirage and Sgt. Kevin Brown, has spent the past two months preparing his cadets for the challenge at hand.
The four hour drive to South Carolina gave the group the opportunity to prepare for their first competitive event, the written tests on map reading and land navigation. As a team they studied from the Infantry Rifle and Platoon Squad and quizzed one another extensively.
Their studying paid off though, tying them for first in the written exams.
The second event was the weapons disassembly and reassembly. In this event each individual has to take apart an M-16 rifle and put it back together in as little time as possible. They succeeded at this event as well, the top time being 1 minute and 2 seconds.
On day two the cadets began with a physical training event at 6:30 a.m. followed by a land navigation course, grenade test, and an obstacle course before day’s end.
Pushing proteins all day in the form of peanut butter, bananas, and power bars the team was ready for the challenge at hand.
Of the six events of the day, only one was a mental test where cadets had to recite the “Cadet Creed.”
The culmination of the weekend was a 6.2-mile march with each cadet carrying a 35-pound rucksack on their backs and a dummy M-16. Eight of the ten members has to finish together in only 90-minutes.
During this event one ETSU cadet suffered an injured knee, yet insisted on finishing the course. This cadet, along with one other fell behind the rest of the team, yet the two still crossed the finish line. Throughout the entire run the cadets cheered one another on and kept each other’s motivation up, showing the true dedication and camaraderie of the members of the Eddie Reed Ranger Co.
A celebration in the form of a barbecue followed the march, where team members were congratulated and reminisced about challenges past.
“This has been the best ranger challenge yet,” said junior Jacob McDaniel. “We didn’t finish until one in the morning last year.” They rested for the remainder of the night and prepared themselves for the awards ceremony the next morning at 7:30.
A tense feeling of anticipation filled the air at Fort Jackson as both divisions, all 19 teams from 18 different schools, stood at attention awaiting the results of the competition.
“Third place, division two goes to East Tennessee State,” stated the announcer. All 10 members of Eddie Reed lead by junior Josh Frye walked proudly to the awards table and accepted ten plaques in honor of their accomplishment, an achievement that made ETSU history.
The ride back to Tennessee was a time for reflecting on what they had accomplished over the past three days, yet they were humble in their assessment.
Team member Jacob McDaniel, a senior, described it as “awesome,” while fellow senior Rebecca Mercer, the only female on the team, said it was an “honor and privilege.” All were more motivated after the event and since the group is only losing one member next year, senior Nathan McGraw .
“Now it’s time to go back and get a bigger one,” said junior Robert Grey. The group plans to start training soon for next year’s challenge.
Other members of the team included Patrick Davis, junior, Robert Kilgore, freshman, Chad Evans, senior, Andrew Ditmer, freshman, and Justin Chizmar, freshman.

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