FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas –
The
return of the modern military pentathlon means big competition for Soldiers on
Fort Sam Houston.
Lt.
Gen. Perry Wiggins, U.S. Army North (Fifth Army) commanding general and senior
Army commander of Fort Sam Houston and Camp Bullis, tasked the Army North Community
Health Promotion Board with a way to encourage healthy competition and
camaraderie between units on Fort Sam Houston. The group suggested bringing back
the military pentathlon.
“This
gives us an opportunity to showcase the Soldier athletes that have talent to
compete amongst other units and potentially represent the Army in the modern
pentathlon at the Olympics,” said Army North health promotions officer Paul
Kennedy. “This truly supports the commanding general’s guidance to bring esprit
de corps to Fort Sam Houston.”
Fort
Sam Houston has a long history with the modern pentathlon, beginning in 1898
with future President Theodore Roosevelt and the 1st United States Volunteer
Cavalry, famously known as the “Rough Riders.”
The
unit consisted of an unorthodox group of volunteers – including cowboys and
gamblers – that helped seal the victory at Kettle Hill during the
Spanish-American War. Their training prior to combat consisted of the events
that make up today’s pentathlon.
The
post once served as the national training center for the U.S. Modern Pentathlon
team that produced multiple Olympic medalist in the 1950s and 1960s. San
Antonio was an ideal location, given its ideal year-round weather conditions
for outdoor training. The center stood for more than 40 years before relocating
to Colorado Springs, Colo., in 1996.
Fifteen
Army teams across post will compete in four events: fencing, run and shoot,
swimming and horsemanship. Teams will be made up of four Soldiers with one competing
in each event.
Teams
will have ample time to practice; the first pentathlon competition isn’t
scheduled until November 2016. In the meantime, Fort Sam Houston will hold
practice competitions for each event: swimming this November, horsemanship next
March, run and shoot in May and fencing in July.
Nearby
University of the Incarnate Word will partner with the post − a move that will
benefit pentathlon programs.
“This
is going to be a great partnership,” said UIW athletic facilities coordinator Erin
Galloway. “We have a big military population on campus and in our community. We
are very excited to provide training to military athletes.”
Monica
Fling Rowland and John Moreau, both former Olympians coaching at University of
Incarnate Word, will instruct the fencing and laser pistol events.
UIW
fencing and swimming athletes like Monet Moreau, a 2020 pentathlon Olympic
hopeful and John’s daughter, will have access to the Fort Sam Houston Equestrian
Center to practice horsemanship.
Equestrian
training for UIW athletes was previously conducted in Boerne, Texas, making it difficult
for athletes to train because of class schedules and distance.
Army
officials said the goal is to see the pentathlon evolve into a multiservice competition
and also invite foreign militaries to participate.