The Union Jack has been flying at West Point all week.

In broad daylight.

On U.S. government vehicles.

As you know, that means … Sandhurst.

The U.S. Military Academy is hosting the first Sandhurst competition of the new millennium Saturday, and the competitors from Britain’s Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, England, have been flying the British flag from their borrowed USMA motor pool vehicles to let West Point know that they’re in town.

Sandhurst 2001 is the 35th iteration of a timed, scored competition that tests military skills over a course that typically takes two and a half hours to complete.

The purpose of the competition, which is sponsored by the academy’s Department of Military Instruction, is "to provide the Corps of Cadets with a challenging and rewarding inter-company military-skills competition which will enhance leadership qualities, professional development and military excellence in selected soldier skills," according to USCC Circular 350-19, "The Sandhurst Competition."

The U.S. Corps of Cadets sends a team from each company to compete for the Reginald E. Johnson Memorial Plaque, which is awarded to the highest-scoring team over all, and for the Sandhurst Trophy, which the highest-scoring USMA regiment earns. The USMA teams and the two RMA-Sandhurst teams will vie for the Johnson Memorial Plaque with teams from Canada’s Royal Military College, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Fordham University, Furman University, James Madison University, North Georgia College and the USMA Preparatory School. Each nine-person team must have at least one female and a member from each academic year.

A team of officers and noncommissioned officers from the academy’s Brigade Tactical Department will round out the field.

This year’s course is approximately eight kilometers long, and the teams will test their knowledge, mettle, teamwork and conditioning at nine separate sites along a course that organizers call "rugged." The teams will also have to contend with some surprises along the way. British Army Maj. Simon Hammond, the British exchange officer here and the officer-in-charge of the competition, and the competition’s other organizers have programmed those surprises for the teams along the course.

The 42 teams will begin at 6:30 a.m. with staggered start times with, generally, a team stepping off every ten minutes until 2 p.m. (see chart for specific team start times).

Spectators are welcome at all the sites, said Cadet 1st Class Tim Batig, the brigade Sandhurst officer, and they can run with the teams or take a shuttle bus from site to site (see sidebar).

The first of those sites is at Range 11off New York Route 293. Site 1 is where the teams get inspected.

After the inspection, the teams will don their protective masks at Site 2 and run approximately one kilometer to Site 3 at Long Pond, where they will remove their gas masks and pick up their paddles at the boat-movement site.

This year’s boat-movement task is different from the out-and-back sprint that last year’s teams experienced.

"This year, it’s going to be more of a challenge, more of a slalom course," Batig said. "They’ve really got to get the teamwork down."

After making it back to shore, the teams will move to Site 4 at Range 5 for the marksmanship competition, where each member of each team will fire for points.

The marksmanship site has a new twist this year, Batig explained.

The competitors will get a taste of British, Ranger and U.S. special forces marksmanship competition when they fire at moving metal plates.

"It’s going to be a great thing for the spectators to see," Batig said.

The weapons theme continues at Site 5 when the teams disassemble and reassemble M-240 machineguns and M-249 squad automatic weapons. The teams will pair up in four groups of two and the competitors will disassemble their weapons, then switch with their partners for reassembly. The ninth team member -- either the squad leader or someone the squad leader designates -- will have to put together an M-240 and an M-249 from a box of mixed parts.

After performing functions checks on the weapons, the teams will move out to Site 6, where each team will construct a one-rope bridge across Highland Brook and use the monkey crawl to cross.

A popular venue for spectators, the river-crossing site is a good place to see the drive and teamwork of the competitors.

"By that time, the teams are staring to feel a little winded, a little tired," said former competitor Batig.

That’s when they dig deep.

"You’ll see the determination from the teams," he said, as they spend approximately five minutes getting themselves and all their equipment across the water.

After experiencing more water while crawling through a culvert that runs under U.S. Route 9W, the teams will race to the wall obstacle at Site 7.

Another popular site, the wall obstacle is the place to see a wide range of techniques for conquering the task.

"It’s really something to watch how smoothly nine people go over the wall in a minute," Batig said. "It shows the teamwork and training they put into it."

Batig said the competitors "are really tired by now."

But they still have to go off a 30-foot cliff at the rappel site on their way to the finish.

That site, Site 8, is a good place to see some action, according to Batig.

"The whole team hooks up and down they go over the cliff," he said.

At the bottom, Batig said, teams get a new burst of energy for the run to the final challenge.

Teams do not learn the specifics of that task, called "The Commandant’s Challenge," until the night before the competition, Batig explained, and there’s not a lot they can do to prepare at that point.

"They have some time to brainstorm, but it’s more of a physical challenge," he said.

Past challenges have included pushing a Humvee through an obstacle course and carrying a 400-pound inflatable boat around obstacles.

After the Commandant’s Challenge at Site 9, the teams will sprint to the statue of MacArthur for final inspection, where they have to have all the equipment they started with or get penalized points.

That’s where teams can start comparing their times and scores with the competition’s.

Who will come out on top?

Is 2001 the year a West Point team will beat the Brits?

Go see for yourself.