USMA HOSTS SANDHURST COMPETITION - April 20, 2006

WEST POINT, N.Y. – Nearly 425 cadets from several U.S. and foreign military academies will compete in the 40th annual Sandhurst competition to be held on Saturday, April 29, from 5:30 a.m. until 6 p.m.

Competing in this year’s competition will be teams from the U.S. Military Academy, United Kingdom’s Royal Military Academy, Canada’s Royal Military College, U.S. Naval Academy, U.S. Air Force Academy, U.S. Coast Guard Academy, U.S. Military Academy Preparatory School and six ROTC units.

Each team is comprised of eight men and one woman. The U.S Military Academy will field 33 teams, one from each of the 32 companies and one brigade team. The competition is a challenging course which tests both individual and team abilities in marksmanship, grenade throwing, river crossing, obstacle scaling and radio communications. Throughout the competition, the teams will accumulate points at each site based on their skills. The teams have the opportunity to earn up to 1000 points throughout the course.

The Sandhurst competition originated in 1967 when a sword was presented to the U.S. Military Academy by the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. The inscription on the sword reads: “To provide the Corps of Cadets with a challenging and rewarding regimental skills competition, which will enhance professional development and military excellence in selected soldier skills.” From then on, an annual event has been held to do just that.