Green Mountain Guard
Diplomacy was recently exercised by The Vermont Army National Guard in the form of a pastime of many Vermonters... skiing. The 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Mountain) and the National Guard Bureau Sports Biathlon program sent Soldiers this past January to represent the USA in the Campionati Sciistici delle Truppe Alpine. This is a friendly competition where Mountain Troops from around the world compete in a downhill giant slalom and biathlon competition.
This year was the 60th year of CaSTA. Command Sgt. Maj. Toby Quick attended the first deployment to italy in 1986. "It wasn't a ski mission then, it was a movement with the Alpini in the Dolomites along the border of Austria and Italy." He describes the benefits of CaSTA to be ongoing. "The Italians have been climbing and living in the mountains longer than any of us and have systems that we could adopt and use to save lives in the mountain environment."
Sgt. 1st Class Peter Ladensack, another CaSTA veteran, described how working in a joint environment assisted his unit when deployed. "When I was deployed to Afghanistan we had to deal with the Italians who were in charge of the airport. I was able to mention CaSTA and that definitely helped expedite some of the things we needed to get done. Just by being able to mention CaSTA and that I had been to their beautiful country, really opened doors for us."
All of the races and training occurred in the mountains surrounding the town of Dobiacco, Italy, nestled in the Dolomite mountain range of northeastern Italy. The GS took place in the town of Sesto at Croda Rossa while the biathletes raced on a very challenging course in Dobiacco. Together, the biathlon and downhill teams consisted of eleven Soldiers who represented the US with a combined overall placing of fifth out of ten competing countries.
The downhill team, consisting of eight Soldiers, practiced skiing through the GS gates everyday until the day of the race. 1st Lt. Robert Burke was the fastest competitor from the men's US team, taking 21st place. He observed that, "Most of the countries represented sent their fastest skiers to this event. It was a great experience to watch these racers and observe their tactics and techniques on the course."
The intensity of competition was summed up by biathlon competitor, Sgt. Jesse Downs. "Each year CaSTA seems to be more competitive with more countries competing. It has grown into a competition comparable to World Military Ski Games (CISM) otherwise known as the world military championships." The biathlon team had three days of races during which they participated in a 15 kilometer, a team sprint, and a 25 kilometer team patrol race.
For the 15 kilometer race, Sgt. Jesse Downs came in 10th place, shortly followed by 2nd Lt. Samuel Morse in 12th place and Pfc. Brian Olsen in 14th. The next day, Sgt. Downs and 2nd Lt. Morse took seventh place in the team sprint. The military patrol race on the third race day consisted of the above mentioned athletes along with Spc. Nigel Kinney. The team pushed each other to expertly shoot and skate ski the 25 kilometers to come in fifth place.
The US team embodied the theme of CaSTA, "friendship through sports," in their level of competitiveness and sportsmanship. Every handshake and introduction along with the camaraderie of fellow Soldiers made this year's CaSTA a success. Next year, the VTNG will be sought after again by multinational leaders in order to develop and strengthen a friendship that has been established since 1986.
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