1st Squadron, 40th Cavalry Regiment (Airborne)
"Denali"
The 1st Squadron, 40th Cavalry Regiment (Airborne) officially activated 13 October 2005 at Buckner Fitness Center as part of the 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division , one of the Army’s newest brigade combat teams. The 360-paratrooper “Denali” squadron was the fourth of the six battalions in the brigade to be activated, closing in on becoming the largest airborne presence in the Pacific in 30 years.
The unit is the first ever airborne reconnaissance, surveillance, target acquisition, or RSTA, squadron. The squadron performs information gathering and intelligence processing, painting a picture of the battlefield allowing the brigade commander to make timely tactical decisions. Unique to this unit is the marriage of light infantry airborne and armor and scout operations.
The squadron is facing the challenge of preparing for war in a short amount of time as the military did in World War II and Korean War. The difference today is the great number of competent junior and senior non-commissioned leaders in the squadron. When activated, the squadron had only half of its authorized Soldiers assigned to it and signed for its first two rifles on the day of activation. In terms of technical and tactical competence, the NCOs in this formation, and our Army as a whole, were peerless in the history of the military.
The 1st Squadron, 40th Cavalry Regiment (Airborne), instituted a somewhat different approach to the physical fitness test that makes it unique to be a Cav Soldier. The test is only one of the three components of the unit’s physical fitness program. The physical fitness test consists of five events: bench press, 40-yard dash, 10-mile run, obstacle course and 440-yard dash. This inherently recognizes that each individual has different strengths and weaknesses. The objective for the test is that at least 30 percent of the organization, not 100 percent, can meet the objectives. The optimum requirements for five events are 300 pounds or greater in the bench press, a 40-yard dash time of five seconds or less, a 10-mile run time of 70 minutes or less, obstacle course completion within five minutes or less and the 440-yard dash in 90 seconds or less. Just to make things a little more interesting, the obstacle course and 440-yard dash are completed wearing combat equipment, individual body armor and carrying a weapon. The other two components of the Calvary Fitness Program are Table II and III, both of which must be completed by the entire organization. Table II has a four-mile run to be finished in 36 minutes or less and a 1.5-mile snowshoe march to be finished with in 90 minutes or less. Table III is a 25-mile road march that is to be completed with an average of 17 minutes and 30 seconds per mile.
