Baseball players from the Auburn University's Tigers got a cold reality check when Ranger Instructors at Fort Benning introduced them to the infamous Malvesti obstacle course. The college students were bused in this month to Camp Rogers whereupon the instructors began providing them with motivation and incentive to complete the obstacle course, starting with flutter kicks, push-ups, and other physical exercises. While this was taking place, one instructor turned a garden hose on the students while they lay in the dirt. "On your back! Hands on your belly. One-Two-Three-One! One-Two-Three-Two! One-Two-Three-Three," another commanded.
Malvesti obstacle course is both dreaded and feared by soldiers attending Ranger School. The various obstacles consist of rope climbs, scaling vertical log ladder, monkey bars over a pit filled with muddy water, crawling through the water under barbwire, and of course the quintessential Army favorite, the pull up. In the winter, Malvesti comes with added value to the Ranger School students at no additional cost to the taxpayer, as students are given the opportunity to literally break through the ice covering the frozen muddy water as they complete the course.
The college students grunted, sweated, and struggled their way through the course the best they could, slipping off obstacles, and failing events along the way but mostly they just had to suck it up the way Ranger School students do. Although they were college athletes who workout several times a week, not all were able to complete the course.
"Definitely not easy," one student said when asked for his thoughts on Malvesti. "I looked up YouTube videos in preparation, trying to find what to expect a little bit. Watching videos and doing the actual thing don't compare at all. It was really fun, but it was definitely hard. Definitely a good team-building experience."
After the fun and games had subsided the commander of the Ranger Training Brigade, Col. Matthew Scarpulla, briefed the students on what Ranger School is all about. Known to be the hardest school in the Army, Ranger School trains students in three phases. In Darby phase students complete team week and are introduced to squad level patrolling. In mountain phase, students conduct platoon size patrols and learn about rope work and mountaineering. In Florida or swamp phase, students learn all about the natural splendor of the pan handle's mangrove swamps.
The head coach for the Auburn Tigers takes his players to Ranger School for a one-day sampler of the curriculum each year, believing it to be a good team-building experience for his players.
"I haven't climbed ropes since elementary school," one of the college athletes said. "That was probably one of the more challenging ones. Just 'cause after the first few obstacles you're already dead beat. And you really gotta find it deep down inside to persevere through the rest of the course."