D-M members compete in death march

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Tim Beckham
  • 355th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  Not many people are up for a 26 mile hike, especially when the trek is referred to as the death march. But a group of Comm Cobras proved their worth March 30 as they endured the high-desert terrain in the White Sands Missile Range of New Mexico.

"Assuming how hard the event was going to be, I thought it would be a challenge to find five squadron members to register a team, but it turned out just the opposite," said Capt. Scott Papineau, 355th Communications Squadron director of operations. "Once folks understood the meaning of the march and the chance to challenge themselves, people started raising their hands."

The five D-M members, all from the 355th CS, competed in the Male Military Light category, and it was the first time any of them competed in the event.

"Myself (Team Captain), Capt. Colin Lennon, 2nd Lt. Tyler Steffenson, Tech. Sgt. Charles Crockett, and Airman 1st Class Eliott Stokes started training in January," said Captain Papineau. "We knew we were physically fit to go the distance, the challenge was going the distance in our boots." 

The team lost a crucial member in crunch time, but fortunately another Comm Cobra jumped at the chance to jon the team.

"Amazingly Airman 1st Class Christopher Davalos replaced Captain Lennon on 24 hours notice when Captain Lennon's doctor told him he couldn't participate," said Captain Papineau.

The death march, or the Bataan Memorial Death March as it is officially known, is an annual march conducted in honor of the heroic servicemembers who defended the Philippine Islands during World War II, sacrificing their freedom, health and, in many cases, their very lives.

"There are multiple reasons we chose to compete; we wanted to honor the veterans of the Bataan Death March, we wanted to challenge ourselves physically and mentally, and we wanted to do something as a squadron," said Captain Papineau.

According to the official Web site, the march, which first began in 1989, began when the Army ROTC Department at New Mexico State University began sponsoring the event to mark a page in history that included so many native sons and affected many families in the state. In 1992, White Sands Missile Range and the New Mexico National Guard joined in the sponsorship and the event was moved to the missile range.

Since its inception, the memorial march has grown from about 100 to some 4,000 marchers from across the United States and several foreign countries. While still primarily a military event, many civilians choose to take the challenge.

The team from D-M placed  tenth out of 25 teams in the event in a time of 7 hours 30 minutes, but according to Captain Papineau, just finishing the death march was reward enough.

"Finishing the march was an awesome experience, as soon as we heard the roar of the crowd at the finishing line, we formed up and ran the last 100 yards together, not thinking one bit about how exhausted and in pain we were," he said. "Each team member is completely in awe and proud of themselves having finished such a grueling event."