Military Channel Goes the Distance to Bring Viewers 'BEST RANGER'

Military Channel Goes the Distance to Bring Viewers 'BEST RANGER'

Three-part Special Filmed During 2005 Best Ranger Competition at Fort Benning

SILVER SPRING, Md., May 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Military Channel takes viewers behind the scenes of one of the most grueling and difficult competitions being held today -- the U.S. Army's Best Ranger Competition. Unlike the Ironman and Eco-Challenge competitions, the Best Ranger Competition is the ultimate Army Olympics, showcasing the incredible physical and mental endurance of elite real-life warriors and world-class athletes. Military Channel premieres the three-part special "BEST RANGER" on Thursday, June 16, from 8-11 PM (ET/PT).

The Best Ranger Competition, established in 1982, is held annually at Fort Benning, Ga., home of the United States Army Ranger School and headquarters of the 75th Ranger Regiment. To shoot "BEST RANGER," Military Channel sent eight camera crews to Fort Benning to capture every element of the 2005 competition -- production began as the event kicked off with the Malvesti Obstacle Course at 6 AM the morning of Friday, April 22, and cameras didn't stop filming until the Buddy Run ended the competition at 4 PM, Sunday, April 24. The three-part special provides backstories on the participating Rangers, covers the competition's events, profiles the two-man winning team and shows the emotion- filled awards ceremony to capture the action as never before. Military Channel became the first network to use "extensive" night vision technology to cover the brutal Land/Navigation and Road March events and to equip the Ranger teams with GPS technology so their paths could be documented during the 12- hour overnight events.

The Rangers are active-duty military personnel who can be called to war at any moment. These are the toughest members of a military group whose motto is "Rangers lead the way!" -- Army Rangers are the best of the best the Army has to offer. The officers and enlisted soldiers who are nominated to Ranger School endure a grueling, nine-week-long leadership course, which prepares them to lead units into close-combat, direct fire battle. During this time, Ranger students average only a couple of hours of sleep every night and two or fewer meals per day. After Rangers complete the three-phase leadership course, they must maintain a physical fitness standard 10 percent above what is required of the rest of the Army. The Best Ranger Competition challenges these highly skilled and accomplished Rangers -- competing as two-man teams -- in events that test their physical conditioning, Ranger skills and team strategies.

During the 2005 Best Ranger Competition, teams had to perform in a total of 16 endurance events over a course of 60 hours that reflected the essential physical, intellectual and strategic elements of Ranger training. The events are purposely scheduled back-to-back and around the clock for 60 hours, allowing little time for rest or meals. The events range from the Malvesti Obstacle Course, where Rangers endured both physical and mental challenges, to a Push Up/Chin Up challenge, to the Bayonet Course. Other events included the Foot March, a 21-mile overnight trek with a time limit of six hours, in which Rangers carry a 60-pound pack; Day Ranger Stakes, a six-element, round-robin event that tests Ranger skills such as grenade tossing, Prusik rope climbing and rappelling and machine gun assembly; the Darby Queen, a demanding obstacle course that tests the Rangers' endurance, tenacity and dedication; the Helocast/Swim, where Ranger teams must drop from a helicopter into water and swim to shore with their needed equipment; and to end the competition, the two-mile Buddy Run.

Of the 23 teams that started this year's competition, only 11 finished. On April 25, the winners were presented with their coveted trophy and engraved 9mm Beretta pistols. The winners of the 2005 Best Ranger Competition are:

1st Place Team

Captain Corbett McCallum, 29, and Sergeant 1st Class Gerald Nelson, 37. They represent the 4th Ranger Training Battalion. McCallum participated in last year's event and Nelson has competed twice before.

2nd Place Team

Captain Marc Messerschmitt, 34, and Captain Rick Ahern, 37. They also represent the 4th Ranger Training Battalion. They were the first place winners of the 2000 Best Ranger Competition. Collectively, they've competed nine times, three times together.

3rd Place Team

Master Sergeant James Moran, 34, and Sergeant 1st Class Walter Zajkowski, 32. They represent the Special Operations Command. Moran was a member of the winning team in 1999, and Zajkowski has competed three times before.

"BEST RANGER" was produced for Military Channel by Michael Hoff Productions. For Michael Hoff Productions, Michael Hoff and Chris Valentini are co-executive producers. Bill Howard is executive producer for Military Channel. David Karp is executive in charge of production for Military Channel.

Discovery Networks, U.S., a unit of Discovery Communications, Inc., operates and manages the Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, the Travel Channel, Discovery Health Channel, Discovery HD Theater, Discovery Kids Channel, Discovery Times Channel, The Science Channel, the Military Channel, Discovery Home Channel, Discovery en Espanol and FitTV. The unit also distributes BBC AMERICA.

Source: Military Channel

CONTACT: Barb Cvrkel, +1-240-662-2928, barbara_cvrkel@discovery.com, or
Jenny Snegaroff, +1-310-474-7717, jennysnegaroff@earthlink.net, both for the
Military Channel

Web site: http://www.discovery.com/

NOTE TO EDITORS: Hi-res images are available for download at www.press.discovery.com (registration required). VHS screener copies of Part 1 "BEST RANGER" are available upon request.

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