On the 40th anniversary of the Army’s Best Ranger Competition, the team sporting No. 40 took home the top prize Sunday, grabbing the fourth straight victory for the service’s elite 75th Ranger Regiment in the grueling three-day military skills contest. 1LT Andrew Winski ’20 and Sgt. Matthew Dunphy held their M4 carbines high over their heads as they crossed the finish line outside Fort Moore’s National Infantry Museum, hugging briefly before dipping their arms and heads in an ice bath.
The pair of Ranger infantrymen said winning the contest was important to the special operations regiment, which holds higher-than-typical standards for physical fitness and mental fortitude among its 3,000-some troops.
“It means a lot,” Winski said, shortly after completing the final buddy run event and locking in the victory. “Mostly for my partner — I didn’t want to let him down, and we didn’t want to let the regiment down. Really, just truly grateful that the regiment gave us this opportunity to come down, train and compete and show the [rest of the] Army what the Army’s Ranger Regiment is and … what kind of Rangers we produce.”
Other West Point graduates who have won this grueling competition are CPT Edward Garcia ’89 USAR, Corbett McCallum ’98, Michael Trisler ’90 and COL (R) Liam Collins ’92.
