All Female Teams a Success

CAMP DODGE, Iowa - Elizabeth Berends, 21, a cadet from the University of Wisconsin La Crosse tried low crawled through the Matthew Nielson Hand Grenade Assault Course Challenge at Camp Dodge, Iowa, March 17 during the first 3rd ROTC Brigade Gaspers-Cahill Ranger Challenge.

Nielson, an alumnus of the University of Northern Iowa Army ROTC Program, was killed June 29, 2011 in Al Badrah, Iraq

“I’m glad they are giving females a chance,” said Nielson, a member of one of the five all-female teams competing simultaneously with the co-ed teams. “I’m excited to be able to come out here and show that we can do the same thing they do and hack it.”

Nelson, whose boyfriend is currently in Afghanistan, said she wished that civilians understood what she and her fellow Soldiers went through to protect their freedoms.

As a nursing student she is happy to honor the Nielson and the other former cadets the challenge is memorializing.

Elizabeth Berends, 21, a cadet from the University of Wisconsin La Crosse throws a hand grenade during the Matthew Nielson Hand Grenade Assault Course Challenge at Camp Dodge, Iowa, March 17 during the first 3rd ROTC Brigade Gaspers-Cahill Ranger Challenge.

The challenge was named for two of the brigade’s 11 alumni who died in combat, Nebraska graduates, 1st Lt. Kevin J. Gaspers and Capt. Joel E. Cahill.