Warrant officer candidates from the 1st Battalion, 235th Regiment Officer and Warrant Officer Candidate School, completed a milestone during the February drill weekend by finishing a 10K (6.2 mile) foot march, which is no small task.

The candidates have been training for this since the beginning of November. The minimum requirement to pass is for the ruck sack weight of 48 lbs. and complete distance within 1 hour and 46 minutes (106 minutes). Despite starting at 4:45 a.m., the candidates were ready to take on the task.

“While this was an individual event, these candidates worked together to pace and motivate each other through the entire foot march,” said Lt. Col. Jason Inskeep, battalion commander.

“The candidates had an outstanding performance during the foot march,” said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Lauren Stout, senior Training, Advising, and Counseling officer. “They exceeded the standard, as no candidate came in after 100 minutes.”

The candidates found encouragement to complete the march from their fellow candidates.

“The whole class has been supportive of each other during our monthly training foot marches,” said Warrant Officer Candidate Sally Heaslet.

“It is always a good day when you see candidates like these successfully complete an event and work together as a team,” said Inskeep.

The candidates will complete more academics and testing requirements for WOCS Phase I before moving on to WOCS Phase II at Fort McLellan, Alabama.