Fort Carson hosts an annual mystery event for the Best Ranger, Sapper, and Medic Competition

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - Today, Fort Carson soldiers jumped out of a Black Hawk helicopter before participating in a mystery competition.

It's part of the qualifying process for a national competition for the best Ranger, Sapper, and Medic in the army.

Today's event, the last day of a week-long competition simulated a potential threat that needed to be solved and taken care of.

Twenty-four soldiers started their day with a mystery competition where they simulated an attack with paintball guns. Then, they went through an attack obstacle course with those paintball guns.

In teams of four, their mission was to defend their team while saving an injured soldier.

The teams shot green smoke in the air when a soldier was brought to safety.

The events were timed, and those who did it the quickest were deemed the winners.

They will now advance to another round of twelve-week training to represent Fort Carson's best Sapper, Ranger, and Medic in a national competition in April.

"I think the most exciting part is the final destination of the competitions and seeing all the hard work and all the training get put into place whether you place or whether you don't, you know that you are now set aside from everybody else," says Captain Ryan Griffis, Combat Engineer.

This week's training also included a maximum strength test, a physical test, an obstacle course, a swim event, land navigation, and more.

The final six selected to represent Fort Carson nationally will be selected in the next few months.