Fort Carson soldiers begin 25 mile manchu mile march
FORT CARSON, Colo. (KRDO) - Today at Fort Carson, over 700 soldiers will take on a grueling 25 mile foot march they call the Manchu Mile.
According to a statement by Fort Carson, they'll have just 12 hours to complete the march through Fort Carson's steep terrain. It starts tonight at 9p.m.
That whole time they'll be strapped with a 35 pound ruck sack and an M-4 carbine.
The Manchu Mile is a 25-mile foot march that commemorates the 85-mile forced march undertaken by soldiers from 9th infantry regiment during the Chinese “Boxer Rebellion” in 1900.
According to the U.S. Army Military History Institute, on August 14th, 1900, an American military force entered Peking, China - which is now modern day Beijing. At that time, civil unrest in China turned into a violent rebellion against all foreign influence. The violence eventually spread to Peking, forcing soldiers to fight their way to another city also under siege, Tientsin.
The U.S. military calls what followed the first international relief expedition. It was composed of an unofficial international coalition - and would eventually grow to include France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Russia, and of course the U.S.
According to the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS), soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, marched 85 miles during their assault on Tientsin as part of the Boxer Rebellion and the China Relief Expedition earning the nickname “Manchus.”
The Manchu Mile differs significantly from other military endurance tests because of its emphasis on brotherhood, cohesion and unit identity.
Fort Carson soldiers are set to reach the finish line tomorrow morning at 7a.m.
