Sandhurst Competition

The Sandhurst Military Skills Competition is a military skills competition at West Point that first began in 1967 with the presentation of a British officer's sword to the United States Corps of Cadets by the British Exchange Officer. 2010's event, dubbed SANCOM10, was a two day event conducted at West Point, New York. The 2009 competition featured a record 49 teams and nearly 500 competitors. Besides the 36 squads from each of the West Point companies, visiting service academy teams included the Naval, Air Force and Coast Guard Academies, Britain's Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS) teams "Red" and "Blue", Australia's Royal Military College Duntroon, Canada's Royal Military College (RMC), the National Military Academy of Afghanistan, and the Chilean Military School. That year saw eight ROTC squads: Texas A&M, BYU, East Carolina University, Iowa State University, Florida Tech, Georgetown, University of Hawaii, and Appalachian State.

Since 1986, each USMA cadet company and visiting team selects an 11 member squad (at least two female members) with two alternates. A West Point female cadet volunteers to work with the Afghan team's squad as there are no females at the NMAA. Each squad is required to perform a series of military tasks along a route which took most teams approximately four hours to complete. Scores are determined by combining the points they earn by performing each military task along the route, with the points earned for completing the course within the 4 hour time frame. Examples of events include rappelling, building and crossing a one rope bridge, obstacle course navigation, combat swim (with full gear), rifle marksmanship, a raft paddle, 12' wall climb, and weapon handling skills. This year's weapons events were held the evening prior to the course navigation phase. In 2005, Britain's Prince Harry (then third in line for the British crown) visited West Point and participated in the competition as a Sandhurst cadet. In 2014, Sandhurst Blue from RMAS won the competition.