'Best Rangers' Display Winning Pistols

Winners of the 2012 Best Ranger Competition, Master Sgt. Kevin Foutz and Sgt. 1st Class Thomas Payne were presented their prized Colt 45 pistols in a ceremony at Fort Benning, on Monday.

Both soldiers are assigned to the U.S. Army Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg have been training up together over the past year to prepare for the events, which are unknown to the competitors prior to the competition.

This year was Payne's third time competing and the first for Foutz. "I guess third time's the charm," Payne said in a Columbus Ledger-Enquirer news report. "It's a great feeling."

On Sunday, the two-man team finished the grueling three-day competition taking first place over 49 other teams. According to the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, only 34 of the 50 teams completed the competition. Some were injured through the course of events, while others did not muster the strength to endure.

"It really is an amazing feeling. It just refreshes your soldier skills. It makes you a better soldier," Foutz said in the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer report.