Every year NATO recon soldiers gather in Estonia for the Admiral Pitka Recon Challenge, a gruelling 150km four-day event.
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NATO’s recon soldiers have one of the most demanding and dangerous jobs in the Alliance: they scout far ahead of the main force, observing everything from terrain conditions, to weather, to the disposition of enemy forces. Pulling this off takes not just physical toughness, but the mental resilience to push through fatigue and discomfort to get the job done.
Every year, these soldiers gather in Estonia for the Admiral Pitka Recon Challenge, a gruelling four-day event that tasks soldiers with crossing 150 kilometres of terrain on foot, facing a myriad of obstacles along the way. To find out first-hand what it takes to be a recon trooper, Rob Kunzig, video producer for NATO, visited the competition, trying out some of the obstacles and realising that, as one Finnish solider puts it, it’s the heart that matters most.
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