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How tough are these challenges? Our news team was out with the competitors today, and Daniel Ortiz has the story of their torture and travails:

Daniel Ortiz reporting
5 teams, 4 from the Coast Guard and 1 from the Belize Defence Force all lined up this morning ready to take each other on in a test of fitness, endurance, skill and most importantly teamwork.

The teams are made up of the Coast Guard elements: the officers, the fleet members - the operational officers, SEALS, the recruit squad #5, and BDF's Special Assignment Group.

Ordinarily, each officer has to respect the rigid chain of command, but on this and for the next 2 days, each man is equal to the other. They would therefore win or lose based on their contribution to their team's collective strength.

Admiral John Borland - Commandant, Belize Coast Guard
"It's a 3 day competition. It's called the "Coast Guard Best Warrior Competition" and we are just into the second year of this competition. Previously to this we use to do an iron man competition every year, but the iron man is an individual effort. The Best Warrior Competition is a team effort."

Each team consists of 8 members, and they all must complete the challenges or else their entire team's effort is nullified.

Admiral John Borland - Commandant, Belize Coast Guard
"The first thing we are doing here this morning is the Coast Guard physical fitness test which includes; a 2 minutes push-up; 2 minutes sit-up; a maximum pull-up effort on the pull up bar and a maximum dip effort on the dip bar followed by a 2 mile run in the best individual time."

They are all strenuous physical activities, but it wasn't until the 2 mile run that the true tests of will started playing out for day one. The physical fitness test was a bit too close to call, but the officers' team had quite a difficulty finishing.

In the afternoon, all 5 teams took to sea for a 2 mile swim; not easily undertaken without a high level of physical fitness. This event especially belonged to 4 Coast Guard teams, but the recruits outswam all the other squads by a huge margin.

Admiral John Borland - Commandant, Belize Coast Guard
"These teams are going to push each other. All of them want to win the competition. Most of them are prepared, are trained in their best, so they are going to push each other and it's going to be fierce competition and basically it's going to be fair play of course and at the end of the day the best team will come out on top."

Lt. Zenon Ciego - Team BSAG
"We came here with an open-mindedness willing to accept whatever they threw at us. At this point we are still sort of strategizing as to how we are going to overcome all the other challenges that they have before us. The swimming is not one of our strong points, so at the end of the day, the game changer was just to ensure that the whole team finishes it in a good enough time. Coming on to the other competition tomorrow, then they are getting into our territory which is a more ground work, field work."

Officer Gallicia - Team Seals
"It's a competition, you are strongest at the weakness link in this particular type of competition. We tried and we did what we had to do. Fortunately, by the looks of it other teams are better than us, but then again it's just day one."

Kirk Hyde - Team Leader, Fleet Squad
"Three weeks ago we started to work out for this exercise, so we came into this training very mentally and physically prepared."

Kenrick Thomas - Officers Squad
"We are as fast as the slowest man and strong as the weakest man, so what we are basing on is team work and that's what the officers corps is all about - team work, best effort."

Daniel Gregorio - Recruit Intake #5
"The first day was a pretty good day, a little bit of rain never stops us because nothing stops intake #5 - always on the top. First thing, congrats to my teammates, they did a pretty good job."

So, that's Day 1 to completion with 2 more to come, in which the intensity and physical demands will increase. But, apart from bragging rights for a whole year, why would any officer put themselves through this?

Admiral John Borland - Commandant, Belize Coast Guard
"In peace time we have to prepare for war. We have to stimulate the most arduous and stressful conditions that we can imagine, so that when it get time to do combat, we are combat ready."

Tomorrow the 5 teams take on a 6 mile run, and an obstacle course designed to Coast Guard Seals specifications. We'll tell how you about it in tomorrow's newscast.