Bar set high at Best Warrior competition this week

By Army Sgt. 1st Class Jon Soucy
National Guard Bureau

Click photo for screen-resolution image
Spc. Guy Mellor,from B Company, 1st Battalion, 145th Field Artillery Regiment, emplaces a Claymore mine while competing in the 2009 Best Warrior Competition at Fort Benning, Ga., Sunday, August 02, 2009. Durning the competition participants must negotiate multiple events designed to test their physical and mental endurance. The Soldier and NCO who win the competition at Fort Benning will go on to compete in the All-Army competition.(U.S. Army Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Jon Soucy)(Released)
open link in new windowdownload hi-res photo

FORT BENNING, Ga. (7/31/09) – The Army National Guard’s Best Warrior competition at the Warrior Training Center here this week promises to be a stern test for the fourteen Soldiers taking part.

The competition encompasses two grueling days during which participants will face both physical and mental challenges as they negotiate an obstacle course, the rifle range, land navigation, questions on general military knowledge and a 12-mile ruck march in less than three hours.

In the end, only two will be crowned the best Soldier and NCO in the Army National Guard. They will move on to the Department of the Army competition, which will be held in October at Ft. Lee, Va.

In last year’s competition, winner Staff Sgt. Michael Noyce Merino of the Montana Army National Guard won the higher DA-level competition.

For those who are about to go through the Army Guard competition, one thing that is for certain – they are among the best.

“You’ve made it this far and that means you’re already a cut above the rest,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Gregory Slater, sergeant major of the Warrior Training Center, as he addressed the competitors during in-processing.

The fourteen that made it here – seven Soldiers and seven NCOs – had to win at the local, state and one of seven regional levels.

“It’s really akin to an (Expert Infantry Badge) testing event,” said Slater about Best Warrior, adding that competitors will have time to prepare for events. “They’re going to have a few days of training. We’ll give them the task, conditions and standards and they’ll have some time to familiarize themselves with the task. Then, after that, we’ll actually be testing and doing an evaluation on those events.”

But even with the additional time to familiarize themselves with the events, the competition will still challenge them.

“The thing that makes this thing so challenging isn’t any one specific event … it’s [the] back-to-back-to-back,” said Slater. “They will be going nonstop constantly and have to make sure that they hang in there and keep pushing themselves and giving 110 percent the entire time.”

The competition is designed not only to test the physical and mental endurance of the competitors, it also builds tactical, technical and leadership skills, said Slater. And that will help other Soldiers down the road.

Competitors are expected to pass on what they learned to Soldiers back in their unit.

That mentorship is especially important as it ties in directly to one aspect of being an NCO, said Slater, adding that it takes on a special significance this year with 2009 being named the Year of the NCO.

“One day one of them may be standing right here as the (command sergeant major) of the Warrior Training Center passing on his knowledge to the younger Soldiers,” said Slater.

There is also one other benefit that may not be so readily apparent.

“They’re all going out there with the mindset of they’re going to be winners,” said Slater. “But they’re really networking, whether they realize it or not. Being this successful, at this point in their career, they’re going to go on and become first sergeants or sergeants major one day. Whether they know it or not they will be seeing each other again; they’ll be working with each other.”

And as the competitors prepare for the challenges, they have much to shoot for.

“Last year, we were able to produce the winner … who became the Army’s NCO of the Year,” said Slater. “We’re hoping to keep that title again this year and maybe get the Soldier of the Year title as well.”

Slater said he feels that is an attainable goal. “We’ve got a saying here: ‘When the will is strong, the rest is easy.’ And that applies here.”

Related Stories