Photo By 1st Lt. Brianne Roudebush | Staff Sgt. Francisco Serrato, (sponsor), Staff Sgt. Albert Garcia (competitor), Spc....... read more read more
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FORT CARSON, Colo. - More than 800 miles from home at 6,000 feet above sea level, two California National Guard soldiers competed against 14 other Guardsmen from seven states and territories in April for the title of Region VII Best Warrior.
The two representatives from California - Staff Sgt. Albert Garcia of the Fresno-based 1106th Theater Aviation Support Maintenance Group (TASMG) and Spc. Ryan Ziegler, of Mountain View’s Company A, 5th Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group (Airborne) - battled Guardsmen from Arizona, Colorado, Guam, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah in 10 events, which included a physical fitness assessment, an obstacle course, a ruck march, a military operations on urban terrain event and a land navigation course.
They also assembled and fired weapons, took a written test, answered questions in a mock media interview and issued a warning order. The last event of the competition, which was held April 4-7 at Fort Carson, Colo., was an oral examination.
“It was basically a miniature mission from start to finish,” said Ziegler, a trainee with the Special Forces Group. “This was a back-to-back-to-back series of Warrior Tasks and drills that really showed you a lot about yourself, who you were and how you thought.”
Ziegler beat out seven California soldiers for the title of the Golden State’s Best Warrior in the junior enlisted category during a grueling competition in September. Garcia bested seven noncommissioned officers during the September contest, earning him second place among NCOs, behind Staff Sgt. Jarrad Negherbon of the 235th Engineer Company, who could not attend the competition in Colorado because he is preparing to deploy.
“We stress them out,” Command Sgt. Maj. Harold London, the top enlisted member of the California Army National Guard, said of California’s competition. “We’re trying to simulate those battlefield conditions and put them through those stressors to get the very best warrior out of this.”
Both California competitors agreed that the competition was very challenging.
“You prepare and you train and you study, but the competition itself will always keep you on your toes,” said Garcia, a movement NCO for the TASMG. “You come out here and you expect to be challenged.”
The soldiers maintained a solid training schedule in the days, weeks and months leading up to the competition. In addition to training provided by the California National Guard, the soldiers worked and studied hard on their own time.
“In order to be successful, you really have to sacrifice so much,” Garcia said. “You have to sacrifice sleep, comfort, even watching TV and relaxing.”
The physical preparation was sometimes difficult, he said, because the soldiers still had lives at home and full-time jobs to think about.
“Corny enough, and a little embarrassing, I used a lot of ‘Rocky’ theme music to motivate myself just to get up and put on my shoes and go running,” Garcia said.
One of the more difficult aspects of the competition was the altitude at Fort Carson. The California competitors and their sponsors, Staff Sgt. Francisco Serrato and Sgt. Gary Tourville, trained at a ranch in Divide, Colo., for about a week before the competition to acclimate to the altitude. A competitor’s sponsor handles the majority of their paperwork and logistics and also motivates and encourages their soldiers during training and practice for the competition.
“That elevation just takes a lot out of you,” said Serrato, who sponsored Garcia. “We felt like we were acclimated, but as soon as these guys started running, it was hard.”
The competition started at 4:45 Friday morning with a physical fitness test, which is when the competitors really got a feel for the effects of the altitude. The rest of the weekend was jam-packed with events that required both physical and mental stamina.
The most difficult event was the ruck march, Garcia said. The competitors wore a helmet and a flak jacket with ceramic armor plates and carried a weapon and a 45-pound ruck sack for an unknown distance. They had one hour and 45 minutes to complete the march.
“I wanted to slow down so bad and take it easy and catch my breath, but at the same time, it’s a competition and you have to keep moving,” Garcia said. “That not only took a lot of physical activity, strength and endurance, it also took a lot of heart.”
Garcia’s perseverance paid off, as he was one of the first to finish the event.
Both Garcia and Ziegler liked the military operations on urban terrain event the most. It was scheduled as a mystery event, so the competitors knew nothing about it until they got there.
In full battle gear and equipped with a radio and a paintball gun, the competitors were transported one at a time by helicopter to the urban terrain range. There they were instructed to maneuver through the town and past opposition forces to find, treat and evacuate a casualty.
Ziegler said he tried to approach each event with an open heart and an open mind, knowing that he could expertly handle anything they threw at him.
It takes a “whole soldier” to win the competition, he said: One has to be strong overall and proficient in each tested area to achieve the title of Best Warrior.
“You see the talent out here and the knowledge and the experience, and it’s a pretty amazing thing,” Ziegler said. “The level of competition is extremely high.”
Spc. Nathaniel Hill from Nevada and Sgt. Conlee Luke from Utah won the Best Warrior titles and will represent Region VII at the national Best Warrior Competition. Both California soldiers, however, had very impressive showings and took home titles for top scores in individual events.
Garcia had the highest score among NCOs in the media interview event and the oral board. Ziegler earned the highest scores among junior enlisted members for the rifle and pistol shooting event, the written examination, the media interview, the land navigation test and the weapons systems event, which tested his ability to assemble four different weapons.
“I am happy with my performance and I’m not going home empty handed,” Garcia said. “I believe I have fulfilled what I would call an obligation to myself and my state and that I am going home a better soldier and a better leader.”
| Date Taken: | 04.07.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 04.10.2013 16:18 |
| Story ID: | 104949 |
| Location: | FORT CARSON, CO, US |
| Hometown: | FRESNO, CA, US |
| Hometown: | MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 245 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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