NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Spc. Dustin Wilmoth, a recruiter with the North Carolina Army National Guard’s Recruiting and Retention Battalion, recently competed in Army National Guard’s Best Warrior competition at the Army National Guard Bureau’s Professional Education Center in North Little Rock, Ark., July 21 through July 24.
Wilmoth, one of the seven soldiers competing in the enlisted category of the competition, did not win, but he said competing has taught him how to be a better soldier and what he could improve on.
“I wanted to win, nobody comes to a competition to lose, but at the same time I learned where I need to improve,” Wilmoth said. “I know what I need to do to compete next year.”
Wilmoth also said he learned patience throughout the competition.
“I slowed down a lot in this competition,” Wilmoth said. “For the most part, slowing down and taking the time to think before I acted, instead of going in guns blazing, made a huge difference.”
Wilmoth also said he learned humility and brotherhood while competing.
“If I saw someone struggling I told them ‘come on, get up here’ and encouraged them,” Wilmoth said. “Everyone thinks about what they will do if they win, no one really thinks about what they will do if they don’t. I also learned brotherhood. I relearned what it means to be a soldier and the bond of soldiers.”
As a recruiter, Wilmoth talks about being a soldier every day. He believes that the competition experience will make it easier for him to talk to new recruits about why he enjoys being in the North Carolina Army National Guard.
“I think what I’ve been forgetting is why I do what I do,” Wilmoth said. “It is one thing to just say I’m a recruiter, I’m in the National Guard and I’m a soldier. This competition helped revitalize me and helped remind me why, those, six years ago I signed up.”
Wilmoth hopes that he can take what he learned and teach it to the new soldiers coming into the North Carolina National Guard.
“I want to light a fire in our RSP (Recruit Sustainment Program) units,” Wilmoth said. “I believe it begins with our recruits. They are going to be the new soldiers in the North Carolina Guard.”
When soldier’s first enlist in the North Carolina National Guard, they conduct individual duty training assemblies at a RSP unit before attending Basic Combat Training and after returning from their advanced individual training.
Wilmoth hopes he can take what he learned from competing and use it to help give new recruits a head start.
“I want to take these skills I learned in the competition, skills these new soldiers will need later down the road, and I want to start teaching it to them now,” Wilmoth said. “The competition is great and it reminds soldiers why they are soldiers.”
| Date Taken: |
07.26.2013 |
| Date Posted: |
08.13.2013 13:52 |
| Story ID: |
111891 |
| Location: |
NORTH LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS, US |
| Web Views: |
136 |
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0 |
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This work, Competition teaches NC Guardsman life-long lessons, by SFC Mary Junell, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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