Lightning Warrior Week showcases top Soldiers in 69th ADA brigade

Photo By Kimberly Hackbarth | Sgt. David Lozano, a Patriot launching station enhanced operator/maintainer with 1st Battalion, 62nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 69th ADA Brigade, performs an arm bar on an opponent Dec. 2 on Fort Hood, Texas, during a combatives match for Lightning Warrior Week. Soldiers from each battalion in the brigade compete in the weeklong competition to see who will be named the “Noncommissioned Officer of the Quarter” and “Soldier of the Quarter” for the brigade. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Kimberly Lessmeister/69th ADA Public Affairs Office)  

FORT HOOD, TX, UNITED STATES

12.05.2014

Story by Staff Sgt. Kimberly Hackbarth 

69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade

FORT HOOD, Texas -- What do a medical operations noncommissioned officer in charge from Fort Worth, Texas and a Patriot launching station enhanced operator/maintainer from Cleveland, Ohio have in common?

They both earned the title of 69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade’s top Soldiers after competing in the brigade’s weeklong competition called Lightning Warrior Week, here, Dec. 1-5.

Staff Sgt. Eric Rosser, of Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 69th ADA Bde., and Pfc. Zackary Nacarato, of 4th Battalion, 5th ADA Regiment, beat several other competitors by earning the most points cumulatively in events including an Army Physical Fitness Test, land navigation, simulated training exercise lanes that encompassed basic Soldier skills, ruck marches, rifle qualification and combatives.

Each event holds a set amount of points if completed properly and, oftentimes, to a set time.

The ruck march was one of the timed events during the competition, and was also one of the most challenging events for both Rosser and Nacarato, they said.

While Rosser said he pushed himself in order to set an example for his own Soldier, Nacarato said it was his NCOs who got him through the rough parts of the competition.

“Each individual NCO that I’ve had in my career has inspired me and I didn’t want to let them down,” Nacarato explained. “I just knew if they were watching me, they would want me to push harder.”

Rosser said he competed and won the competition in order to set the standard for other medics in the brigade.

“Anywhere I’ve ever been, I have had the best medics in the brigade, the division, wherever it is, and I want to carry that tradition on here,” Rosser said. “Now that they’ve seen that I can do it as the brigade medical NCOIC, it puts it out there for the other medics to compete.”

For Nacarato, winning the competition gave him the confidence to accomplish other things in the Army, he said.

“It’s going to be a morale booster for me because I know I did this and I know I won this competition, so I can do anything,” he said.

The biggest thing that people get out of competitions, including Lightning Warrior Week, is NCOs training Soldiers, Rosser said.

“As your NCOs are training the Soldiers, they’re becoming better leaders,” he explained. “But also, your Soldiers are becoming better leaders as well.”

At the end of the week, the first Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Command Sgt. Maj. William Gainey, retired, spoke at the NCO Induction Ceremony at Howze Theater, here, to recognize all Soldiers who received promotions to sergeant throughout the last quarter and end Lightning Warrior Week.

• Date Taken: 12.05.2014
• Date Posted: 12.07.2014 19:34
• Story ID: 149616
• Location: FORT HOOD, TX, US
• Hometown: CLEVELAND, OH, US
• Hometown: FORT WORTH, TX, US