JERICHO, Vt. - As snow fell on the second day of Spring, Soldiers from around Vermont kicked off the 2015 Best Warrior Competition at Camp Ethan Allen Training Site in Jericho, Vermont. Three Non-Commissioned Officers and two junior enlisted Soldiers battled for the state’s top spots.
The oldest competitor, 40-years-old, battled it out with the young guns.
“You have more than a 20-year range in age and probably a 20-year range in experience difference,” said Staff Sgt. Adam Maynard, information operations instructor, 3rd Information Operations Battalion, 124th Regiment (Regional Training Institute). “You’ve got young guys that are fast, but don’t have a lot of experience and you have older guys like myself that are not as fast, but we know all the little secrets and tricks and have the experience. You have to use what you have to compete against them and they are using what they have to compete against you. In the end, you just hope you come out on top.”
The youngest competitor, 19-years-old, was striving for recognition.
“Anytime as a Specialist, you’re walking around a bunch of sergeants major, staff sergeants, and sergeants 1st class, you’re trying to prove yourself,” said Spc. Mark Viens, 186th Brigade Support Battalion. “It’s interesting to be out there, be confident in yourself, and I think you do try to prove yourself.”
The Soldiers were evaluated on an Army physical fitness test, weapons qualification, stress shoot, ruck march, land navigation, written test, board review, and a gauntlet of other Soldier tasks during the two-day competition.
Mentors followed their Soldiers throughout the weekend to offer support and advice during the competition. Sgt. 1st Class Paul Morris, who was mentoring Sgt. Shawn Allen, information technology specialist, Joint Force Headquarters, competed in the Regional Best Warrior Competition last year.
“Being able to understand the stresses of the competition and coming back a year later to give pointers to help him [Allen] is great,” said Morris. “Tips on ruck marches, the gear, some of the questions being asked during the competition helps him out and takes away some of the stress. He was able to take that knowledge and use it. He studied before the competition, and it helped him out. It also gave me a lot of pride to see him take that and work with that.”
The Best Warrior Competition is designed to test a broad spectrum of skills to find Soldiers that exemplify the National Guard.
“I go back to 2009 and 2010 when we were trying to build a total Soldier and it wasn't just about being good at one thing,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Toby Quick, Vermont National Guard command sergeant major. “They have to be proficient in all matters. Shoot, move, communicate is how we really started and it just keeps progressing every year, so we are looking for that total Soldier. It is very demanding physical, I’m not going to tell you it’s not, but we are also looking for the smart Soldier, who can speak well, present themselves well”
It was a close competition the entire weekend, but at the end of the two days only one enlisted and one NCO could be named Vermont’s Best Warrior.
“This year, in 2015 all NCOs and enlisted were within two points of each other going through the whole thing, so it was great to see the competitiveness within the state, and we’ll move onto regionals in May and see how we do there,” said Quick. “Out of 2,800 plus Soldiers, we had five of our finest right here in this room for this weekend, so they can be proud of making it this far.”
Quick said they were all winners, but only two could be named Vermont’s 2015 Best Warrior. Spc. Arion Loomis, Black Hawk repair technician, Garrison Support Command, and Staff Sgt. Adam Maynard were named this year’s Best Warriors.
“It was a tough competition,” said Loomis. “I’m looking forward to training more and getting ready to go to Massachusetts and represent for the Vermont state to take it there as well and hopefully go to the next level.”
| Date Taken: | 03.22.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 03.26.2015 12:02 |
| Story ID: | 158169 |
| Location: | JERICHO, VT, US |
| Web Views: | 52 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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