AUGUSTA, Maine - Seven Maine Army National Guard Soldiers participated in a state competition to find the best Soldier and Noncommissioned Officer of the year held at the Augusta Armory and Gardiner Training Area April, 10-12, 2015.
The best warrior competition tests Army skills and general military knowledge as well as physical and mental endurance.
“The competition gives everyone a chance of being a well-rounded Soldier, which makes the National Guard more combat ready,” said Staff Sgt. Scott Laliberte, a combat engineer with the 133rd Engineer Battalion and an instructor at Saturday’s events.
The Best Warrior Competition started Friday with the M-16 marksmanship event and the Stress Shoot, which tested the soldier’s abilities to shoot under duress. Both events were held at the Gardiner Training Area. After the range, the soldiers appeared before three sergeants major to be quizzed on their general military knowledge at the Augusta Armory to finish the day’s events.
Spc. Fabio O’Donnell, an intelligence analyst with the 120th Regional Support Group liked the challenge of the board appearance. “It forced Soldiers to learn knowledge important to being a Soldier,” said O’Donnell.
The three day competition continued on Saturday with a non-standard Army Physical Fitness Test, which replaced the standard two-mile run with a three-mile run. It was conducted at the Augusta armory and the Kennebec River Rail Trail. The soldiers also conducted day and night land navigation courses at the Gardiner Training Area and took a written exam on general military knowledge.
“Land navigation is a basic warrior skill that is perishable if not practiced,” said Spc. O’ Donnell. “The competition is a good way to utilize training since we only get to train once a month.”
On Saturday the competitors were tested on Army warrior tasks at the Gardiner Training Area. This event included: performing voice communications, a medical treatment lane, reacting to an improvised explosive device, reacting to chemical/biological hazard or attack, searching a person or vehicle, and a weapons assembly and functions check.
Sunday’s events started with a 10k Ruck March along the Kennebec River Rail Trail, ending at the Augusta armory. The final event, kept a mystery until Sunday morning required the competitors to deploy a Claymore mine.
“Everybody did a great job,” said Laliberte, “you can see they all studied and took pride in what they were doing.”
Staff Sgt. Jeffrey Taylor with the 1136 Transportation Company was named the best Noncommissioned officer of the year and Spc. Timothy Phadungthin, a combat engineer with the 133rd Engineer Battalion was named the best soldier of the year.
The best warrior from the state competition is slated to compete at the regional level Best Warrior Competition at Camp Edwards, Massachusetts in May.
| Date Taken: | 04.12.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 04.12.2015 15:34 |
| Story ID: | 159776 |
| Location: | AUGUSTA, ME, US |
| Web Views: | 89 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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