Photo By Kimberly Hackbarth | Sgt. Steven Ray, a tactical director assistant with Headquarters and Headquarters...... read more read more
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FORT HOOD, Texas – Lightning Warrior Week is a quarterly competition held by 69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade that identifies the best Soldier and noncommissioned officer in the brigade.
This quarter, the brigade command sergeant major revealed that for the first time in the competition’s history, he wanted senior noncommissioned officers to participate as well.
Soldiers from every battalion in the brigade fought through the heat here, Aug. 10-14, to earn the titles of the best in the brigade during Lightning Warrior Week.
Though only one senior noncommissioned officer participated due to deployment schedules, Sgt. 1st Class Joey Salas, the first sergeant for Battery A, 1st Battalion, 44th ADA Regiment, 69th ADA Bde., still endured the entire competition along with the other competitors.
“I wanted to be the example for my Soldiers to follow,” he explained. “Anything that I do, or that anyone one in the Army does, should be given at 100 percent.”
The competitors took an Army Physical Fitness Test to start off the competition.
After the APFT, the competitors cleaned up and changed into the Army Combat Uniform and moved out to a training area, here, to conduct land navigation and warrior task lanes.
During the warrior task lanes, Soldiers reacted to contact, provided first aid to a simulated casualty, called up a nine-line medevac request, and other basic Soldier skills.
At other stations, they assembled and dissembled several weapons systems and operated a Defense Advanced Global Positioning System Receiver (DAGR).
To combat the heat, Sgt. Steven Ray, a tactical director assistant with Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 1st Bn., 44th ADA Regt., 69th ADA Bde., said he refilled his canteen more times than he could count, and remained focused on the tasks at hand.
“I was so focused and trying to cycle through everything in my mind that I could remember that I wasn’t even paying attention to the heat,” said the Moss Point, Mississippi, native.
Spc. Fotu Malaefono, a Patriot launching station enhanced operator/maintainer with Rear Detachment, 4th Bn., 5th ADA Regt., also took the lanes very seriously, he said.
“[The competition coordinators] made it into a real experience and it kind of put everything you would experience in a combat zone into a small lane,” he explained. “I figured why not take it seriously and act like I was actually in a combat zone and think what I would do.”
For Salas, the lanes were a reminder of the importance of basic Soldier skills.
“I’m good at what I do, but a lot of people forget about the Soldier aspect of everything and the basic stuff we were taught,” he said.
Once every competitor went through the lanes, they were released to prepare for the next day of the competition.
At 5:30 a.m. on Aug. 11, the competitors began the first leg of their ruck march, which ended at Sportsman Range, here.
Malaefono arrived first and threw his fist into the air in celebration.
“I surprised myself,” he said. “Being the first one finished, I kind of felt motivated after that.”
Malaefono completed the ruck march with encouragement from Salas, who told Malaefono to “focus on putting one foot in front of the other and keep going,” he said.
“You had to just muster up that strength and keep going,” said Malaefono.
Following a breakfast break, the competitors qualified on their assigned weapons and prepared to ruck march to Soldiers Field. There they conducted an equipment and packing list check. For safety reasons, the competition cadre cancelled the combatives tournament.
The next day, the competitors attended a general knowledge board, held by the brigade command sergeant major.
While both Salas and Ray previously attended promotion and Soldier of the Month boards in their careers, Malaefono faced the board for the first time.
“My performance wasn’t how I wanted it to be,” he said, explaining that he now knew what to expect for the next competition.
With one event left, the competitors wrote an essay on which paragraph of the Creed of the Noncommissioned Officer meant the most to them and why.
A day passed and the victors finally received word that they had earned their winning titles.
Malaefono and Salas both said that the win felt “amazing.”
Malaefono said he was very thankful to the people who influenced him to do well. One of those people was Staff Sgt. Rajarad Williams, formerly of 1st Bn., 44th ADA Regt., who passed away Nov. 8, 2014.
“He inspired me so much,” Malaefono said.
Ray said his win was “surprising.”
“I wasn’t expecting it,” he said. “In the [battalion] competition, the competitors I went up against were more than deserving of it too, so whether I win it or not, it’s still an honor and a privilege to compete in it.”
After experiencing the competition, Salas said he plans to send his Soldiers to the Lightning Warrior Week Competition.
“I want to instill in everyone’s mind that competitions like this are good,” he said. It’s definitely something that will set you above your peers.”
Competing in Lightning Warrior Week had a positive effect on Ray, he said.
“It definitely made me strive to be a better [NCO],” Ray said. “There’s always more to learn and room to grow.”
| Date Taken: | 08.14.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 08.18.2015 15:23 |
| Story ID: | 173513 |
| Location: | FORT HOOD, TX, US |
| Web Views: | 313 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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