Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Jason Epperson | FORT CARSON, Colorado – Sgt. Joshua Balasa, a satellite communication system...... read more read more
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FORT CARSON, Colorado – When Spc. Torey Jones returned from a month-long National Training Center rotation recently, he thought he might get a little down time to recuperate from the rigors of setting up communications in an austere environment.
But just a few days after returning to Fort Carson from the unforgiving desert of Fort Irwin, California, Jones, a signal support systems specialist with the brigade communications section of 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, found himself diving into the weeklong 4th Infantry Division’s Best Signal Warrior Competition 2016.
Although field weary, Jones proved battle tested after his intense NTC training by winning the Best Soldier aspect of the competition. Sgt. Bernice Laubach, of 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, was named Best NCO in the contest featuring challenges like a 9-mile ruck march, weapons qualification, signal proficiency tasks, antenna setup, land navigation and a written essay and exam.
“This whole week has been difficult with all the events. It’s been hard on your body, but I’m just happy I put my best foot forward,” Jones said. “I’m just thankful and proud I was able to represent for the Iron Brigade.”
Jones said going straight into a competition that test physical endurance and mental sharpness immediately following an NTC rotation raised the bar for him in terms of having little preparation time.
“In the beginning, which included the ruck march and a PT test, you feel a little stressed because everybody else had so much prep time and you don’t know exactly how you’re going to be, especially not having done PT in a month,” he said. “But then you get out there and you do your best, and you’re still on top, still proficient.”
The NTC field life, which saw Jones setting up FM communications for the Iron Brigade’s tactical operations center as it jumped to new locations almost every other day to stay ahead of opposition forces, also kept him sharp on his signal tasks.
Maj. James Stall, the 3rd Brigade S6 and Jones’ supervisor, said: “NTC helped him a lot because everything that he had to do for this competition, we were doing out in the box. Every bit of training helps.”
Stall added, “To be able to come back from NTC and go right into this and win it, it shows the high caliber of Soldier that he is and his ‘never quit’ attitude.”
Besides Jones, 3rd Brigade also was represented well in the NCO category by a newcomer to the brigade who’d only just arrived from another desert environment.
Sgt. Joshua Balasa, a satellite communication system operator-maintainer, placed second in the NCO category less than a month after arriving to 3rd Brigade from the 160th Signal Brigade based at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait.
With his new unit, Company C, 588th Engineer Brigade, training at NTC, Balasa volunteered for the division signal competition despite still adjusting to the high altitude of Fort Carson.
“I have a personal philosophy of kicking in the door whenever I show up somewhere, so I figured this competition was a perfect opportunity to do that,” said Balasa, who will serve as a Joint Network Node/satellite communications team chief providing network access for the brigade’s forward tactical command post during a future deployment.
“The biggest challenge physically was definitely the ruck march; it was straight uphill and it was tolling. Technically some of the equipment I’d never heard of before, but I picked it up and learned quickly,” Balasa said. “No matter what you do or where you go, you should always be able to meet the standard at the very least and do your best.”
| Date Taken: | 09.23.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 09.28.2016 18:16 |
| Story ID: | 210878 |
| Location: | FORT CARSON, CO, US |
| Web Views: | 88 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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