Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Erick Studenicka | Sgt. Oswald Sanchez emerged as the winner of the Nevada Army Guard's 2017 Best Warrior...... read more read more
By Sgt. 1st Class Erick Studenicka
Joint Force Headquarters Public Affairs
STEAD, Nev. – Sgt. Oswald Sanchez had to work overtime to finally defeat upstart Spc. Grant Reimers and claim the overall title in the Nevada Army Guard’s Best Warrior Competition contested here April 25-28.
Sanchez, 34, from Bravo Company, 1-221st Cavalry, was tied with Reimers, 22, of the 1859th Transportation Company after the first 11 events of the four-day competition to determine the state’s top Soldiers and Non-commissioned Officers. The two then went to an overtime 12th event – Reflexive Fire marksmanship – that finally separated the two and gave Sanchez the overarching title of Best Warrior. Sanchez was also tabbed as the Non-commissioned Officer of the Year (for ranks sergeant through sergeant major) and Reimers garnered the Soldier of the Year victory (for ranks private through specialist).
“I can’t believe it was that close,” said Sanchez, a Las Vegas resident who is still recovering from a recent motorcycle accident. “Everything we did was separated by a narrow margin.”
Sanchez and Reimers now advance to the Region VII Best Warrior Competition set for California later this month.
In addition to the race for the overall title, Sanchez had plenty of competition within his own Non-commissioned Officer division, as he had to win the last two scheduled events, the written exam and weapons qualification, to finally dispatch Staff Sgt. Steven “Keith” Lawson of the 1859th in the NCO category. Sanchez scored a 37 on his rifle qualification while Lawson could only muster a 29.
At age 35, Lawson, of Hawthorne, was the contest’s oldest contestant. He said his second-place finish was bittersweet.
“It was a great experience, but every event left me disappointed,” Lawson said. “I tried too hard in everything. I was too tense and too tight.
Lawson noted his score of 29 in rifle marksmanship was his all-time low score and his Army Physical Fitness Test score of 271 was below his average in the 280-290 range. In comparison, Sanchez scored a 280 on his APFT.
The Soldiers’ division was just as competitive, as Spc. Michael Consul of D Company, 3/140th Aviation, put the pressure on Reimers by winning three of the 11 events contested. But Reimers won five events to hold off Consul 47-44 in the overall score that gave contestants points based off their places in each individual event.
“We could only speculate on who was winning because it felt like it was so close,” said Reimers, 22, of Reno. “By no means was it a slam dunk at any time.”
Consul, 30, had started out with the early lead by posting the highest score out of any competitor in the APFT. He recorded the contest’s only 300 score with his effort of 78 push-ups, 82 sit-ups and 13 minutes, 14 seconds 2-mile run.
Reimers rebounded and took both the day- and night land navigation and Warrior Task events to move into a slim lead he never relinquished.
The events contested were: APFT; Weapons Skills Test; Essay Contest; 12-mile Ruck March; Day Land Navigation; Night Land Navigation; Warrior Tasks; Mystery Event (Weapons Assembly); Appearance Board; Written Exam; and Weapons Qualification on both rifle and pistol.
A total of five Soldiers competed in the NCO of the Year contest; four competed in the Soldier of the Year competition. All are now eligible for Nevada Army Guard slots at Air Assault School.
For information on participating in the 2018 Best Warrior competition, call 775-887-7350.
2017 BEST WARRIOR RESULTS
April 25-28 @ Stead Training Site
(All scored 5-4-3-2-1 based on results in 11 events; 5 points for 1st place)
NCO Division: 1, Sgt. Oswald Sanchez (C Troop, 1-221st Cavalry), 48 points. 2, Staff Sgt. Keith Lawson (1859th TC), 45. 3, Sgt. Justin Sample (137th MP Co.), 32. 4, Staff Sgt. Michael Kostak (Joint Force Headquarters), 31.
Soldier Division: 1, Spc. Grant Reimers (1859th TC), 47 points. 2, Spc. Michael Consul (Co. D, 3/140th), 44. 3, Spc. Seamus Redmond (D Co., 1/189th Aviation), 37. 4, Spc. Roger Arriola (777th Eng. Det.), 21. 5, Spc. Joshua Bigham (B Troop, 1-221st Cavalry), 18.
| Date Taken: | 05.01.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 05.04.2017 11:37 |
| Story ID: | 232423 |
| Location: | LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, US |
| Web Views: | 86 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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