Photo By Staff Sgt. Steven Colvin | A MNBG-East Soldier fires an M4 machine gun during the stress-shoot portion of the...... read more read more
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Leaders, commanders and mentors gathered together for a dinner to honor the Soldiers who participated in the Multinational Battle Group–East Best Warrior Competition and to announce the winners, Feb. 15, 2018, on Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo.
“Soldier lethality is the theme tonight,” said Brig. Gen. Lawrence Powell, the chief of staff for Kosovo Forces. “You are a weapon. You are a weapon system together.”
The culminating event was six months in the making. The KFOR 23 rotation conducted Soldier of the Month and Noncommissioned Officer of the Month boards dating back to September of 2017. MNBG-East’s Best Warrior Competition took the winners of those boards and put them to the test in order to identify the Soldier and the NCO of the Rotation.
“It’s rewarding to see the quality of the Soldier that comes out to compete for this,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Donald Stane, the MNBG-East command sergeant major. “There is no bad Soldier here today. This is absolutely the cream of the crop.”
Four junior enlisted Soldiers and three junior NCOs competed through events such as a modified physical fitness test, call for indirect fire, individual movement techniques through a simulated battlefield, weapon assembly and disassembly, urban orienteering, evaluating and treating a casualty, a road march to include identifying military-like objects along the route and a stress shoot with the M4 carbine and the M9 pistol.
Sgt. 1st Class Justin Fisher, the current operations NCO for MNBG-East, explained that implementing a critical thinking aspect was a major theme in developing the events for the Best Warrior Competition. For example, the road march included what is called the “Keep in Memory” or KIM game. Along the route there were six military-like items that had to be identified by the competitors who then were required to draw and describe the items upon completion of the route.
Fisher said the KIM game is something that is done throughout U.S. Army marksmanship schools such as sniper school.
The wide range of events proved to be challenging for the competitors.
“They were all equally difficult for the most part but I would have to go with the stress shoot. It was a quick fire,” said Sgt. Waid Goolsby, the medical laboratory noncommissioned officer in charge for Task Force Med.
The individual movement technique or IMT event seemed to draw the most excitement from the competitors, spectators and lane safeties.
During the IMT lane, competitors moved tactically to cover positions and low crawled toward a point while having universal training munitions or sim rounds fired in their direction from a M249 light machine gun, described Command Sgt. Maj. Douglas Krol, the MNBG-East, Southern Command Post command sergeant major and IMT lane safety. Competitors then tossed notional hand grenades into a bunker and toward targets in the open. To add to the realism and intensity of the mock battlefield, lane safeties threw hand grenade simulators throughout the iteration.
“The IMT lane was actually really fun, getting shot at with sim rounds and having to low crawl through the mud,” said Pfc. Taylor Shoff, a military police Soldier for MNBG-East, Task Force MP.
After the day’s events, the competitors cleaned themselves up for the dinner in their honor, where the winners of the Best Warrior Competition would be named. Surrounded by their leaders, the room toasted to their efforts. They all received challenge coins from commanders. Two 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team award knives sat in front of Stane as he waited to present them to the Soldier and the NCO of the Rotation as Powell gave a speech highlighting Soldier lethality and the KFOR mission.
“When you hear Soldier lethality, understand that you’re on the cusp of that,” said Powell.
Finally, the names were announced.
Congratulations to Pfc. Taylor Shoff of the 591st MP Company, 93rd MP Battalion, 89th MP Brigade, out of Fort Bliss, Texas, for earning the title of MNBG-East’s Soldier of the Rotation.
Congratulations to Sgt. Waid Goolsby of the 21st Combat Support Hospital, 1st Medical Brigade out of Fort Hood, Texas, for earning the title of MNBG-East’s NCO of the Rotation.
The two Soldiers each received the Army Commendation Medal, a challenge coin from Powell and of course the coveted 39th IBCT award knife presented by Stane.
| Date Taken: | 02.15.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 02.23.2018 12:57 |
| Story ID: | 266932 |
| Location: | CAMP BONDSTEEL, ZZ |
| Hometown: | DAYTON, IN, US |
| Hometown: | FORT BLISS, TX, US |
| Hometown: | FORT CAVAZOS, TX, US |
| Hometown: | HOUSTON, TX, US |
| Hometown: | MESQUITE, TX, US |
| Hometown: | WEST LAFAYETTE, OH, US |
| Hometown: | WINAMAC, IN, US |
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