Photo By Sgt. Ian Thompson | Spc. Michael Clark, an Infantryman assigned to C Company, 2nd Combined Arms Battalion,...... read more read more
Subscribe
Fort Stewart, Ga. - The 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, announced their Soldier and Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) of the Year, April 26, at Fort Stewart, Ga.
Cpl. Janelle Travis, a combat medic assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Combined Arms Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, and Spc. Michael Clark, an Infantryman assigned to C Company, 2-69 AR, earned the title of Spartan NCO and Soldier of the Year respectively.
Travis and Clark will compete in the division level Soldier and NCO of the Year competition slated for May 1-4.
“My preparation for brigade NCO of the year has been an ongoing process. I trained everyday, three times a day, so when I got the opportunity to compete, I was ready.” said Travis.
Twelve Spartans assembled early on Wednesday morning, six Soldiers, six NCO’s, to conduct a modified version of the Soldier Readiness Test, the first event of the competition. The SRT is the Army’s new physical fitness test, it is gender neutral and consists of six events that closely simulate physical tasks Soldiers conduct on the battlefield.
Each event was timed and point values were assigned, completing events quicker granted the Soldiers more points to increase their standing in the overall competition.
Competitors then donned rucksacks and weapons for a three mile timed ruck march.
Upon arrival, competitors zeroed and qualified on their M4 carbine rifles. Soldiers needed to hit a minimum of 23 targets out of 40 to qualify and move on to the weapon lanes, which consisted of an M9 pistol, an M249 squad automatic weapon, and an M240 machine gun. Soldiers had to disassemble, reassemble, and conduct function checks on each weapon as fast as possible.
“The most challenging event for me was the weapons disassembly/reassembly lane,” said Travis.
The event then moved to the Fort Stewart obstacle course where Soldiers executed timed runs, which consisted of numerous log and rope obstacles, and several tunnel and wire obstacles. Soldiers fought against the clock to finish the course as fast as possible, to have a shot at the land navigation challenge.
The land navigation challenge event consisted of two iterations, day and night.
“The heat coupled with the heavy gear we wore made it difficult to navigate the dense vegetation,” said Clark.
Soldiers had four hours to find as many points as possible during the day and night portion.
On day two, contestants had to appear in front of a military board. The Soldiers were grilled on everything from the appearance of their uniforms to subjects such as the Constitution, military law, and Army regulations.
“The board itself was the most challenging aspect of this competition for me,” said Clark.
The two Soldiers said they will spend the weekend studying board topics and refreshing on their marksmanship skills, so that they are ready to represent the Spartan Brigade at the division level competition.
“I am proud of my brigade and its accomplishments,” said Clark, “I feel honored and thankful for the opportunity to represent all Spartans.”
| Date Taken: | 04.26.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 05.01.2018 10:48 |
| Story ID: | 275196 |
| Location: | FORT STEWART, GA, US |
| Web Views: | 59 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Spartans compete at Soldier of the Year, by SGT Ian Thompson, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT