Army Reserve Soldier Overcomes Fears with BCT, AIT, and BWC

Photo By Maj. Marvin Baker | Spc. Madison Glinski, a mortuary affairs specialist in the U.S. Army Reserve’s 316th Expeditionary Sustainment Command competes in the 2019 316th ESC Best Warrior Competition at Camp Dawson, West Virginia held March 4-8. The annual competition runs junior enlisted Soldiers through dozens of basic and advance combat skills that offers physical and mental challenges to overcome.  

CAMP DAWSON , WV, UNITED STATES

03.05.2019

Story by Maj. Marvin Baker 

316th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary)

Camp Dawson, West Virginia. – Acrophobia, claustrophobia, galeophobia,
electrophobia and aquaphobia are on a long list of fears Spc. Madison Glinski, a Best Warrior Competition participant and an Army Reserve Soldier in the 316th Expeditionary Sustainment Command’s 698th Quartermaster Company, jokingly claimed she has struggled with. Fortunately for Glinski, she has found a way to tap into the confidence-building powers inherent in the kind of experiences, which come with military service.

“I am not confident in anything I do,” Glinski said with an edgy giggle. “But as I try different things, it makes me feel more at ease.”

Glinski first learned to overcome her fear of heights, crowded spaces and public speaking when she joined the Army Reserve in 2015. She said her experiences in basic combat training and her advanced individual training gave her the courage to try things she would have never encountered in the civilian world.

Glinski said she accepts and understands how fear is a normal human emotion. That’s why she eagerly takes on new experiences like the Best Warrior Competition to learn her limits. While some people may feel rapid heart rate, sweaty palms, and a need to flee, Glinski has learned to take each of those signs as a key indication that she is approaching a task that she must meet and overcome.

Her next challenge includes completing the required military education and training to needed for promotion to sergeant. She has been a Mortuary Affairs Specialist in her unit since the time she graduated from AIT in 2016. Up to this point, some of her military experiences included a rotation at the National Training Center with her unit and working with the Department of the Army in the aftermath of the flooding at Fort Hood where nine Soldiers tragically died.

Glinski has learned that challenge is synonymous with new experience. She said as a civilian it is hard to know what you can do, but the Army showed her where her limits were and pushed her beyond them.

“Now, I know where I am, what I can handle, and where I can go harder,” she said with a secure smile.

• Date Taken: 03.05.2019
• Date Posted: 03.05.2019 17:26
• Story ID: 313052
• Location: CAMP DAWSON , WV, US