Photo By Sgt. Raquel Birk | From left to right, Sgt. Maj. Dennis Petty, 38th Air Defense Artillery Brigade...... read more read more
OKINAWA, Japan – Seven noncommissioned officers and Soldiers assigned to various units throughout 38th Air Defense Artillery Brigade competed in a grueling test of their physical and mental abilities during an annual contest at Torri Station and Kadena Air Base Oct. 26-28.
In the end, Sgt. Andrew K. Han, Patriot fire control enhanced operator with 10th Missile Defense Battery, won the title of Best Warrior Competition Noncommissioned Officer, and Pfc. Louis M. Wellstood, Army intel analyst with 1st Battalion, 1st Air Defense Artillery Regiment, won the title of BWC Soldier.
“I joined this competition to see who I am when the pressure is on,” said Wellstood. “I want to compete, and put myself in situations where I have to step up and give my best. This not only motivates me, but other competitors around me to keep pushing ourselves through the escalating challenges.”
The competition’s events included the Army Combat Fitness Test; timed disassembling, reassembling and function checks of the M4 carbine rifle, M9 pistol, M240 machine gun, and M249 light machine gun; a 17-event obstacle course; a 12-mile ruck march with a three-hour time limit; a media lane; a written exam; a written essay; and a formal board before Sgt. Maj. Dennis Petty, 38th ADA operations sergeant major, Command Sgt. Maj. Daniel Venton, 1-1 ADA senior enlisted advisor, and first sergeants.
“Competition breeds excellence and promotes esprit de corps,” said Petty. “It makes our Pacific Guardian team better-rounded on both intellectual and physical aspects of Soldiering. We use this competition to feed into U.S. Army Japan’s and the 94th Army Air and Missile Defense Command’s Best Warrior Competitions.”
Sgt. 1st Class Bobby Vongsalat, electronic maintenance supervisor with 1-1 ADA and event organizer, said events were based on Soldier tasks that are not specific to any military occupational specialty.
“The competition is physically and mentally challenging, testing competitors on a variety of technical and tactical skills relevant to today’s operating environment,” said Vongsalat. “We are looking for well-rounded Soldiers who are proficient in their Warrior Tasks and Drills, physical fitness, as well as military knowledge.”
The BWC creates a platform for Soldiers to assess their strengths and weaknesses throughout the challenging events.
“Training is important to keep your skills as all skills perish and if you don’t keep training, you are going to lose them,” said Han, Best Warrior NCO winner. “To prepare for this competition, I needed to train on Warrior tasks that I don’t normally do often because at work I focus mostly on my job.”
The winners each received an Army Achievement Medal. They will also go on to compete in the USARJ and 94th AAMDC BWC’s
In addition to the winners, competitors included Cpl. Austin Shurtz, air defense battle management system operator with Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 38th ADA; Sgt. Austin J. Tabb, air defense enhanced early warning system operator with 1-1 ADA; Sgt. Mitchell A. Lapierre, military police, and Spc. Timothy M. Hernandez, chemical, biological, radiological, nucleur specialist, both with the 14th Missile Defense Battery; and Spc. Jonah A. Perez, Patriot Fire control enhanced operator with 10th Missile Defense Battery.
| Date Taken: | 10.29.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 11.02.2021 23:49 |
| Story ID: | 408573 |
| Location: | OKINAWA, JP |
| Web Views: | 68 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Pacific Guardians Vie for Best Warrior Honors, by SGT Raquel Birk, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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