Photo By Spc. Skylin Simpson | U.S. Soldiers competing in the Region II Best Warrior Competition check their weapon...... read more read more
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FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. – U.S. Soldiers competing in the Region II Best Warrior Competition tested their land navigation skills, weapons marksmanship and physical fitness on the second day of events, May 7, 2025.
After a soggy first day, competitors enjoyed a clear day which started around 1 a.m. with night land navigation, or orienteering. They were given three hours to find various points using a map, compass and their understanding of the terrain. After an hour-long break, which included a written exam, they did another land navigation exercise in daylight hours.
The top land navigation finisher in the Noncommissioned Officer of the Year category was Sgt. Miles Crawford, a human intelligence collector with the Maryland National Guard. Sgt. Dominic Starry, an ammunition specialist with the West Virginia National Guard, won the Soldier of the Year category.
For Staff Sgt. Ivo Garner, an infantryman with the Virginia National Guard, land navigation was one event he was especially looking forward to.
“Being able to lead Soldiers through unforgiving terrain is a crucial skill and I enjoy being out there,” Garner said earlier in the week.
After land navigation, these Soldiers took on a grueling series of marksmanship challenges at multiple ranges. At the first range, the competitors zeroed their M4 carbines. Zeroing is a process where firers align their sights on their rifles to help their accuracy. At the next range, competitors ran through a hand grenade course where they had to throw grenades in certain target zones at six stations.
The Soldiers then ruck marched to a rifle range where they completed a standard rifle qualification, where they had to hit as many targets as they could out of 40 with their M4 carbines. When that was complete, they ruck marched to a pistol range. There, they completed a standard pistol qualification, where they hit as many targets as they could out of 30 with M17 pistols.
The culmination of the marksmanship events for the day was a three-gun stress shoot. Soldiers started by running to an M17 pistol station where they had to engage six targets, run to an M500 shotgun station, engage four targets and then switch to an M4 carbine and engage five targets.
Crawford and Starry were the winners of this cumulative event in their respective categories, taking their second victories of the day.
After the three-gun stress shoot, the winners of Tuesday’s traditional weapons marksmanship event competed in a tiebreaker. In that event, which included muzzleloader, hatchet, shotgun and archery, Garner and Crawford tied for first place in the NCO of the Year category. In the Soldier of the Year category, Spc. Max Hershey, a UH-60 helicopter repairer with the Delaware National Guard, and Spc. Robert F. Ruiz-Rhoades, an intelligence analyst with the Pennsylvania National Guard, tied for first as well.
The tiebreaker was a shuttle run followed by one shot with a muzzleloader shotgun. The NCOs tied again, while Ruiz-Rhoades won on the Soldier of the Year side.
The competitors then moved to the final event of the day, rock climbing and rappelling, followed by the obstacle course.
The event resulted in a Virginia sweep as Garner won in the NCO of the Year category and Spc. Nicholas Warren, a wheeled vehicle mechanic, won the Soldier of the Year category.
These Soldiers head into the final day of major competition Thursday, where they will complete a long-distance ruck march, test their medical skills and complete a mystery event.
The competitors come from the Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia National Guards. Winners from this competition will represent National Guard Region II at the National Best Warrior Competition in July.
| Date Taken: | 05.07.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 05.08.2025 00:02 |
| Story ID: | 497343 |
| Location: | FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, PENNSYLVANIA, US |
| Web Views: | 71 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Best Warriors navigate, shoot and climb through Day Two, by MAJ Travis Mueller, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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