Photo By Spc. Annie Riley | U.S. Soldiers competing in the Region II Best Warrior Competition test their fitness...... 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 fitness, medical skills and military bearing on the final day of major events, May 8, 2025.
The day started shortly after midnight when competitors ruck marched over 16 miles in Fort Indiantown Gap’s training areas behind Blue Mountain. Competitors had to carry 35-pound rucksacks and their weapons in full uniform.
The top finisher in the Noncommissioned Officer of the Year category was Staff Sgt. Ivo Garner, an infantryman with the Virginia National Guard, with a time of 4 hours, 1 minute. The top finisher in the Soldier of the Year category was fellow Virginian Spc. Nicholas Warren, a wheeled vehicle mechanic, also with a time of 4:01.
The second event of the day was a medical simulation event, where the Soldiers were tested on tactical combat casualty care, or military first aid. Soldiers were evaluated on their ability to assess and treat a patient, then evacuate them off a battlefield.
Sgt. Miles Crawford, a human intelligence collector with the Maryland National Guard, won the NCO of the Year category after completing all the tasks successfully. Spc. Robert Ruiz-Rhoades, an intelligence analyst with the Pennsylvania National Guard, was also successful in all tasks and won the Soldier of the Year category.
With the competitors hanging on to their last reserves of energy, their grit was put to the ultimate test with the culminating mystery event. The event was an approximately half-mile course which included a swim across a portion of Memorial Lake. Competitors then ran a quarter mile to a station where they had to assemble and fire an M249 light machine gun.
The competitors then had to drag a simulated casualty up a hill for 100 meters before running to another station where they had to assemble a radio and submit a medevac request.
Garner won the NCO of the Year category with a time of 27 minutes, 11 seconds, while Sgt. Dominic Starry, an ammunition specialist with the West Virginia National Guard, won the Soldier of the Year category with a time of 28:49.
The final event of the day allowed the competitors to rest their legs, but not their military bearing. After changing into their military dress uniforms, they participated in appearance boards. An appearance board resembles a job interview, where three senior NCOs ask questions of the competitors, testing their knowledge of various military topics.
Garner and Warren completed another Virginia sweep in that event, winning their respective categories.
Competition organizers will announce the overall winners during a ceremony Friday.
Region II 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: | 05.08.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 05.08.2025 23:03 |
| Story ID: | 497466 |
| Location: | FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, PENNSYLVANIA, US |
| Web Views: | 36 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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