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CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait – Nine of the finest soldiers from across the U.S. Third Army area of responsibility gathered here to compete for the title of Best Warrior in a three-day competition, April 24-26.
The warriors in the competition represented the 246th Quartermaster Company; 1st Battalion, 200th Infantry Regiment; the 595th Transportation Brigade; the 728th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion; and the 364th Expeditionary Sustainment Command.
The 364th Expeditionary Sustainment Command, an Army Reserve unit from Marysville, Wash., hosted the event for the 1st Theater Sustainment Command, under which it’s serving.
Sgt. 1st Class Brian Blanchard, of Austin, Texas, a training non-commissioned officer with the 364th ESC, was the NCO in charge of this year’s Best Warrior competition.
“We wanted to focus on the basic Army soldier tasks. The competition was designed to be very physically and mentally exhausting,” Blanchard said.
“The first day was physically challenging. We had the PT test, the ruck [march], and [personal appearance] board; it put that stress on you, which was good,” said Spc. Bryan Haworth, of Las Cruces, N.M., an infantryman with Company D, 1st Battalion, 200th Infantry Regiment, serving with Task Force Sinai in Egypt, the junior enlisted Best Warrior winner.
The 364th ESC planned the competition to be exhausting. It was designed to separate the weak from the strong, and decide who the best of the best was.
“I came into this energetic and excited, but by the end of the ruck march I was exhausted,” said Spc. Katelyn Bowser, of East Stroudsburg, Pa., a human resources specialist with the 728th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, from Lock Haven, Pa.
During the competition, soldiers tested their Army skill sets, completing an Army Physical Fitness Test, board interviews, a 16-kilometer ruck march, several urban warfare simulations, and a marksmanship competition.
One of the toughest tests was completing a nine-line medevac request that required soldiers to radio for a Black Hawk helicopter and tactically load their casualty onto the aircraft for evacuation.
“The nine-line medevac and the actual helicopter coming in was something that I have never experienced,” said Spc. Donald Olson, of Marysville, Wash., an intelligence analyst with the 364th ESC.
“It was exciting to see the fruits of your labor, an actual helicopter come in, and extract our casualty,” Olsen added.
The Black Hawk was part of an urban warfare simulation in which the competitors had to extract a casualty from an extremist stronghold. The warriors had only 15 minutes to enter and clear a building, eliminate any threats, and locate their casualty and any sensitive or valuable intelligence.
Soldiers then had to rush the casualty to the extraction zone after calling in their nine-line medevac.
“Throughout the competition everyone did great, everyone was in good spirits they had great attitudes and they all stayed motivated to keep going,” Blanchard said.
“We had a lot of good NCOs here and a lot of good future NCOs, and hopefully this event will take them to the next step in their careers,” Blanchard added.
| Date Taken: | 04.26.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 05.04.2012 03:34 |
| Story ID: | 87862 |
| Location: | KW |
| Web Views: | 72 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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