DEVILS LAKE, N.D. — The “Best Warriors” in the North Dakota Army National Guard were named yesterday after a three-day competition Aug. 22-24 tested the military skill and knowledge of 18 of the state’s top Soldiers at Camp Grafton Training Center near Devils Lake, North Dakota.
Staff Sgt. Jason Dittus, of Bismarck, North Dakota, and a member of the 818th Engineer Company, was the winner of this year’s state-level Best Warrior Competition (BWC) in the noncommissioned officer category. In the enlisted category, Spc. David Hathaway, of Mobridge, South Dakota, and a member of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 188th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, took top honors.
Soldiers representing units throughout the North Dakota Army National Guard battled to earn the “Best Warrior” title during the state-level competition after distinguishing themselves as the top competitors within the Guard’s major commands. During the competition at Camp Grafton, they contended with a range of events designed to gauge their competence and performances in Army tasks and evaluations.
Command Sgt. Maj. Harley Schwind, the state command sergeant major for the North Dakota National Guard, said the BWC allows Soldiers to compete against the best in the state and to hone their skills in a competitive environment. He said this year’s event was one of the highest-scoring competitions in recent years, with many Soldiers achieving more than 600 points on their evaluations through the event’s scoring system, which allows a maximum score of 645.
“I saw more drive and determination in this year’s competitors than I have in the past, which is evident by their high scores,” Schwind said. “It’s not just the individual Soldiers who win during this competition. Their units win as well. This instills pride in [the competitors] that they can take with them outside of the state and onto further competitions.”
North Dakota’s BWC presents an array of challenges for its competitors, beginning with a physical fitness test, and later, facing a board of sergeants major to test their knowledge on military topics. Soldiers then go on to qualify at Camp Grafton’s firing range using M-16 rifles, and demonstrate their knowledge of “warrior tasks.” These are skills that all Soldiers are required to review annually, such as using a Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System, or SINCGARS, and conducting building-clearing operations at Camp Grafton’s Military Operations on Urban Terrain site.
“The competition tests a number of Soldier skills,” said 68th Troop Command’s Command Sgt. Maj. Guy Boschee. “Soldiers distinguish themselves in a variety of situations. They should come away from this with a better sense of who they are and what they can accomplish, as well as friendship and camaraderie amongst their fellow Soldiers.”
Each Soldier is assigned a “sponsor” from their units to guide them through the tasks and to assist them in preparing for the competition. Sgt. Ryan Lindberg, of the 817th Engineer Company (Sapper), sponsored two Soldiers from his unit. He was the winner of the state-level BWC in 2011. He later went on to win the regional and national competitions for the National Guard and qualified to compete in the “All-Army” BWC.
“My mentor was a huge part of getting to where I was in the competition,” he said. “Seeing what he did for me, I’m trying to do exactly the same thing for [my Soldiers]. This competition is really about how hard you can push yourself to succeed. I like helping the other Soldiers, because they reflect upon your unit, as a whole. The [Soldiers] who are following after me and other noncommissioned officers will be the ones leading the units in the future.”
The BWC culminated with a “mystery event,” which was held Sunday morning. This year’s event was a five-mile road march around Camp Grafton. Each Soldier had to carry about 25 pounds of personal gear while stopping at various locations to complete a number of military challenges. Some of the tasks included rope climbing, employing (dummy) hand grenades, a tire flip exercise and the medical task of treating an amputee.
“It felt good doing all the training and preparation, coming to the event and being able to perform well,” Dittus said. “I had one event that I scored zero points in. It’s just being able to brush that off and still being able to do your best … just do what a Soldier does, to keep going at it and get the job done.”
The winners of the state-level BWC now will go on to compete in the regional competition. If the North Dakota Soldiers take top honors during the regional competition, they can go on to compete in the All-Guard Competition with the best Guardsmen from across the nation.
Should the winners of the state-level BWC not be able to compete, the runners-up from this year’s competition will take their place. This year, Staff Sgt. Travis Sand, of Devils Lake, North Dakota, and a member of the 191st Military Police Company, was the runner-up in the noncommissioned officer category. Spc. Javier Ortiz, of Fargo, North Dakota, and a member of the 817th Engineer Company (Sapper), took the runner-up position in the enlisted category.