CAMP SMITH TRAINING SITE, N.Y. — Two Soldiers from Buffalo’s 105th Military Police Company were the winners in the New York Army National Guard’s 2026 Best Warrior competition.
Spc. Trevor Lock took first place in the junior enlisted Soldier category, while Staff Sgt. Derek Tucker won the non-commissioned officer contest.
Nine Soldiers took part in the March 23-26 event, which was run by the 106th Regional Training Institute. The competition evaluated the Soldiers in physically and mentally demanding events designed to replicate real-world warfighting conditions, according to New York Army National Guard Command Sgt. Major Leylan Jones.
“I learned a lot from this best warrior competition”, Tucker said. “It opened me up to opportunities to learn and train on things that I haven't before.”
Lock said events like the Best Warrior help build leaders.
“The next generation of leaders can improve from this, not just compete in it,” Lock said.
“You can build off this and get a lot of experience with different weapons and courses and gain different knowledge,” he added.
Second-place in the NCO category went to Staff Sgt. Justin Jablanski, a combat engineer with the 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team.
Spc. Jerry Remy, an infantryman with the 108th Infantry Battalion, finished second in the junior enlisted category.
Lock and Tucker will now compete in the northeast regional competition at Camp Fogerty, Rhode Island, in June, for the chance to go to the national Army Guard Best Warrior event.
Throughout the event, Soldiers navigated situational training exercise lanes, completed land navigation, and were tested on their physical fitness through the Expert Physical Fitness Assessment and the Army Fitness Test.
They also had to complete a written exam, go before a board of senior NCOs in their Class A uniforms, complete a medical skills test, and go through a mystery event, in this case, the air assault course obstacle course.
The final challenge was a 12-mile ruck march. The competitors were dropped off by bus at Franklin D. Roosevelt State Park in Yorktown Heights and conducted their timed march there.
The nine Soldiers also had the opportunity to earn the German Armed Forces Badge for Military Proficiency. Earning the badge involves a fitness test, a 100-meter swim in uniform, and demonstrating first aid and pistol proficiency.
Senior Enlisted Advisor John T. Raines III, the principle advisor to the Chief of the National Guard Bureau, praised all the competitors during the contest award dinner.
This competition is not just about who is the fastest, the strongest, or even the most technically proficient,” SEA Raines said. “It is about who can embody the profession of arms at its highest level.”
SEA Raines’ decision to visit the New York Best Warrior demonstrated the importance of the event and the caliber of the Soldiers competing, Jones said.