Photo By Tech. Sgt. Christopher Hubenthal | U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Christian Staszkow, Recruiting Retention Battalion cavalry...... read more read more
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MARINE CORPS TRAINING AREA BELLOWS, Hawaii – From written exams to battle drills, 25 U.S. Army National Guard, Hawaii, and U.S. Army Reserves Pacific soldiers competed together for the first time during the Best Warrior Competition Feb. 27 to March 2, to test their skills and readiness.
The first day examined the soldier’s professional appearance and Army knowledge aptitude while the following three days pitted their mental and physical fitness against events such as weapons assembly, reflexive fire, care under fire, escalation of force, land navigation and a Modern Army Combatives competition.
For some soldiers the third day’s six-mile timed road march proved the most difficult task.
“The most challenging part would be the ruck march,” said Spc. Cambron Kuloloio, 103rd Troop Command interior electrician, Army National Guard, Hawaii. “I just had to keep on going and trucking through. It’s all downhill from here.”
Soldiers were tasked to carry a full rucksack and finish the march in less than two hours to receive points toward the competition.
For Sgt. 1st. Class Christian Staszkow, Recruiting Retention Battalion cavalry scout and recruiting and retention noncommissioned officer in charge, U.S. Army Reserves Pacific, the motivation to test his skills against younger competitors made the entire competition difficult, yet inspiring.
“If you take it negatively it can be rough because a lot of guys competing here are in their early twenties and I’m in my early thirties,” Staszkow said. “I wanted to challenge myself amongst my [competition].”
Although the sergeant may be older than other competitors, Staszkow knew that soldiers, family and friends back home were rooting for him.
“On the big island I have a lot of support and a lot of people rooting for me to come here and do well,” Staszkow said. “I figured I would come over here and show what the big island’s got.”
Aside from the difficulty levels of each individual event, soldiers also needed to combat fatigue during the competition as its structure allowed for minimal rest time between events.
“I think every part of the competition is hard,” Staszkow said. “Going into the next day you have already beaten yourself up. You’re a little bit sleep deprived but you just push on. Find the motivation to do what you’ve got to do the next day and take care of the task at hand.”
By the fourth day, competitors were offered one final opportunity to rack up points during Modern Army Combatives.
“[Modern Army Combatives] puts you in an element where you are uncomfortable,” Staszkow said. “Nobody wants to be in front of people competing so you’re nervous, but when you actually engage everyone is going 110 percent and you really get to see what you’ve got.”
Staszkow ended up winning the Modern Army Combatives noncommissioned officer category for the U.S. Army Reserves Pacific. While he found himself in difficult situations during the competition, he managed to keep his calm when challenges arose.
“Whether you do good or bad you have to move on to the next phase of the competition and let go of whatever you just completed,” Staszkow said. “Truck on like a true soldier.”
Even though these 25 soldiers are attempting to outperform their comrades, there are still opportunities for some to work together as a team throughout the experience.
“Coming from American Samaoa back on the island and getting to meet other soldiers from different units here allows us to share experiences,” said Pfc. Josh Puni, 442nd Infantry Regiment infantryman, USARP. “Some of the skills that are learned here I will teach my comrades back home.”
The winners of the Best Warrior Competition will continue on and represent the Army National Guard and the U.S. Army Reserves at the next level. Army National Guard winners will represent the state at the 2014 ARNG Region 7 Competition.
| Date Taken: | 03.02.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 03.03.2014 18:54 |
| Story ID: | 121449 |
| Location: | HONOLULU, HAWAII, US |
| Web Views: | 334 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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