Photo By Sgt. 1st Class James McGuire | Spc. Nigel Helley, North Dakota Army National Guard 426th Signal Company, eyes the...... read more read more
CAMP GUERNSEY, Wyo. - Sixteen Soldiers representing eight states’ Army National Guards competed in the Region VI Best Warrior Competition May 11-14 at the Camp Guernsey Joint Training Center in Wyoming. Among them were two North Dakota Army Guardsmen. Staff Sgt. Jason Dittus, of Bismarck, North Dakota, a member of the 818th Engineer Company (Sapper), and Spc. Nigel Helley, of Fargo, North Dakota, assigned to the 426th Signal Company. Both displayed extreme tenacity, determination and physical and mental toughness while contending for top honors.
When the results were announced at the end of the closely-contested, four-day competition, Dittus was named the Best Warrior in the noncommissioned officer category. He now will go on to compete at the National Guard Bureau’s “All-Guard” competition, which brings together the top Army Guard Soldiers in the nation. That event will be held in June at Camp Williams, Utah.
“Staff Sgt. Dittus and Spc. Helley both earned the honor of representing North Dakota in regional competition with their performances at our annual state-level competition last summer. They represent the best of the best in our organization and can be proud of what they’ve accomplished,” said Maj. Gen. David Sprynczynatyk, North Dakota adjutant general. “Considering only a handful of Soldiers win regional titles, Staff Sgt. Dittus’ performance was extraordinary. To prepare yourself to be competitive as a Best Warrior takes a tremendous amount of time and commitment. I know that Staff Sgt. Dittus will be ready, and I wish him the best of luck at the national event in June.”
In recent years, two other North Dakota Guard Soldiers have qualified to take part in the national Best Warrior Competition. Staff Sgt. Adam Walsvik, of the 188th Engineer Company (Vertical), competed in 2009 and Staff Sgt. Ryan Lindberg, of the 817th Engineer Company (Sapper), won the “All-Guard” competition in 2011, later competing at the Army-wide event.
At Camp Guernsey, Dittus and Helley competed against Soldiers from Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington and Wyoming. From the rolling hills of Camp Grafton Training Center, near Devils Lake, North Dakota, to the rugged canyons and steeper elevation in southern Wyoming, Dittus said he noticed a shift in the physical demands presented between the state and regional competitions. Best Warrior competitors traverse a gauntlet of tasks and events designed to test their competencies as Soldiers, ranging from marksmanship and drill and ceremony to written and physical fitness tests.
“We weren’t bused anywhere. We rucked (marched with a full pack) to just about every training site. They pushed us a lot harder, physically, then at the state event,” he said. “And I’ve never performed the land navigation event in such unusual terrain. The elevation of the hills and the cliffs was a complete game-changer for me. You definitely noticed the severe elevation changes if you’re a North Dakota guy used to flatter terrain.”
While many of the events at the state and regional competitions mirrored one another, Dittus said evaluators at Camp Guernsey did throw some curve balls. One of the most difficult events, for him, was presenting a series of briefings in front of an audience of competition facilitators. Soldiers gave five-minute presentations about their military and civilian backgrounds and also about their states’ histories.
“That’s (the briefs) something that I’ve never encountered before in any of the other competitions,” Dittus said. “The biggest thing you can do to perform well is master the basics. You need to know common Soldier tasks to a point where you can still perform them in stressful scenarios.”
One of those scenarios was the “Pandora’s Box” event, a test that some of the Soldiers might have rather left unopened. Competitors were blindfolded and tasked with opening a foot locker filled with parts from three disassembled weapon systems, including an M9 pistol, M16 rifle and M249 squad automatic weapon. Their objective was to reassemble each of those and perform a functions check to make sure they had put together the various parts correctly. Dittus was the only Soldier to successfully complete the challenge.
“That was a really big event for me,” he said.
Dittus, who wound up winning the competition by only one point, said “Pandora’s Box” may have been the deciding event for his success. In fact, the competition in the noncommissioned officer category was so close that the second and third place winners scored exactly the same until a written essay tie-breaker decided their rankings.
“Every year, the states that host this (regional) competition really step it up a notch in challenging and evaluating our Soldiers. This year was no different, and the Wyoming Army National Guard did an incredible job organizing a successful event,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Brad Heim, state command sergeant major for the North Dakota Army National Guard, who attended the regional competition. “Our Soldiers did extremely well because they were ready to compete. With his win, Staff Sgt. Dittus truly left nothing on the table. In the end, it was his drive and determination that eventually earned him the top spot.”
In preparation for the regional competition, North Dakota’s Soldiers studied at Camp Grafton to be ready for any of the potential Best Warrior challenges and tests. Dittus said he expects to do the same training before the national competition. Additionally, he’s had help and mentoring from his sponsor, Sgt. 1st Class Jason Lothspeich. Lothspeich was the 2010 Best Warrior in state competition. He and Dittus are virtually neighbors, living across the street from one another in Bismarck. Lothspeich also serves as Dittus’ platoon sergeant in the 818th Engineer Company (Sapper).
Representing his unit, ultimately, is what motivated Dittus to excel in the Best Warrior Competition. He said securing a state victory was a great feeling, but the regional win made him even more proud since he represented the entire North Dakota Army National Guard.
“As soon as they called my name at the regional competition, I thought ‘this is a whole new level now.’ There’s pride in knowing you have that responsibility to represent North Dakota. That’s something that motivates me now,” he said. “I want to do the best I possibly can. I’m happy I am where I’m at and I have the best intentions to perform.”
In his civilian profession, Dittus is a wind turbine technician in New Salem, North Dakota. He serves as a combat engineer and squad leader with his unit.
| Date Taken: | 05.21.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 05.21.2015 21:24 |
| Story ID: | 164183 |
| Location: | CAMP GUERNSEY, WYOMING, US |
| Hometown: | BISMARCK, NORTH DAKOTA, US |
| Hometown: | FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA, US |
| Web Views: | 81 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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