Photo By Timothy Hale | Spc. Michael S. Orozco, second from left, representing the 416th Theater Engineer...... read more read more
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FORT BRAGG, N.C. - Sgt. 1st Class Joshua A. Moeller and Spc. Michael S. Orozco were named the 2016 U.S. Army Reserve Best Warrior Noncommissioned Officer of the Year and Soldier of the Year respectively, at an award ceremony, May 6, at the Iron Mike Conference Center on Fort Bragg.
Moeller, a senior drill sergeant with 2nd Battalion, 413th Infantry Regiment, 95th Training Division (Individualized Training), 108th Training Command (Individual Entry Training) and Orozco, a horizontal construction engineer and squad leader with the 387th Engineering Company, 416th Theater Engineer Command, were among the 39 Best Warrior candidates who started the competition May 2.
Periods of heavy rains, unseasonably cool temperatures, and about six hours of sleep during 48-hours of field events, added even more pressure on the Warriors. On the second day of competition, the Warriors started their day with a challenging 10km ruck march in the early morning darkness on a sandy and often muddy course with a water crossing and an uphill finish that proved challenging. On the third day, the Warriors again started in darkness with a land navigation course. Once finished, they were airlifted to a 10-station combat skills testing event deep in the heart of the Fort Bragg training area.
“The ruck march was a big gut check,” said Moeller, from Riverside, California. “The combat skills testing was really deep into the tasks. You really had to be on your game.”
Orozco said the challenge for him was being exposed to new training.
“I got to see a lot of new Warrior Tasks and Drills that I had never seen at other levels (of competition),” said Orozco, from Scottsdale, Arizona. “This competition also hit me with some Warrior skills I hadn’t seen since basic training and I had to pull those out of the bag and refresh myself.”
THE SOLDIER'S BOND
The camaraderie gained during the week was an added benefit, Moeller said.
“It’s an individual competition but it’s a team sport, just like the Army,” Moeller said. “We couldn’t get through it without the camaraderie and encouragement of our fellow soldiers. That was the best part.”
For Orozco, that camaraderie led him to meet others in the U.S. Army Reserve from different military occupational specialties and skill sets.
“The camaraderie was high and it was good that we got to meet each other,” Orozco said. “We’ve exchanged numbers so if we ever need to contact each other and help each other we can.”
He also said the competition held bond them together, especially as the competition progressed and fatigue started to set in.
“Anytime someone was down or feeling bad, we’d pick each other up. It was great,” he said.
That bonding quickly developed with the four women competing in the this year’s competition - Spc. Sarah E. Preston, representing the U.S. Army Reserve Legal Command, Spc. Kayla Bundy, representing the 108th Training Command, Staff Sgt. Madison K. Peters, representing the Military Intelligence Readiness Command, and Sgt. Elizabeth Fowler, representing the 84th Training Command.
“I think it was an immediate click,” said Peters, from Houston, Texas. “We have the same personalities, we’re all Type A females who love the military and we’re here to be the best and it was a connection with all of us.”
TINY BUT MIGHTY
Bundy was by far the smallest competitor in this year’s competition. Standing at 5-feet tall, her heart, drive, and determination, not only caught the attention of the drill sergeant training cadre’ but her fellow Best Warrior candidates as well.
“It was the way that I was raised from day zero,” said Bundy, a native of Saint George, Utah. “My parents taught me that you need to set an example for those around you. They’ve always told me that I’m a leader and I try to be one every single day.”
Despite her size, Bundy, who also competes in rodeo events, said she overcomes her physical size limitations by having a strong mind.
“Some of the challenges were more mental than physical,” she said. “My body will always keep moving if I tell it to. There’s definitely some physical factors that I’m lacking and some book knowledge that I’m lacking. I’m planning on coming back after I get my E-5 (sergeant). I’ll be back.”
THREE AND OUT
For Staff Sgt. Orval Emery, from Wichita, Kansas and representing the 75th Training Division, this year was his third time competing. After finishing as a runner-up in 2012, Emery returned last year but a costly mistake ended his chance at winning.
At 45-years-old, Emery was the oldest Warrior this year.
“I was in the running. I competed hard. I think I finished in the top part of the pack which was good,” Emery said.
“I’ve done this a few times and I’ve never seen a group of this high quality,” Emery said. “We were all business but everyone was in it for each other, helping each other out. And you had two high-speed, low-drag soldiers take it all.”
Emery also had high praise for Bundy.
“That IOTV (Improved Outer Tactical Vest) weighed as much as she did. And she made it in (on the ruck march) on time to the standard,” Emery said. “That young lady has heart. That motivates me for the future of this Army. It's awesome to see that.”
INCREASED READINESS
While this is a competition for ultimate bragging rights of who is the best in the U.S. Army Reserve, the ultimate goal is to help soldiers and NCOs realize how to take a training event, like Best Warrior, and use that to raise individual and unit readiness.
“In addition to the boost in morale and esprit de corps, when you prep up and train for a competition like this, you boost your own individual readiness,” said Sgt. 1st Class Aaron Butler, the event NCO in charge of this year’s U.S. Army Reserve Best Warrior. “When you boost individual readiness you, in turn, affect collective readiness because you are contributing to the greater good of the unit. Success breeds success but only if those skills and experiences are passed on.”
Win or lose, the knowledge and skills gained this past week has an added benefit for each Warrior - increasing their individual and unit readiness.
“Going forward is huge, for me as an individual and for my unit back home,” Moeller said. “I’ve seen the best the U.S. Army Reserve has to offer and I’m going to take that experience back and bring my unit up to that level with the training we’re already doing.”
Butler said the winners and runner-ups will return home and then prepare for a training event before the Army-level competition.
“As we ramp up for the Department of the Army competition at the end of September, we’re going to be putting together some training plans for them to make sure they are going to represent the best the U.S. Army Reserve has to put forward at Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia,” Butler said.
MOVING FORWARD
Now, Moeller and Orozco have their sights set on the Department of the Army Best Warrior Competition this fall.
“I know I’m going up against the entire Army’s best,” Moeller said. “That means I really need to bring my game and step it up a few notches and really study hard for this next one.”
Orozco is expecting no less of a challenge at the Army-level competition.
“I’m expecting long days, short nights, and to win again,” Orozco said.
EDITOR’s NOTE:
In addition to being named the NCO of the Year, Moeller was also recognized with the highest Army Physical Fitness Test score.
The NCO of the Year runner-up was Sgt. 1st Class Robert D. Jones, Army Reserve Careers Division. He also was awarded the highest M4 rifle qualification score.
The Soldier of the Year runner-up was Spc. Carlo Deldonno, 3rd Medical Command (Deployment Support).
| Date Taken: | 05.06.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 05.06.2016 19:42 |
| Story ID: | 197587 |
| Location: | FORT BRAGG, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Hometown: | LEXINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS, US |
| Hometown: | RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Hometown: | SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA, US |
| Hometown: | SOMERSET, KENTUCKY, US |
| Web Views: | 604 |
| Downloads: | 4 |
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