Photo By Sgt. Odaliska Almonte | Spc. Alexei Joya (Center left - Georgia National Guard) and Sgt. Jody Brewer (Center...... read more read more
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The National Guard Region III competition consisted of teams from Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
With a year of preparation to be the host of the competition, the Tennessee National Guard had one main goal in mind, making sure the winners would be well prepared to compete and represent the region at the national level.
“When we found out a year ago that we would be hosting the Region 3 competition, our whole guiding thought was to make sure that every Soldier who took time away from their civilian careers, their families and their jobs to train would find this competition worthwhile and take advantage of all that they prepared for,” said 2nd Lt. Jason Bucklew, noncommissioned officer in charge of preparations for Region 3 Best Warrior. “We didn’t want to give them something that was just the normal warrior tasks and battle drills. We wanted to make sure to look at it from a combat perspective, tweak it a little and execute the same tasks under the combat lens.”
Soldiers' determination was tested to their limits, not only by the physically and mentally challenging events but also by their fellow competitors.
“I’m competing against a lot of great Soldiers; some of them Rangers or Special Forces, and they’re going to put up a fight no matter what,” said Sgt. Travis Millard, assigned to N.C. National Guard’s 1-252nd Armor Regiment. “In the grand scheme of things being put up against a lot of great people you inevitably figure out what you’re made of, and if you win ‘that’s awesome’ but if you lose you know you lost to the best.”
None of the Soldiers thought of giving away the title easily. Whoever won had to put up the best fighting spirit all the way to the final event.
The Region 3 Best Warrior title went to Spc. Alexei Joya of the Georgia National Guard and Sgt. Jody Brewer of the Kentucky National Guard.
For those who did not win, it was not a loss, they all considered it an ultimate test of will and perseverance.
“I think this is a good opportunity, win or lose, for me to test how much I have and how much I can handle,” said Sgt. Millard. “Pushing myself beyond what I thought I could take and going even further, it’s a great learning lesson.”
In 2019, it will be North Carolina’s turn to host the Region 3 Best Warrior Competition and provide all competing states the same opportunity this year’s competition had to offer.
“Coming to this year’s Best Warrior in Tennessee gave me the opportunity to watch all the events, how they are planned, set up and executed which has given me a lot of insight,” said Sgt. Major Shane Mark Potts, assigned to NC Guard’s 139th Regional Training Institute. “We have a lot of great information that will help us make the 2019 Region 3 Best Warrior a challenging and worthy competition for all participants.”
| Date Taken: | 05.01.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 05.08.2018 08:15 |
| Story ID: | 275984 |
| Location: | TULLAHOMA, TENNESSEE, US |
| Web Views: | 247 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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