Photo By Brad Staggs | 38th Sustainment Brigade Soldier Sgt. Zachary Green accepts his award as the U.S. Army...... read more read more
CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait – For three days, competitors in the U.S. Army Central Best Warrior competition began events well before sunrise, competed with little sleep and studied for non-stop tests.
But through it all, Sgt. Zachary Green kept his eye on the prize.
The 38th Sustainment Brigade intel noncommissioned officer in charge had competed in battalion, brigade and 1st Sustainment Command (Theater) Best Warrior competitions in order to get to the USARCENT stage.
Green had also previously competed in the state of Indiana last year but this time was different.
“The competition fell right in the middle of deployment,” Green said. “It was very hard to accomplish my daily duties as well as prepare for the competition.”
The competition consisted of a physical fitness test on day one in order to get to the remainder. If Soldiers did not pass their test, they would be disqualified immediately. The contest then moved to a 100-meter swim event with very little rest. This would be the model for the rest of the events.
Over the next few days, Soldiers competed in a 6-mile ruck march with a 35-pound pack, an Airborne obstacle course, marksmanship shooting with two different weapons, a round-robin series of tests and an appearance before a board of sergeants major who would decide their fate.
Every competitor had to be sponsored by a senior Soldier. For Sgt. Green, Master Sgt. Joseph McFarren acted as his sponsor. McFarren compared being a sponsor to the feeling of managing a baseball team.
“It's about knowing your Soldier and seeing his strengths and weaknesses, and then building on those,” McFarren says. “Sgt. Green has always been amazing with coming up with his own strategy for success, I was just there to help him get to those goals.”
The competition came down to the last day, nobody getting a clear lead on the other. At last, 3rd Army Command Sgt. Maj. Joseph A. Cornelison announced Green as the winner of the U.S. Army Central Best Warrior competition at an awards ceremony in the base chapel.
“I really enjoyed the competition,” Green said afterwards. “It forces me to constantly try to better my skills as a Soldier in order to win.”
Green next competes in the Army-wide Best Warrior competition at Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia, in October.
| Date Taken: | 07.05.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 07.05.2018 10:10 |
| Story ID: | 283308 |
| Location: | KW |
| Web Views: | 518 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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