Photo By Master Sgt. Helen Miller | The winners of Michigan National Guard Best Warrior competition pose for a photo with...... read more read more
Twenty Soldiers and noncommissioned officers vied for the titles during the Michigan Army National Guard Best Warrior Challenge Competition held Sept. 23-26, at the Fort Custer Training Center in Augusta, Mich.
The competitors were measured against their peers in events testing aptitude in a broad range of Army skills including logistic accountability and precision, physical fitness and agility, day and night land navigation, weapons familiarization, weapons qualification, stress fire, a written essay, and a timed 12-mile ruck march in full battle rattle.
The culminating event for competitors was a 12-mile ruck march with a 35-pound ruck. Specialist Emily Deja, 156 Expeditionary Signal Battalion, Wyoming, Mich., crossed the line with one minute to spare. The soldiers have 3 hours to complete the 12 mile march for it to count as points towards the competition.
“That ruck march was tough. The whole competition was tough, but rewarding” said Deja, one of two females in the competition. “I trained for this but still found it really, really challenging.” Deja, weighing in at about 120 pounds, including the ruck, tackled the challenge with true Soldier grit. Her battalion Sgt. Maj., Command Sgt. Maj. Catherine Farrell offered praise, a hug, and a coin of excellence when Deja finished. “We are so proud of her,” Farrell said. “She is super-tough.”
Any Soldier who does not complete the ruck march is disqualified from the competition.
Michigan Army National Guard Commanding General Maj. Gen. Gregory Vadnais and State Command Sgt. Maj. Dale Claremont presented each competitor with a coin of excellence and commended all for outstanding performance and dedication to service, strength and readiness before announcing the winners at the final ceremony September 26th.
Although it is a challenging and stressful weekend, and all of the preparations leading up to the competition are huge and time consuming, the competitors agreed that the experience was not without its rewards. The rewards come not only from recognition earned by their leadership, respect and gratitude from their fellow Soldiers, and the internal self-satisfaction of newly realized strength and knowledge, but the best rewards come from the memories the group shared, memories that will last a lifetime.
Sgt. Jabarry Smith, 51st Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support team from Fort Custer, Mich., said he had very little time to prepare for the competition. “Even though I did fairly well, I probably could have done even better with more prep work. Believe it or not, this is always a good time,” he said with a laugh.
Sgt. 1st Class Yager, the NCO of the Year winner, wrote a very gracious post on Facebook® saying,
“So most people have seen the news of my win, but I did not do this alone. My support team, the Cadre, and the other competitors deserve great credit.” He then went on to thank several people who had been there as fans and supporters throughout his train up and during the event itself.
“Any one of these competitors are just as deserving as me,” wrote Yager, “I’ve never been so impressed with the resolve, tenacity, and competence of a group of random Soldiers in all my life.”
| Date Taken: | 10.01.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 10.01.2018 07:11 |
| Story ID: | 294996 |
| Location: | BATTLE CREEK, MICHIGAN, US |
| Web Views: | 131 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, MIARNG Force of the Future: 2018 Best Warriors, by MSG Helen Miller, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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