Photo By Sgt. Roger Houghton | Staff Sgt. Matthew Wheat, a Soldier assigned to the 157th Infantry Brigade, performs...... read more read more
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As the morning sun rose behind growing storm clouds, light rain greeted exercise equipment which had been carefully placed on the ground in a very specific layout outside the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 177th Armored Brigade building. Graders, who were Soldiers from the 177th Armored Brigade, stood by their equipment, waiting to employ the U.S. Army’s newly-developed tool for testing Soldiers’ physical stature, the Army Combat Fitness Test.
The ACFT had not yet become a mandatory requirement for members of the U.S. Army, but the 177th Armored Brigade was putting it to use as part of a different kind of test.
The 177th Armored Brigade hosted the First Army Division East Best Warrior Competition, February 26-28th, 2019, at Camp Shelby, MS.
During the three-day competition, seven Soldiers who were assigned to different brigades across the United States within First Army Division East were put through their paces as they completed a multitude of challenges. Each event was graded, and the Soldier with the highest final score earned the title of Best Warrior. The first event was the ACFT.
The ACFT focuses on Soldiers’ ability to perform exercises that emulate the physical strain of common combat tasks. One by one, the candidates were called to attack each of the ACFT's exercises until they had all completed the event
With only a few hours to recuperate, the Soldiers embarked on a 10-mile footmarch through the hilly roads of Camp Shelby toward their next event, the M9 pistol range. Marksmanship is a fundamental skill for Soldiers. For the seven candidates vying for the chance to compete at the next level of the Best Warrior Competition, every hit would count.
“It’s a good experience with a lot of challenging tasks and a great group of OC/Ts,” said Staff Sgt. Thomas Barton, a Best Warrior candidate assigned to the 157th Infantry Brigade, Camp Atterbury. During the M4 qualification lanes, Barton remarked that the new ACFT followed immediately by the foot march was one of the most challenging aspect of the competition.
As the competition rolled along, the Combatives Tournament event had the candidates rolling on the mat. Soldiers from the 177th Armored Brigade served as both cadre and training aids while candidates demonstrated different Modern Army Combatives Program techniques to earn points. In the end, the two Soldiers with the most points sparred to secure victory.
The seven competitors were not only after the title of Best Warrior and the chance to compete at the First Army BWC, but as the command sergeant major of First Army Division East, Command Sgt. Maj. Carl A. Fagan explains, it’s also for the visibility and furthering the Army’s competitive traditions.
“We all get to the point in our careers, where our reputation precedes us,” said Fagan “Also, everybody else gets a chance to see this individual elevated because of the win.”
The next day started long before the sun rose, taking candidates through both night and day land navigation, radio operation, weapons maintenance and finally a written exam. Despite how rigourous the rest of the competition had been, some of the most realistic and immersive testing happened during the Combat Life-Saver lane.
Members of the 177th Armored Brigade acting as incapacitated Soldiers brought the physical and emotional affects of intense combat into play as they let out screams of simulated agony in order to pressure candidates to act quickly. An injury to the leg meant that candidates would have to move the casualty themselves, and head trauma meant that a casualty could no longer speak coherently.
“Medical skills are key to sustaining the fight,” said Sgt. 1st Class Hopeton Phillips, who is a medical OC/T assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 410th Field Artillery Battalion, 177th Armored Brigade. “We’re going to put them through a scenario which will reflect what they would normally do if they were do in a combat situation.”
Finding the First Army Division East Best Warrior out of seven hard-working Soldiers had as much to do with the wholeness of Soldiers’ tactical knowledge and sleight of hand as it did with physical readiness. Each task failed meant that points were missed. The fast pace of the competition meant that if a candidate was less than prepared, their colors would show immediately. At the end of the three days of graded events, only one Soldier would triumph.
On the final day of the competition, candidates stood before the board to answer a variety of knowledge-based questions and make their final strides toward, or away from, victory.
The auditorium of the Mississippi Armed Forces Museum slowly began to fill with Soldiers from the 177th Armored Brigade, as well as Leaders from competing brigades in First Army Division East. As the seven Soldiers moved to their assigned seating, the air buzzed with conversation about who the winner might be. The questions all pointed in the same direction.
Which candidate had beat out the other six Soldiers, earning the most points to seize the opportunity that the others were also competing for?
With the final event, the board, having just finished, not even the competitors knew for sure who would be named Best Warrior until the award ceremony. While the most points overall would decide the winner, Soldiers were recognized for scoring the most points during individual events.
All seven competitors had moved to the stage, amd now stood at attention, facing their leaders and peers. One by one, different names were called to announce the highest scoring competitor for each specific event. Candidates stepped forward for reference, and then promptly receded back into line.
Finally, the moment had come to end the wait and announce the winner.
As the voice from the podium broke the silence in the room, Sgt. 1st Class Kevin Tracy from the 177th Armored Brigade, Camp Shelby, MS was named the First Army Division East Best Warrior.
“It was a great competition to test everybody’s proficiency and their skills,” said Tracy “To me, I should have looked more into some of the step-by-step processes. I trained, physically, super hard for this.”
Tracy and another Soldier, Staff Sgt. Martin Galindo, a Soldier assigned to 1st Battalion, 410th BEB, Ft. Knox, will be moving forward to compete in the First Army Best Warrior Competition.
“I learned about myself and being willing and able to push past setbacks as I was going through it,” added Tracy.
| Date Taken: | 03.05.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 03.12.2019 16:21 |
| Story ID: | 313028 |
| Location: | MISSISSIPPI, US |
| Web Views: | 94 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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