Photo By Sgt. Darius Kirkwood | Sgt. Lucas Heideman of the 200th Military Police Command performs a functions check...... read more read more
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FORT MCCOY, Wis. — Who will be the Best Warrior?
That question loomed over an impressively strong field of 26 of the sharpest warfighters the Army Reserve had to offer during its annual Best Warrior Competition, a four-day battle of minds, brute strength, and guts that sought to establish one Soldier and one noncommissioned officer as the best Citizen/Soldier around, bar none.
Of that number, two of the 200th Military Police Command's finest MPs — Sgt. Lucas Heideman and Spc. Brandon Harp, of the 300th and 800th MP Brigades — proved that MP Soldiers are a force to be reckoned with, in any arena.
"Usually you get young E-5's that excel in one area ... With Sgt. Heideman, he excels in a lot of areas," said Sgt. 1st Class David A. Kline, Heideman's sponsor at the competition and supervisor at their unit. "He's always one that gives the extra effort."
Heideman, a military police investigator at the 415th MP Company in Pocahontas, Iowa, did indeed pour a huge amount of effort into the competition — even in the midst of a deployment with his unit to Afghanistan. The Waukee, Iowa, native was released from his mobilization site the week of the competition to represent the 200th at Fort McCoy.
"Maj. Gen. McQueen wrote a memo to First Army, basically excusing me for the week. I'll make up any necessary training," explained Heideman.
The timing of Heideman's pre-mobilization training could not have been more perfect, as many of the tasks that he and his unit were engaged in to train for combat were presented as challenges during the BWC.
"Basically the Army's been paying me to get ready for this," he exclaimed.
Heideman appreciated the high level of competitiveness among the contenders, and hoped to have an extra edge during the weapons qualification event, for which his training as an MP provided a near-certain advantage.
"I guess you could say it's my bread and butter," said Heideman. "I don't know if I'll shoot expert, but on a good day I will! I wish we were firing the M9."
Like many of the contestants, Heideman did not look forward to the ruck march, which was to occur at 5 a.m. on the third day of the competition after a long night that did not allow the participants and their beds to be reunited until well after one in the morning.
"A lot of people say it's a 10K with a 35-pound ruck — that's not that bad. But after a PT test, plus the two [10K] orienteering courses and lack of sleep, it's pretty tough."
The BWC challenged entrants in a range of tasks, including the ubiquitous Army Physical Fitness Test, M-4 range qualification, Army Warrior Tasks, an appearance board, and a written essay. A number of less common challenges were also thrown at the competitors, including day and night urban orienteering courses using Defense Advanced GPS Receivers instead of the traditional magnetic compass, and a round-robin styled mystery event with stations that included adjusting indirect fire, reassembling several individual and crew-served weapons, and — wait for it — a class A inspection?
"I was definitely not expecting that," said Harp.
In the weeks leading up to competition, Harp focusing intently on preparing for the events that he knew would pose the greatest challenge, after much suffering at the 200th's BWC in April.
"I really felt confident on the ruck march," said Harp. "That's what I trained on the most, because I knew how hard the last one was for me. I tried to fix that problem."
Harp's training regime included daily ruck marches, running five miles a day, and an unimaginable number of push-ups — not to mention constantly studying Warrior Tasks and training manuals for the weapons that he would be challenged to reassemble under pressure "like the bible," according to Sgt. 1st Class Coit M. Dixon, Harp's sponsor at the competition.
"From what I understand, he's been rucking 50 miles a week, and doing huge amount of push-ups every day. He would watch movies, and when something would happen in the movie, he would start pushing," said Staff Sgt. Brandon L. Horne, Harp's team leader at the 304th Military Police Battalion, a combat support unit in Bluefield, W. Va.
Apparently his preparation paid off, as he was able to complete the daytime 10K urban orienteering course in just under two hours. Harp went on to finish the competition as runner-up to the overall junior enlisted winner, Spc. Shiloh Becher of the 416th Theater Engineer Command.
More than anything else, the Soldiers involved in this competition are the type that always put the mission first, are consistent, and set standards for themselves that exceeds the norm. Being named the winner in such a prestigious and exclusive competition is a feat that should not be taken lightly; but perhaps even more important is the fact that there are Soldiers and leaders in this Army that are eager to do whatever it takes to successfully complete their goals — both those they have chosen personally, as well as whatever their mission at hand requires. Such dedication and effectiveness in leadership, as well as the desire and willingness to do hard things, has yet to be rivaled by our enemies and our allies, and continues to be the stuff that makes the world's Best Warriors of us all.
| Date Taken: | 07.23.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 07.23.2009 11:19 |
| Story ID: | 36713 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, US |
| Web Views: | 814 |
| Downloads: | 648 |
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