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PHOENIX- Early mornings, long days, and late nights were all part of the grueling three-day experience of
over 30 Guardsmen and women from the Arizona National Guard and Republic of Kazakhstan and
resulted in determining Arizona’s 2023 Best Warrior.
Held annually in states throughout the nation, the Best Warrior Competition consists of physical fitness
events, marksmanship drills, medical tasks, and written exams. All ranks are encouraged to compete,
but only one from each category will bring home the title of Best Warrior. Following the closing
ceremony, the Non-Commissioned Officer and Enlisted Soldier winners will pack up and head to the
Regional Competition to represent Arizona in Hawaii.
“This is a great opportunity as a Soldier to showcase your abilities and talents,” said Specialist Luke
Craun, competing soldier from the 158 th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, Army National Guard. “I
learned a lot during this competition.” Spc. Craun finished the ruck-march event within the top five,
crossing the finish line of the 12-mile course in two hours and 33 minutes.
Joining Arizona Guardsmen this year were two military service members from the Republic of
Kazakhstan, Sergeant 3rd Class Yermek Zailagi and Sergeant Nazira Albossynova. Kazakhstan is one of
Arizona’s two state partners through the National Guard Bureau’s State Partnership Program (SPP). Both
competitors finished in the top 10 during the ruck march with Sgt. 3 rd Class Zailagi coming in first overall
at two hours and 10 minutes.
In attendance was CENTCOM Senior Enlisted Leader, Fleet Master Chief Derrick Walters and ARCENT
CSEL Command Sgt. Maj. Garza. “The fact that we have a team from one of our partner countries,
Kazakhstan, here competing speaks to what General Kurilla likes to talk about, which is people, partners,
and innovation,” said Master Chief Walters.
Arizona and Kazakhstan were one of the first 13 states to join the SPP program back in 1993. SPP will be
celebrating its 30 th year of partnerships this July. The national program has grown to 100 partner-nations
and is a key U.S. security cooperation tool that facilitates collaboration across all aspects of civil-military
affairs, improves interoperability and enhances U.S. access and influence while increasing the readiness
of both partnered forces to meet emerging challenges.
Arizona attended Kazakhstan’s Best Warrior Competition back in November of 2022, sending two
competitors Specialist Tristian Mitchel with the Army National Guard and Technical Sergeant Steven
Roberts with the Air National Guard. The competition had similar events, challenging participants in
physical fitness, tactical obstacle course, marksmanship, and hand to hand combat. Spc. Mitchel placed
overall second place in the hand-to-hand combat competition.
Competitions like these not only test the readiness of service members but boosts morale in the force
and offer the opportunity to continue fostering the enduring partnership between two nations. Both
Arizona and Kazakhstan spoke highly of their experiences and look forward to future opportunities to
compete in the next competition to determine each nation’s Best Warrior.
The winners from this year will be announced at the annual Civilian, Airmen, Soldier of the Year (CASY)
banquet held later this month.
| Date Taken: | 04.28.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 04.28.2023 18:16 |
| Story ID: | 443662 |
| Location: | PHOENIX, ARIZONA, US |
| Web Views: | 117 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Guardsman from Arizona and Republic of Kazakhstan compete in Arizona's Best Warrior Competition, by MAJ Erin Hannigan, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
