The U.S. Army Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear School announced the winners of the 2024 International Best CBRN Warrior Competition June 3 during an awards ceremony in Lincoln Hall Auditorium.
This year’s winners were Capt. Evan Shortsleeve and Sgt. Billy Akebe, from the 59th Chemical Company (Hazardous Response) at Fort Drum, New York. Runners up included 1st Lt. Sabreena Singh and Sgt. 1st Class Brandon Stubbs, from the 71st Chemical Company at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. In third place were Capt. Reed Radford and Staff Sgt. Griffin Soderquist, from Fort Leonard Wood’s 84th Chemical Battalion.
The competition — which began on May 30, with 30, two-person teams — tested CBRN service members on technical and tactical tasks, ranging from land navigation and expert Soldier skills, to written exams and site characterization and decontamination techniques. In total, teams covered 45 miles, and 27 teams made it to the finish.
Akebe, who serves as an Initial Entry Team squad leader for a Hazard Assessment Platoon within the 59th Chemical Co. (Hazardous Response), said he became emotional when he heard his team number announced as the winning team.
“I gave it my all,” Akebe said. “It means a lot to me to win because I was pushed beyond my limits, beyond anything I ever imagined. My training just took over and I applied the skills I have learned. I appreciate Capt. Shortsleeve — my company commander, my teammate, my mentor — for pushing me beyond my comfort zone, for seeing something in me I didn’t even know existed. This is the highest achievement of my life. I am so grateful.”
When it came to training and competing, Shortsleeve said his “No. 1 priority” was taking care of Akebe because, “I wanted him to have everything he needed to be successful.”
Serving as a company commander, according to Shortsleeve, shaped how he viewed the competition’s events.
“The events directly reflected what the 20th Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and high-yield Explosives Command and 48th Chemical Brigade value in terms of producing combat-ready formations. I watched Sgt. Akebe apply skills that I didn’t have, and he saw me apply mine that complemented his. It just showed how the certification process is producing well-rounded formations,” Shortsleeve said.
Col. W. Bochat, USACBRNS commandant, spoke during the award ceremony and said she was thankful for all the Soldiers who volunteered to compete and for the two international teams, from the United Kingdom and Germany, and the Marine and Air Force teams who stepped up to the challenge.
“As we know, we will never go into conflict alone. Thank you for coming out here and increasing your proficiency with us,” Bochat said.
During the competition, she said she witnessed “grit and extreme commitment,” especially when it came to the German Armed Forces Proficiency Badge qualifications.
This was the first year competitors could qualify for the GAFBP while participating in the competition.
“It is an amazing thing that we had competitors that were able to qualify for the GAFPB after continuous mental and physical feats,” Bochat said.
Ten competitors qualified for a GAFPB. To earn one, the service members had to complete several exercises, including a flexed arm hang, a 12-kilometer ruck march, a shuttle run and a 100-meter swim. They also had to pass a first-aid exam, and demonstrate proficiency in CBRN protective equipment and pistol marksmanship.
For the CBRN portion of events, day one consisted of an Army Combat Fitness Test, a written test, a ruck march to and from Ranges 5 and 8, and night land navigation at Training Area 148.
During day 2, competitors participated in day land navigation and rucked to three locations — Nord Hall, the Physical Endurance Course and Training Area 107.
At Nord Hall, competitors were faced with CBRN-specific tasks, such as collecting a liquid chemical sample and knowing how to react to nerve-agent poisoning.
Akebe said he enjoyed being able to apply his platoon’s mission essential tasks during the competition.
“I got to use the skills I learned from the CBRN Responder Enterprise Basic Course (at Nord Hall),” Akebe said.
On the third day, competitors performed a 12-kilometer ruck to the Lt. Joseph Terry CBRN First Responder Training Facility and Training Area 78.
At the Terry Facility, competitors had to demonstrate how to decontaminate a biological contamination and conduct surveys on hazardous materials.
Shortsleeve said the events at the Terry Facility were his personal favorite.
“I enjoyed the biological sensitive site assessment, because it was a direct reflection of the skills we learned in the technical escort course,” Shortsleeve said.
At Training Area 78, the competitors were tested on Expert Soldier Badge skills, such as hemorrhage control and camouflage techniques.
The morning of the final day of events, competitors were tested on their reactions to a fragmentary order for a radiological attack and choosing the level of personal protective equipment they would need to respond to the event. That afternoon, June 2, they began the final event, the Dragon’s Dread. The event consisted of 30 hand-release push-ups, lifting 16 sandbags into a Light Medium Tactical Vehicle, farmer’s carrying two full 5-gallon water jugs, completing a high crawl, then finishing with another mile run wearing a full-face protective mask.
At the awards ceremony, USACBRNS Command Sgt. Maj. Raymond Quitugua announced, starting next year, the competition will be renamed to memorialize Sgt. 1st Class Jeremiah Johnson.
Johnson died Oct. 4, 2017, while deployed with the 14th Chemical Reconnaissance Detachment, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) in Niger, West Africa.
“While planning this competition, we try to consider the Army’s motto, ‘This We’ll Defend,’ and slogan, ‘Be All You Can Be.’ What we thought was missing from our competition was spirit, our inspiration,” Quitugua said. “In the history of the Chemical Corps, we have so many phenomenal leaders, so many heroes to choose from. We decided there was one person who encapsulates the spirit of these competitors — Sgt. 1st Class Jeremiah Johnson.”
More photos from the 2024 International Best CBRN Warrior Competition are available on the Fort Leonard Wood Flickr page.
| Date Taken: | 06.06.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 06.06.2024 13:19 |
| Story ID: | 473258 |
| Location: | FORT LEONARD WOOD, MISSOURI, US |
| Web Views: | 28 |
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