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Soldiers of the Security Assistance Training Management Organization put their physical fitness, technical and tactical skills to the test during U.S. Army Security Assistance Command’s annual Noncommissioned Officer of the Year and Best Warrior competition March 3 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
After a series of graded events ranging from tests of physical endurance to Expert Infantry, Soldier and Medical Badge (E3B) skill demonstrations to testing their overall Army knowledge during a board, Sgt. 1st Class Gary Skillestad II was declared USASAC’s NCO of the Year and will represent the command in the Army Materiel Command Best Warrior Best Squad competition in May.
“The start of the competition was a four-and-a-half-mile ruck,” said Skillestad. “The ruck was 60 pounds dry plus five quarts of water, so around a 70-pound ruck in total, which is heavier than the Army standard of 35 pounds.”
Following the ruck, the five competing SATMO Soldiers then conducted six E3B tasks, including disassembling, reassembling, and functions checking an M17 handgun, emplacing a claymore, applying camouflage face paint, moving under direct fire, and completing multiple medical tasks which included treating a sucking chest wound.
“After that was another four and a half mile run on the same route as the ruck, which, honestly, was my favorite part,” said Skillestad. “At that point, we were all spaced out, the weather was nice and cool, and I enjoyed just being out in the woods by myself.”
The solitude and cool breeze from the run didn’t last forever though, as six more E3B tasks awaited the Soldiers before the final physical task, Fort Bragg’s All-American Mile. The All-American Mile is a course that features nine obstacles including the weaver, a tower to climb, walls to scale, monkey bars and more throughout a mile in the woods.
Once the obstacle course was completed, breakfast was served.
According to Master Sgt. Jordan Dahl, -, the intense three hours of physical and technical tasks allowed the competitors to accurately assess where their physical state is and where they need to improve.
Furthermore, Dahl said the condensed schedule tested their mental acuity and military bearing at the point of exhaustion as they changed into their service uniforms for the final two tasks which were to stand before a board to answer questions about a range of Army topics and write an essay of USASAC Command Sgt. Major Stephen Burnley’s choice.
By the end of the day, Skillestad was declared USASAC’s NCO of the Year and Best Warrior. He and runner-up Staff Sgt. Tony Norman are now preparing to compete at AMC’s competition in May against the best of the best from the other nine major subordinate commands.
Considering Skillestad joined SATMO in January, he did not have a lot of time to prepare for such a grueling four hours, but his background as a cavalry scout and commitment to being an exemplary Soldier enabled his success throughout the tasks.
“With this competition, you're definitely uncomfortable, you're pushing, you're doing a lot, but it's a lot of fun,” he said. “I like challenging myself, so my plan to get ready for the AMC competition is to incorporate better study habits for the board, and for the physical side I'm going to use the (Holistic Health & Fitness Soldier Readiness Platform)’s pre-Ranger workout plan.”
When he is not in the gym – either for leisure or to train for Best Warrior Best Squad – Skillestad is part of the Security Assistance Training Company’s Detachment 2, which forms mobile training teams to go all over the world. The detachment supports foreign military sales and foreign military financing cases by providing partner nations with the tactical and technical skills they need to bolster their own defense and deterrence.
| Date Taken: | 03.13.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 03.13.2025 15:41 |
| Story ID: | 492786 |
| Location: | FORT BRAGG, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 31 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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