EDITOR'S NOTE: The Ohio Army National Guard Noncommissioned Officer and Soldier of the Year/Best Warrior Competition is being held March 22-24 at Camp Sherman, near Chillicothe. Soldiers and NCOs from all over the state will test their skills in several events: APFT, rifle/pistol qualification and stress fire, land navigation, Army Warrior Task testing, 6-mile ruck march, personal appearance board, written essay and written exam. The weekend's competitors had to win at their battalion level and brigade levels to make it this far; this article and photos recount the battalion-level board conducted last fall by the 371st Special Troops Battalion.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (March 22, 2013) — Soldiers of the 371st Special Troops Battalion competed in a Noncommissioned Officer and Soldier of the Year competition Sept. 9, 2012, at the Defense Supply Center Columbus.
Two NCOs and two junior enlisted Soldiers advanced to the brigade-level competition: Staff Sgts. Heath Robinson and Robert Neumann of the 285th Medical Company (Area Support) out of Columbus, Ohio; Pfc. Vincent Carson of the 212th Maintenance Company, Medina; and Pfc. Jordan Markwalder, also of the 285th.
Robinson, a squad leader with the 285th and a Canal Winchester, Ohio, native, won last year’s Ohio Army National Guard Noncommissioned Officer of the Year/Best Warrior Competition.
“I get a lot of respect from my Soldiers, because they know that I won this last year,” Robinson said. “They joke around with me a bit, but when I’m teaching them, they listen. They know there’s something behind what I’m saying.”
Despite winning at the state level last year, Robinson admitted that he was nervous for the battalion-level competition this year and that his fellow 371st NCOs presented a challenge.
“You’ve got a lot of guys here going after the same recognition, combat vets and former active duty, so it’s highly competitive,” said Sgt. Spencer Shelby, a heating, ventilation and air conditioning technician for the 211th Maintenance Company out of Newark, Ohio and a Columbus native.
The high-level competition began at 6 a.m., with Soldiers running through a chilly, rainy wind as part of their Army Physical Fitness Test and three Army Warrior Task drills that focused on evaluating a casualty, fixing a weapons malfunction and a nuclear, biological and chemical situation.
By 11 a.m., contestants readied for the Soldier/NCO board. They ensured their uniforms were in accordance with Army Regulation 670-1, making last-minute adjustments. Many poured over their study guides until called for the board appearance.
“If you’re given a leadership role, make sure you know what a leader is,” said Sgt. Thomas Naser, a nuclear, biological and chemical NCO with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 371st STB out of Springfield, Ohio and a Dayton, Ohio, native.
Shelby said it was an honor to take part in the competition, to represent his unit as a leader.
“It’s as though all of the years of putting in the work is finally starting to bear fruit; you get recognized by the people in your unit who feel like you’re ready to take this challenge to take up the mantle of being Soldier or NCO of the year,” Shelby said.
Robinson said the NCO/Soldier of the Year competition is a realistic test of leadership and a worthy recognition of a Soldier’s hard work.
“It’s good for anybody to go through an experience like this; essentially you’re facing fears, and when you’re finished you have a sense of accomplishment,” Naser said.
“Part of winning the board is getting through that nervousness, marching on, staying in the fight and being persistent,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Adoree Georskey, 371st STB command sergeant major and a West Jefferson, Ohio, native. |
