Maryland Best Warrior Competition 2022

ABERDEEN, Md. – Over four intense days of sun and sleeting rain, ten Maryland Army National Guard Soldiers competed for the title of “Best Warrior” along with two soldiers from the Estonian Defense Force. The MDARNG hosted their annual Best Warrior Competition from March 10-13, 2022 at Aberdeen Proving Ground – South in Edgewood and H. Steven Blum Military Reservation in Glen Arm.

The BWC is a four-day competition featured events that were designed to test the physical abilities, leadership skills, teamwork and critical thinking of Soldiers.

U.S. Army Master Sgt. Amber Insley, the non-commissioned officer in charge of organizing the competition, was excited to see this year’s BWC get back to more normalcy with the EDF returning. The Maryland National Guard has been a partner with Estonia since 1993 through the National Guard Bureau’s State Partnership Program

“This year, we’re starting to break away from Covid operations,” Insley said. “It was a great opportunity for the Soldiers to get back to a lot of the [basic] Soldier skills.”

.Still the competition did not feel fully complete. The Armed Forces of Bosnia-Herzegovina, SPP partners since 2003, were unable to send participants this year. Last year, both the EDF and AFBiH were unable to send any competitors due to Covid-19 travel restrictions in Europe.

“Having the Estonians here brought a little more realness [to us with] what’s going on in their part of the world,” Insley said. “They were open about sharing some of their experiences with other competitors.”

On the first day, once competitors arrived at Blum Military Reservation, they demonstrated physical and mental prowess on a 12-mile ruck over the steep wooded hills, followed by a review of basic Soldier skills, and knowledge in the warrior task lane.

The stress shoot of day two began with a bang as they sprinted downhill through the colored clouds of a smoke grenade, before firing an M500 shotgun, and carrying two 45-pound water jugs uphill. Throughout the day, the competitors fired M4 rifles, and performed several push-ups before sprinting to a U.S. flag. The day continued as the competitors raced through the obstacle course where they assembled and disassembled an M2 machine gun, as well as reacted to simulated enemy contact in the gunnery skills and vehicle crew evaluation test.

After only having a short time to sleep, the day three began the daunting task of night into day land navigation, where they were tasked to find points marked on a topographic map in the early hours of the morning, before the sun fully arose.

After moving to the coastal Edgewood Area of Aberdeen Proving Ground, the twelve competitors had a brief moment of rest from the cold snap. Shortly after they forged on to locate a simulated enemy vehicle and call for support fire with only a pair of binoculars, a compass, and a radio communications system.

“Cold’s good for us, it’s like the Estonian’s [usual] environments,” said Staff Sgt. Harry Säär, a logistics NCO with the EDF. “We’ve had snow and cold [back in our homeland] for years, so I think we’re used to cold.”

On the final day, the service members donned their dress uniforms to appear before a senior leader board for an interview, where they recited basic Soldier knowledge and introduced themselves.

Many of the competitors expressed enjoyment in sharing the camaraderie that developed in the short time during the competition.

“It’s one of the best things about this particular competition, [that] everyone’s essentially a winner already,” said U.S. Army Sgt. David Monk, a healthcare specialist with the HHC, 1-175th Infantry Regiment, 58th Troop Command, MDARNG. “Being here together, we all just want to see the best out of each other. We know at the end of the day, win, lose, or withdraw, we’re all on the same team.”

In the end, Monk was declared the NCO of the Year. Spc. Daniel Reading, an infantryman with D Company, who also hails from the 1-175th Inf. Reg., 58th TC, won the Soldier of the Year. EDF’s 2nd Lt. Siim Usin and Sgt. Harry Säär won the International Company Grade Officer of the Year and the International NCO of the year, respectively.

Monk and Reading will advance to represent the MDARNG at the mid-Atlantic regional BWC in West Virginia this summer.