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Maryland Announces its Best Warriors

By Spc. Brianna Kearney, 29th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment—

The points are counted and Maryland’s Best Warriors are Spc. Christopher Hoffman, Staff Sgt. Andrew Cullum, and Capt. Alexi Franklin in the soldier, noncommissioned officer, and officer in their respective categories. Hoffman and Cullum will continue on to the Regional Best Warrior Competition and face off against other National Guard states.

“I just joined the Army a few years ago, but this is my second time winning the state competition and it’s an absolutely great feeling,” said Hoffman, member of C Co., 1st General Support Aviation Battalion, 169th Aviation Regiment. “All that hard work pays off.”

Seventeen soldiers set out to compete in Maryland’s Best Warrior Competition which started and ended on the Edgewood area of Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., from March 10-13, 2016. The awards ceremony for the competition took place after the graduation ceremony for Maryland’s newest soldiers from the Recruit Sustainment Program. The soldiers are separated into different phases depending on their military training status. The graduating soldiers were apart of “Gold Phase” meaning that they are ready to transition into their units.

 

Capt. Alexi Franklin, 32nd Civil Support Team, recieves the award for officer of the year after Maryland's Best Warrior Competition. Presenting the award is Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Beyard and Maj. Gen. Linda Singh, adjutant general of Maryland. The 2016 Best Warrior Competition takes place at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Edgewood, Md., and Gunpowder Military Reservation, Glen Arm, Md., from March 10-13, 2016.Reservation, Glen Arm, Md., on March 10-13, 2016.

Capt. Alexi Franklin, 32nd Civil Support Team

The competition consisted of seven events including a written test of military knowledge, an Army Physical Fitness Test, warrior tasks, day/night land navigation, weapons qualification, a seven-mile ruck march and a board. The competition allows soldiers, noncommissioned officers, officers/warrant officers and military members from Maryland’s State Partnership Program to showcase their basic soldier skills and be the best of the best.

“The competition helps build esprit de corps,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Beyard, the senior enlisted leader for the Maryland National Guard. “We started with soldiers and noncommissioned officers. Now we’re including officers because it’s very important that these different ranks and all the people from our organization learn to work together.”

Beyard elaborated that officers have been eligible to compete in Maryland’s Best Warrior Competition since last year. He mentioned that the adjutant general believed that this competition was the best place to build a stronger command team relationship between enlisted members and officers.

Staff Sgt. Andrew Cullum, Recruiting Retention Battalion, recieves the award for non-comissioned officer of the year after Maryland's Best Warrior Competition. Presenting the award is Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Beyard and Maj. Gen. Linda Singh, adjutant general of Maryland. The 2016 Best Warrior Competition takes place at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Edgewood, Md., and Gunpowder Military Reservation, Glen Arm, Md., from March 10-13, 2016.Reservation, Glen Arm, Md., on March 10-13, 2016.

Staff Sgt. Andrew Cullum, Recruiting Retention Battalion

This was the first year that Bosnia and Herzegovina, a member of Maryland’s State Partnership Program, was able to compete in the competition. The Maryland National Guard invited two teams from the BiH military to compete. MDNG soldiers traveled to BiH to prep them. Competing in the Best Warrior allows them to learn, train, and teach skills that they could bring back to their soldiers.

“They were tremendous competitors and they did extremely well,” Bayard said. “We hope next year to have an Estonian team, so we can have all of our state partners involved.”

Maryland plays a key role in the international initiative to foster democracy, encourage market economies and promote regional cooperation and stability through the State Partnership Program.

The Bosnian participants received mentorship from their senior enlisted and officers. Each of the Maryland National Guard competitors received a sponsor who was there to support their actions in the competition. These sponsors helped their competitors train for the physical events and practice for the military board that each participant would face.

“It’s all about morale because a lot of times the competitors will get to a certain point and they’ll feel like they can’t do this, but that mentor is there to help pick them up and say, ‘take it one task at a time and you’ll succeed’,” said Staff Sgt. Delvon Anderson, the sponsor of Hoffman and Sgt. Stephen Rzemyk.

Spc. Christopher Hoffman, C Co., 1st General Support Aviation Battalion, 169th Aviation Regiment, recieves the award for soldier of the year after Maryland's Best Warrior Competition. Presenting the award is Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Beyard and Maj. Gen. Linda Singh, adjutant general of Maryland. The 2016 Best Warrior Competition takes place at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Edgewood, Md., and Gunpowder Military Reservation, Glen Arm, Md., from March 10-13, 2016.

Spc. Christopher Hoffman, C Co., 1st General Support Aviation Battalion, 169th Aviation Regiment

In 2011, Anderson competed and won Best Warrior in the soldier competition. He went to the regional Best Warrior Competition and placed 3rd as a specialist. In 2013, he competed and won as the noncommissioned officer competition as a sergeant. He went to the regional Best Warrior Competition and placed 2nd. Anderson’s experiences allowed him to better prepare his soldiers and showcase the importance of being a mentor in the competition.

“As far as my past competitions, that made me the first awardee in Maryland history to win the soldier of the year and noncommissioned officer of the year competition,” added Anderson. “That’s mainly due to Command Sgt. Maj. Bayard mentoring me and noticing my potential. So, because of his motivation to push me, I was able to get that recognition.”

Also in the audience to view the ceremony were Freestate ChalleNGe cadets. These cadets are at-risk youth who want a second chance. The cadets are in the 22-week residency phase of the Freestate ChalleNGe Academy. When they graduate from their residency phase, the cadets are mentored for 12 months and put into jobs, continue their education, or enter military service.

This week, the Maryland National Guard winners will be recognized in the State House on the Senate floor during session.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7y7LfnDiq5o