{"id":149,"date":"2016-03-13T00:47:36","date_gmt":"2016-03-13T00:47:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/?p=149"},"modified":"2017-09-05T15:31:48","modified_gmt":"2017-09-05T15:31:48","slug":"149","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/2016\/03\/13\/149\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Competitors: 2016 Best Warrior Competition"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Maryland National Guard Public Affairs Office\u2014<\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Five Maryland National Guard and three Bosnia and Herzegovina brigades sent their best soldiers to represent them in the 2016 Best Warrior Competition. Behind the units they represent, these soldiers strive for excellence because of their own personal reasons.<\/p>\n

Soldier Competition:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"2365-SI2_3921\"<\/em><\/p>\n

Spc. Christopher Hoffman<\/strong>
\nUnit: C Co., 1st General Support Aviation Battalion, 169th Aviation Regiment
\nMilitary Occupation: UH-60 Helicopter Repairer (15T)
\nHometown: Havre De Grace, MD
\nCivilian Job: Blackhawk Mechanic\/Crew Chief
\nTime in Military Service: 3 years<\/p>\n

“I was one point away from winning the regional competition last year and I met a ton of people throughout this competition. None of this is MOS related for me. I work on helicopters and fly in helicopters as a door gunner, so this competition involved my basic soldiering skills.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cAs much as some people want to say that this stuff doesn\u2019t matter, it really does. You need this discipline and you never know what situation you\u2019re going to be put in.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"2365-SI2_3936\"<\/p>\n

Spc. Grant Smith<\/strong>
\nUnit: 29th Military Police Company
\nMilitary Occupation: Military police (31B)
\nHometown: Williamsport, MD
\nCivilian Job: Police Officer
\nTime in Military: 2.5 years<\/p>\n

\u201cThis competition describes the kind of person that I am. It shows that I want to do better for myself and not settle.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"2365-SI2_3889\"<\/p>\n

Spc. Russell Lecates<\/strong>
\nUnit: 290th Military Police Company
\nMilitary Occupation: Cavalry Scout (19D)
\nHometown: Delmar, MD
\nCivilian Job: Full-time member of the Maryland Honor Guard
\nTime in Military Service: 5 years<\/p>\n

\u201cWe workout at work in our down time, so we prepped for physical training and had time to ruck at the park near our armory. My favorite event is land navigation. When I was with the scouts that\u2019s what we did, so it\u2019s really comfortable for me.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"2365-SI1_0334\"<\/p>\n

Sgt. Stephen Rzemyk<\/strong>
\nUnit: 58th Expeditionary Military Intelligence Battalion
\nMilitary Occupation: Human Intelligence Collector (35M)
\nHometown: Galloway, NJ
\nCivilian Job: Construction worker & student
\nTime in Military Service: 4 years<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ruck [march], it tests you in all ways and on the same aspect you\u2019re still rooting on each other while you\u2019re going against each other. It\u2019s the most demanding, but also involves companionship.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIt definitely shows respect for our unit and myself as a soldier to know that physically and mentally I\u2019m competent in doing my job.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Noncommissioned Officer Competition:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"2365-SI1_0351\"<\/p>\n

Sgt. Charles Contic<\/strong>
\nUnit: C Company, 1st Battalion, 175th Infantry Regiment
\nMilitary Occupation: Infantryman (11B)
\nHometown: Laurel, MD
\nCivilian Job: Student
\nTime in Military Service: 8 years<\/p>\n

\u201cThe good experience for decent training. I think as a fire team leader, I should set an example of what they should strive for.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"2365-SI1_0329\"<\/p>\n

Sgt. ***<\/strong>
\nUnit: B Co., I&S, 29th Infantry Division
\nMilitary Occupation: ***
\nHometown: Chicago, IL
\nCivilian Job: Threat Mitigation Officer
\nTime in Military Service: 6 years<\/p>\n

\u201cMy motivations for competing in the competition were that it would be a challenge for me to better myself and that its an opportunity to not only network with other soldiers, but to represent my unit.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

***Information withheld at the request of individual.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"2365-SI2_3902\"<\/p>\n

Staff Sgt. Margaret Taylor<\/strong>
\nUnit: 29th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
\nMilitary Occupation: Public Affairs Specialist (46Q)
\nHometown: Tusla, OK
\nCivilian Job: Journalism Instructor at the Defense Information School
\nTime in Military Service: 5.5 years<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I started competing it was partly for me because I\u2019m very competitive, but then there\u2019s also the part that my unit hasn\u2019t done this before, ever. I was hoping that I could start a trend in this small unit.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t always get to be a soldier. So it\u2019s nice to put the camera down and just be a soldier. That\u2019s important to me. Land navigation was definitely my favorite. I love running around in the woods and it also comes easy to me.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"2365-SI1_0338\"<\/p>\n

Staff Sgt. Andrew Cullum<\/strong>
\nUnit: Recruiting Retention Battalion
\nMilitary Occupation: Intelligence Analyst (35F)
\nHometown: Edgewood, MD
\nCivilian Job: (Active Guard Reserve)
\nTime in Military Service: 11 years<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year I lost by 4 points and I was hungry to win. I\u2019m just trying to help put the Recruiting Battalion on the map a little bit more.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a good networking process. I get to meet a lot of up and coming soldiers who are doing a lot of good things. Hopefully, if I didn\u2019t know them now, I\u2019ll have a relationship with them in the future.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Officer Competition:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"2365-SI2_3932\"<\/p>\n

2nd Lt. John Baldwin<\/strong>
\nUnit: 290th Military Police Company
\nMilitary Occupation: Military Police Officer (31A)
\nHometown: Baltimore, MD
\nCivilian Job: Pepsi Sales Representative
\nTime in Military Service: 2 years<\/p>\n

\u201cI went to armystudyguide.com, I looked at YouTube videos, I got plenty of rest, and exercised. The ruck march was a blast though; it was fantastic. I\u2019m learning a lot about stuff and I\u2019m going to bring that back to the unit.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"2365-SI2_3893\"<\/p>\n

Capt. Alexi Franklin<\/strong>
\nUnit: 32nd Civil Support Team
\nMilitary Occupation: Survey team leader (AGR)
\nHometown: New York, NY
\nCivilian Job: (Active Guard Reserve)
\nTime in Military Service: 14 years<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year I was a company commander so I couldn\u2019t compete, but this year I don\u2019t supervise any officers so I figured I\u2019d give it a shot. I like seeking out challenges. I like checking out new opportunities, new things and giving everything a chance.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI got to meet a lot of interesting people from all over the guard and from Bosnia as well. It\u2019s always neat to meet people in the organization that you wouldn\u2019t meet otherwise, to network, and make friendships.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"2365-SI2_3953\"<\/p>\n

Capt. Michael Walker<\/strong>
\nUnit: 110th Information Operations Battalion
\nMilitary Occupation: Cyber Red Team Lead
\nHometown: Reston, VA
\nCivilian Job: Business Owner
\nTime in Military Service: 11 years<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to test my abilities compared to the rest of the Guard. It seemed like it would be an interesting competition in the skill sets that I knew how to do. The ruck is definitely the most challenging, it\u2019s my favorite for that reason. It\u2019s sheer willpower to get through the whole thing. The people that beat me, they just wanted it more and it was very impressive.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the biggest takeaways is the board and what boards are interested in. It\u2019s my first experience with a board and at brigade I wasn\u2019t prepared. So its given me the opportunity to manage my career and prepare for other boards.\u201d<\/p>\n

BiH Soldier Competition:<\/strong><\/div>\n
\u00a0\"2365-SI1_0343\"<\/div>\n
Pvt. Ermin Hajri\u0107<\/strong>
\nUnit: Recon Co., 6th Infantry Brigade<\/div>\n
\"2365-SI2_3908\"<\/div>\n
\u00a0Pvt. Gorana Aleksi\u0107 <\/strong>
\nUnit: Signal and Communication Battalion<\/div>\n
\n
BiH\u00a0Noncommissioned Officer\u00a0Competition:<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\"2365-SI2_3944\"<\/div>\n
Staff Sgt. Davor Marjanovi\u0107<\/strong>
\nUnit: 1st Infantry Battalion, 6th Infantry Brigade<\/div>\n
\"2365-SI2_3960\"<\/div>\n
Sgt. 1st Class Momir Bogosavac<\/strong>
\nUnit: Artillery Battalion, 6th Infantry Brigade<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
Officer Competition:<\/strong><\/div>\n
\u00a0\"2365-SI2_3927\"<\/div>\n
2nd Lt. Ivan Krajina<\/strong>
\nUnit: 2st Infantry Battalion, 5th Infantry Brigade<\/div>\n
\"2365-SI2_3912\"<\/div>\n
1st Lt. Kenan Ahmi\u0107<\/strong>
\nUnit: 1st Infantry Battalion, 5th Infantry Brigade<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Five Maryland National Guard and three Bosnia and Herzegovina brigades sent their best soldiers to represent them in the 2016 Best Warrior Competition. Behind the units they represent, these soldiers strive for excellence because of their own personal reasons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":148,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2,810],"tags":[98,542,538,529,120,533,390,527,324,13,523,540,537,535,327,530,532,531,536,487,539,534,509,541,528],"class_list":["post-149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-state-partnership-program","tag-1-169th-general-support-aviation-battalion","tag-110th-information-operations-battalion","tag-11b","tag-15t","tag-169th-aviation-regiment","tag-19d","tag-1st-general-support-aviation-battalion","tag-290th-military-police-company","tag-29th-military-police-company","tag-29th-mobile-public-affairs-detachment","tag-31b","tag-35f","tag-35m","tag-58th-expeditionary-military-intelligence-battalion","tag-active-guard-reserve","tag-blackhawk-mechanic","tag-cavalry-scout","tag-crew-chief","tag-human-intelligence-collector","tag-infantryman","tag-intelligence-analyst","tag-maryland-honor-guard","tag-military-police","tag-recruiting-retention-battalion","tag-uh-60-helicopter-repairer"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/139"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=149"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1775,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149\/revisions\/1775"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}