U.S. Army Europe Soldiers drive to prove warrior skills

By Sgt. Daniel ColeSeptember 17, 2014

U.S. Army Europe Soldiers drive to prove warrior skills
1 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – 1st Lt. Michael Theising of the 15th Engineer Battalion, 21st Theater Sustainment Command, demonstrates the use of a skin decontamination kit during the CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear) lane at the 2014 U.S. Army Europe Best Warr... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
U.S. Army Europe Soldiers drive to prove warrior skills
2 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Cpl. Zachary Sullivan and 1st Lt. Steven White of Headquarters U.S. Army Europe demonstrate the use of skin decontamination kits during the CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear) lane at the 2014 U.S. Army Europe Best Warrior Competiti... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
U.S. Army Europe Soldiers drive to prove warrior skills
3 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Pvt. Benjamin Ranew of B Company, 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, Joint Multinational Training Command, evaluates and treats a simulated casualty during the medical evacuation testing lane of the European Best Warrior Competition in Grafenwoeh... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
U.S. Army Europe Soldiers drive to prove warrior skills
4 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Spc. James Simo of Headquarters, 21st Theater Sustainment Command, keeps an eye on security during the medical evacuation testing event of the European Best Warrior Competition in Grafenwoehr, Germany, Sept. 16, 2014. The competition is a weeklong ev... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
U.S. Army Europe Soldiers drive to prove warrior skills
5 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Spc. Paul Islas of D Company, 2-159th Attack Reconnaissance Battalion, 12th Combat Aviation Brigade, plots coordinates on a map during the land navigation portion of the European Best Warrior Competition in Grafenwoehr, Germany, Sept. 15. The compet... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

GRAFENWOEHR, Germany -- As Soldiers push through the 2014 U.S. Army Europe Best Warrior and Best Junior Officer Competitions here this week, certain events are proving to be more challenging than others. Over the course of the five-day competition, USAREUR's top Soldiers are confronting more than 30 tests of physical, mental and emotional strength and endurance.

The first two days of the competition have proved to be a physical challenge. During the first day, before the sun was up, the junior enlisted, noncommissioned officer and junior officer competitors were already sweating as they strained through an Army Physical Fitness Test. Less than an hour after completing the APFT competitors were climbing 40-foot towers, sliding across ropes, scaling ladders and walls and sliding under low wires as quickly as they could as they tackled an extensive obstacle course never used before in the annual competition.

"The hardest event for me has been the obstacle course, because as soon as we got done with the PT test we moved over there and it definitely more physically demanding than anything else, and I am pretty exhausted from doing both," said Cpl. Zachary Sullivan, a human resources NCO assigned to USAREUR's Headquarters Battalion.

The first day concluded with an event called the stress shoot. This demanding test had Soldiers showcasing their skills, endurance and patience. First competitors had to eliminate enemy targets with a machine gun. Then, after hitting each of the pop-up targets, a mock casualty had to be treated and placed on a stretcher and evacuated from the area. Next came a half-kilometer foot march that led the now-breathless competitors to the rifle portion of the event. Two mock casualties lay approximately100 meters away, requiring each competitor to sprint to cover behind fallen tree branches while eliminating enemies in the area, then advance to the 180-pound mock casualties and carry them, one at a time, to a safe distance.

"The firing lane has been the toughest, just because we are moving around a lot while carrying heavy casualties," explained Spc. James Simo, an intelligence analyst assigned to 21st Theater Sustainment Command. "It was sort of a little chaotic, shooting at the enemy and carrying an injured Soldier then moving a half-mile to the next range and doing the same sort of tasks."

"It was interesting because it is a stress shoot, but they threw in the casualties as well, so it was distracting," said Pvt. Benjamin Ranew, an infantryman assigned to the Joint Multinational Training Center, shortly after completing the event. "You wanted to be sure that you treated them well, and at the same time you have targets popping up. It was a combination of keeping low, keeping your head straight and focusing on the casualties as well as the targets."

As the day's events concluded late in the evening, the competitors knew they had to be up in a few hours to begin the next round of competition.

Arriving at a land navigation event site at around 4 a.m., contestants first had to demonstrate how well they could orient a map and plot grid coordinate points during nighttime hours. Then competitors watched the sun rise during the five hours it took them to plot and then hike to the several distant map locations they had plotted.

Next came a rotation of four event lanes testing each Soldier's skills on mass casualty evacuation; chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defense skills; a call-for-fire mission and a series of simulated scenarios requiring them to make rapid "shoot/no shoot" battlefield decisions.

"This has definitely been one of the toughest so far," said an out-of-breath 1st Lt. Michael Theising, an engineer officer representing the 21st Theater Sustainment Command. "It is always hard, having to mix moving the casualty (properly) and not forgetting anything in the heat of the moment."

Spc. Paul Islas, an AH-64D Apache electronic and avionics system repairer assigned to the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade, claimed there were actually some positive results from the grueling physical toll of the previous 48 hours. Coming straight from the CBRN lane, Islas said the scenario-based test was a different approach to CBRN training and taught his team that working together is vital.

"It was a different approach to (CBRN) training because it wasn't just a regular 'go in the gas chamber and take your mask off,'" he explained. "It was situational, which is what I really liked about it. It was more of a team aspect as well."

With more than half of the contest yet to complete, competitors' stamina, knowledge, bearing, coolness and resolve will be stretched even further as they strive to make their units, their colleagues and themselves proud and prove who are this year's Best Warrior and Best Junior Officer.

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U.S. Army Europe is uniquely positioned to advance American strategic interests across Eurasia as U.S. European Command's force of choice and has unparalleled capability to prevent conflict, shape the environment and, if necessary, win decisively. The relationships we build during 1,000 theater security cooperation events in more than 40 countries each year lead directly to support for multinational contingency operations around the world, strengthen regional partnerships, and enhance global security.

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