FORT CAMPBELL, KY, April 3, 2009 -- Well before sunrise with their competitive spirits high, Soldiers from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), gathered to vie for top honors as the Strike Noncommissioned Officer and Soldier of the Quarter April 3.
With sleep still fresh in their minds, the Soldiers began the competition with a modified physical fitness test, consisting of two minutes of sit-ups and push-ups.
Following the PT test, the Soldiers set on foot to complete a 2.8 mile foot march in full tactical gear, which physically challenged the Soldiers because most chose to run the event in hopes of finishing first.
As all the Soldiers crossed the finished line at Range 7, they were given 18 rounds to zero their weapons. Immediately following their zeroing phase on the range, they were given to common Soldier tasks to complete.
At the first station, the Soldiers were given a scenario where a Soldier had been wounded in combat and was bleeding from an extremity. Notionally, a field dressing and pressure dressing had been applied and the bleeding continued from the extremity. The competitors had one minute to properly place and secure a tourniquet in order to stop the bleeding.
The first station led directly into the second station continuing with the same scenario. Now that the tourniquet had been properly applied, the wounded Soldier needed to be medically evacuated from the area. In order to do this, the competitors had to accurately call-in a 9-line MEDEVAC over the radio.
Still early into the competition, the competitors needed to remain strong as the day wore on.
After calling in the 9-line MEDEVAC to remove the wounded Soldier from the hostile area, the Soldiers immediately moved to Range 9 to qualify on their M-4 Carbines.
After successfully qualifying on their individual weapons, only two events remained for the Soldiers. However, these would be the most demanding mentally for the competitors.
The Soldiers were given a written exam focused on the basic Soldiering skills. Following the written exam, the Soldiers all appeared before a board comprising of the top NCOs within the brigade, with questions varying from leadership and land navigation, to Army history and programs available to Soldiers and their families.
At the end of the board though, two competitors stood tall.
Sgt. Kristopher Micik, with Troop B, 1st Squadron, 75th Cavalry Regiment, was named the Strike NCO of the Quarter. Standing tall as the Strike Soldier of the Quarter was Spc. Christopher Rowlands, with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment.
This was an opportunity for the Soldiers competing to gain confidence in their abilities and represent their respective units. Most importantly though, this was an opportunity for these Soldiers and NCOs to excel at a higher level, and to showcase their abilities both technically and tactically.
"These boards are important so these Soldiers and NCOs can excel," said Command Sgt. Maj. Wayne St. Louis, command sergeant major, 2nd Special Troops Battalion, 2nd BCT. "It gives Soldiers confidence in their abilities. For the Soldiers it prepares them for being NCOs and leaders in the future; preparing for the board forces them to gain more knowledge. For the NCOs, it prepares them to become a higher level leader in the Army."
Rowlands' squad leader, Sgt. James Spear, felt confident he would do well representing his unit.
"He is by far the best Soldier I have had the privilege of mentoring," said Spear. "Every opportunity he is given he goes for it. Every challenge he is given he meets it and exceeds it just as he did here today with the board."
Rowlands is an assistant team leader, so he not only trained his Soldiers while preparing for the competition, but he sacrificed his off duty hours to study for the board, which enabled him to pull off the win, said Spear.
"Every challenge he has ever encountered he has exceeded the standard," said Spear.
Rowlands hopes the standard he set by winning the board allows for the Soldiers he leads to see the sacrifices that need to be made to succeed.
"Hopefully they see that and follow what I do," he said.
St. Louis believes a competition such as this can have a positive impact on leaders and junior Soldiers.
"I think there are different levels of power. When your NCO wins something like this that gives them more power as the expert. It's easier to lead if you have more power in different things," he said. "You have legitimate power but if you have this expert power where people see that it's easier to motivate Soldiers because you are the expert. They are going to follow you anywhere you want them to go because you are leading by example."
He said that when they win and excel it builds their confidence.
"When you have confidence it's much easier to be successful in war if they are confident Soldiers," St. Louis said.
For Micik, he hopes his win helps motivate his Soldiers and continues the standard his troop held while deployed to Iraq.
"I hope it made me more knowledgeable and more confident. I hope it's something (my Soldiers) can strive for," Micik said. "(My unit) has had a reputation of doing some good stuff, especially during our last deployment. We were known for the things we did in Iraq."
His unit ran patrols in northern Ghazaliyah and western Shulla, neighborhoods in northwest Baghdad. They were able to take a neighborhood that was in constant fear and ruins and create stability throughout.
"I'm trying to maintain the standard the troop set while in Iraq," Micik said.
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