FORT SILL, Okla. -- Eighteen Soldiers from posts throughout the Army's Southern Regional Dental Command gathered at Fort Sill Nov. 27 through Dec. 2 for the Best Warrior competition.
The weeklong, grueling event challenged the dental specialists in soldier skills, physical fitness, combatives, M-16 rifle qualification and military bearing and knowledge, to determine the region's Soldier and Noncommissioned Officer of the Year.
Staff Sgt. Bryan McVeay, Fort Campbell (Ky.) Dental Activity, was selected as the NCO of the Year. Spc. Jason Lujan, Fort Jackson (S.C.) DENTAC, was named Soldier of the Year.
"I'm very excited. I've been competing for three years and finally accomplished it," McVeay said. "I strategized throughout the competition, worked hard at PT (physical training) and studied for the boards -- that made the difference this time."
Lujan, who works at the Caldwell Dental Clinic, finished third in the regionals last year.
"It feels good to win and not go home losing like last year," he said. "It took a lot of physical and mental endurance to succeed; that's what this competition is all about."
McVeay and Lujan will go on to compete against the winners from the five other regions at the Army Dental Command finals at Camp Bullis, Texas, March 12-17.
It was the first time Fort Sill hosted the dental Best Warrior, which got under way Nov. 27 with the Army Physical Fitness Test.
The Fort Sill "home team" was represented by Staff Sgt. Tia Vaa, Cowan Dental Clinic noncommissioned officer in charge, and Spc. Jonathan Ruiz, a dental specialist also at Cowan.
"I love it, I love being in the field," said Ruiz, from Colombia, referring to the competition. "It's good training for me."
Vaa said the competition taught her a lot about soldier skills.
She said she was going to tell her Soldiers that "we've got to learn everything we can, because we are Soldiers first, not just dental specialists."
All of the competitors were the best dental Soldiers from their respective forts, working their way from company-level competition to the post-level before making it to the regionals.
One of the events of the competition occured Day 3 with the Warrior Task and Drills course, which tested the competitors on basic soldier skills. Evaluators from all Fort Sill brigades and its NCO Academy timed and graded how closely each competitor adhered to the standards of a given task.
Wearing full combat gear or "battle-rattle," Soldiers first had to disassemble and reassemble an M-16 rifle and M-9 pistol. Then, they were on a patrol that required them to report unexploded ordnance, move under sniper fire and perform a low crawl. Further on the patrol, the competitors came across a wounded Soldier and had to give first aid to stabilize the victim and then move him to a safe area.
That was a challenge for Sgt. Antonio Crow, Fort Polk (La.) Dental Clinic Command.
"The hardest lane for me was carrying the casualty in the cradle drag for 25 meters," said Crow, who finished as runner up NCO. He estimated the Soldier weighed about 220 pounds.
Soldiers also had to request a medical evacuation on a radio, and act as a team leader whose team carried the victim on a litter to a clearing, where the competitor had to mark the area as a landing zone.
Next, each competitor led a team to clear a building. In one room, the Soldier got hit with gas and signaled the team to don their gas masks. From there the Soldier had to decontaminate him or herself.
Sgt. 1st Class John Peterson, 31st Air Defense Artillery Brigade chemical, radiological and nuclear devices NCOIC, designed the course to test the DENTAC Soldiers.
"It was customized to test all their basic soldier skills, and to come out with a 'Total Soldier' concept for the competition," Peterson said.
To add to the realism of a deployment, the Soldiers slept in tents at Forward Operating Base Murphy during the entire competition.
Oklahoma's cold weather affected the results, said Master Sgt. Omar Mascarenas, Fort Sill DENTAC first sergeant.
"This morning (Nov. 29) only eight of 18 competitors made the allotted time for the (7-mile forced) road march," Mascarenas said, noting the temperature was sub-freezing. "They just weren't used to the cold."
Competitors even dealt with a mystery event where they had to get out of a rolled over humvee in water with their crew, said Spc. Crystal Rowland, Fort Sam Houston (Texas) DENTAC.
She had gone through the egress training before, so it wasn't too bad, she said.
One of the toughest events for Rowland was the oral boards where senior enlisted Soldiers threw a barrage of questions to test her military knowledge.
"It was right after all the physical activities, so I was exhausted," she said. "They asked me who the first commander of the Continental Army was and I went blank, even though I knew it was George Washington. I was that tired."
The Soldier of the Year competition came down to a tie between Lujan and Spc. Joshua Hennis, Fort Polk. Lujan won it on a tiebreaker written exam which tested the Soldiers' military knowledge, he said.
The competition was realistic testing on what they will do down range, Crow said.
"We really gained experience that we can take to earn an EFMB (Expert Field Medical Badge), and I can go back and help prepare my Soldiers because of my experiences here," he said.
All the competitors were recognized with certificates of achievement during a ceremony Dec. 2 at the Graham Resiliency Training Center.
Here from Fort Gordon, Ga., the Southern Regional Dental Command commanding officer and sergeant major, Col. Lemuel Covington and Sgt. Maj. Johnnie Bryant-Dearwester respectively, praised and thanked the participants during the ceremony.
"I'm really proud of you because you are the best at your respective installations," Covington said. The competition was very close which reflected on the quality of the Soldiers who participated, he said.
Southern Regional Dental Command Best Warrior competitors
Soldiers
Spc. Joel Galarza, Fort Stewart, Ga.
Spc. Joshua Hennis, Fort Polk, La. (runner up)
Spc. Jason Lujan, Fort Jackson, S.C. (winner)
Spc. Luceerito Perdomo, Fort Campbell, Ky.
Spc. Crystal Rowland, Fort Sam Houston, Texas
Spc. Jonathan Ruiz, Fort Sill
Spc. Kristin Sanders, Fort Hood, Texas
Spc. Joseph Seehausen, Fort Benning, Ga.
Spc. Nicholas Williams, Fort Gordon, Ga.
NCOs
Sgt. Yulise Canales, Fort Benning
Sgt. Benny Cantu, Fort Sam Houston
Sgt. Antonio Crow, Fort Polk (runner up)
Sgt. Darline Gonzalez, Fort Stewart
Sgt. Su Kwang Han, Fort Hood
Staff Sgt. Joseph Hay, Fort Gordon
Staff Sgt. Bryan McVeay, Fort Campbell (winner)
Staff Sgt. Tia Vaa, Fort Sill
Cpl. Anthony Vargas, Fort Jackson
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