A safety looks on as Staff Sgt. Max Rees, 75th Training Division, gets a glimpse of his target as the flares lighten up the night, during the M4 night qualification on Fort McCoy, Wis. June 22, 2011. Rees is employed as a wild land firefighter for Jo...

Staff Sgt. David Brown, 108th Training Command, collects two full magazines as he gets ready to engage his targets at the M4 night fire range during the Army Reserve Best Warrior Competition on Fort McCoy, Wis. June 22, 2011. Brown works is a persona...

Spc. Ryan Barger, representing the 200th Military Police Command, scans his sector during the M4 rifle night fire qualification event at the 2011 Army Reserve Best Warrior competition at Fort McCoy, Wis. on Wednesday, June 22. A steady rain made the ...

Sgt. Brian C. Shelly with the 382nd Minimal Care Detachment from Ashville, N.C., lifts his hands and declares "No brass, no ammo." As one of the range safeties pats him down during the shake down that followed the Rifle Qualification during the 2011 ...

Sgt. Jacob H. Probst with the B Company Small Arms Readiness Group, 3-328th Battalion, 86th Training Division from Milwaukee, Wis., shows his pirate side with a patch over his left eye while standing on a berm about to begin the Rifle Qualification e...

A soldier's assigned weapon, the M4, sits in a V-notch stake in between fire positions during the Rifle Qualification event 2011 Army Reserve Best Warrior Competition at Fort McCoy Wis., on June 22. This event tests a soldiers ability to maintain the...

FORT MCCOY, Wis. " More than 40 Army Reserve Soldiers competing at the Army Reserve’s Best Warrior competition were tested on their M4 rifle accuracy during both day and night conditions on Wednesday.

The M4 competition tested the Soldiers on their target accuracy from 50 to 300 meters.

Sunny afternoon conditions evolved into a rainy and windy evening, and in an effort to simulate an urban environment, the range also featured pyrotechnics and music.

For Pfc. Justin Arrington from Bethesda, Md., this was a new experience.

“That was my first experience with a night fire, and it’s challenging,” Arrington said.

The difficult conditions did not stop Spc. Aurelio Hernandez from Hollister, Calif., from taking a step back to enjoy the competition.

“It was cool to be a spectator,” said Hernandez. “I stepped back to watch.”

The Soldiers competing this week at the Best Warrior Competition, held this week (June 20-24) at Fort McCoy, Wis., represent 205,000 Soldiers in the U.S. Army Reserve.

Two winners will be selected at the end of the week as the Army Reserve’s Soldier and Non-Commissioned Officer of the year and will represent the Army Reserve at the Army’s Best Warrior Competition in October at Fort Lee, Va.

The Soldiers are spending a week on a variety of Army challenges that test their mettle in tests of skill such as weapons qualification, a ruck march, land navigation, Army combatives, first aid, and weapons assembly.

Their military backgrounds and experience represent the entire spectrum of the Army Reserve. Many have deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kuwait. Their career fields include military police, healthcare, mechanics, human resources, intelligence, chaplain assistant and engineering. They represent a wide cross-section of America, hailing from various states across the United States.

The winners will be announced at an awards dinner at 5 p.m. Central time, June 24, at the American Legion Post in Sparta, Wis. The top NCO and Soldier will go on to represent Army Reserve at the Department of the Army “Best Warrior” Competition, to be held in October at Fort Lee, Va.