FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (June 8, 2015) -- The 52nd Ordnance Group held its annual Best Warrior Competition here to select the best of the best among the Army's explosive ordnance disposal companies and battalions, June 1-4.
Hoping to earn the title of 52nd EODs Noncommissioned Officer and Soldier of the Year, one NCO and Soldier from three battalions under the 52nd EOD competed during four-days of grueling missions and tasks that tested their skills.
Sergeant Xavier Steinhart and Spc. Billy McCoy, 184th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Battalion, Fort Campbell, Ky.; Staff Sgt. Keith Thomas and Spc. Joseph Woolfolk, 192nd EOD Battalion, Fort Bragg, N.C.; Sgt. Christopher Draves and Spc. Aaron Greichunos, 63rd EOD Battalion, Fort Stewart, Ga., participated in the competition.
Command Sgt. Maj. Jeremiah Raemhild, 52nd Ordnance Group, said the competition gives leadership a unique snapshot of how training is being conducted across the group's battalions and companies.
"If they come here and they can't perform the simple tasks then that means we might want to reevaluate what is going on in the battalions … and the companies," Raemhild said. "It gives us a small look into, and to be able to evaluate, some of their common tasks and see how they are doing."
Competing at peak performance and displaying skills 52nd EOD leadership was looking for in naming 52nd EODs Soldier of the Year was Woolfolk.
Named as the runner up at the 192nd EOD Battalion "Best Warrior" competition, Woolfolk almost didn't get to compete at the next level. However, due to the battalion level winner dropping out of the competition, Woolfolk got the chance to prove himself.
"[Best Warrior] was hard. It was a lot more physical than I thought it was going to be," Woolfolk said of the competition.
Woolfolk said although the competition was difficult, he came prepared.
"I thought I was going to do good. The board, I wasn't too confident about that beforehand, but once we got in there I wasn't really nervous at all. I answer almost every question," he said. "Every other event, I did how I thought I would."
Named Noncommissioned Officer of the Year for 52nd EOD was Draves.
Draves had never participated in an event like the Best Warrior Competition and decided he wanted to challenge himself.
"It was tough, but it was rewarding. I got to find areas that I need improvement on, that was the biggest takeaway for me at least," he said. "And see the level that other people are on throughout the 52nd Ordnance Group and see how I match up with them."
Draves said the best part of the competition was the camaraderie and networking.
"I got to talk to different [Soldiers] from different units and see where they are coming from and talk to them about how their units are and what kind of training they do, where I would possibly want to go after leaving my company," he said.
The warriors were tested throughout the week in several events beginning with the Army Physical Fitness Test, combat water survival test and an M4 carbine range, Monday.
Both Woolfolk and Draves said, the combat water survival test was the toughest challenge they faced throughout the competition.
"I think treading water in full uniform and boots for 20 minutes would be hard for anybody," Draves said. "I'm actually surprised I was able to do it … I might have said it was impossible before doing it."
Day two of the competition kept participants busy long into the night.
Beginning the day with a 3-mile run from 52nd EOD, competitors ran to the 160th Green Platoon obstacle courses where they moved through seven hurdles before completing a weapons task. During the second obstacle course, Soldiers maneuvered through and over obstacles obstructed with mud, rushing water and concertina wire.
After completing the obstacle courses, competitors were tested further to prove their land navigation skills during day and night land navigation courses.
The mystery event, held on the third day, included three lanes. The first lane consisted of a size, activity, location, unit identification, time and equipment report which is used to report enemy sightings. The second lane required competitors to don full Mission Oriented Protective Posture gear, evaluate a casualty and respond to a chemical environment.
Continuing to lane three in full MOPP gear, participants responded to other warrior tasks such as movement under direct fire, using arm and hand signals as well as other MOPP scenarios like sending up an NBC-1 report. NBC-1 reports submit information about location and type of agent being used in a chemical attack.
"The mystery event is basically so they don't know what's coming," said 1st Sgt. Harley Prado, Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 52nd EOD. "We throw them into the fire and see how they react in an extreme situation."
The last and most grueling day of the competition began with a 12-mile ruck march. Competitors donned full battle gear and weapons, carrying 35-pound ruck sacks on their backs.
After the ruck march, the Soldiers had one hour to prepare for the last event -- the Soldier board.
Dressed in Class A uniforms, each Soldier appeared before six senior noncommissioned officers. Three command sergeants major, two first sergeants and a master sergeant from across the group and battalions they represented graded them on their answers, confidence, military bearing and uniform appearance.
Knowledge of, and competence in, common tasks are about battlefield survivability, Raemhild said.
"The tasks you see here -- they are not MOS specific tasks -- they are all basic Soldier skills," he said. "From protection from [Nuclear, Biological and Chemical], [Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear] attacks to detecting [Improvised Explosive Devices] to sending up 'SPOT' reports … it is all about survivability on the battlefield."
Draves and Woolfolk will compete at the 20th Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosives Command in Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., June 15-19. If they win at this level, they will then compete at the U.S. Army Forces Command before competing at the Department of Army level.
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