GRAFENWOEHR, Germany -- For the second time, Staff Sgt. Cristhian Gonzalez, 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, represented his unit in the 7th Army Joint Multinational Training Command Best Warrior Competition, June 21-24, 2016, here.
The 4-day competition challenges Soldiers, who have previously competed to be named the best in their units, to prove their skills in military knowledge, leadership, and endurance in the warrior tasks and drills critical to success and survival on the modern battlefield.
Gonzalez, who finished first in the Non-commissioned Officer category at the JMTC Best Warrior Competition and second in the U.S. Army Europe BWC last year, said "This year I feel like I was given an opportunity for redemption, I really want to win the USAREUR competition and make it to the Department of the Army competition."
Competing in the same competition for a second time can have its benefits, or so Gonzalez thought.
"Coming in, I definitely thought I had the upper hand or advantage but, so far I have noticed that the events this time around have a slight change to them," he said.
One event that he feels he aced was the Gunfighter Gymnasium. Here, each Soldier had to do burpees, run a distance and complete a virtual stress shoot using a laser-based M4 and M9.
Shifting gears to one area of improvement, Gonzalez mentioned, "My performance during the live-fire tactical shoot was not so good. Here, in teams of two, we reacted to contact and engaged targets in different settings. Now that I have received feedback from other competitors and graders, I know what I must do to get better."
After completing the final event, a 12-mile road march with a 35-pound rucksack, 1st Lt. David Reynhout, Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, Staff Sgt. Ethan Rodgers, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, and Spc. Daniel Guenther, Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, were presented with their awards and named "Best Warrior".
Although Gonzalez did not win this year, his spirits are still high. "This competition was extremely challenging. Even though I didn't win this time, I wanted to use this as a tool to measure my improvement from last year and as a chance to get more training because I want to attend Ranger school in the near future," said Gonzalez.
Aug. 7-11, these and other Soldiers across the region will compete in the European Best Warrior Competition.
Social Sharing