FORT STEWART, Ga. Thirteen Spartan Brigade noncommissioned officers took one day of grueling competition to see who would be the brigade's best NCO.
"I feel as if there were a lot of NCOs (noncommissioned officers) in the competition who were actually better than me," said Sgt. Jacob Kersey, a medic with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division.
"I just went out there, did my best, and actually won the competition," he added.
The sergeant competed against 12 other Spartan NCOs in 2nd BCT's Best NCO Competition March 4 at Pond Ten on Fort Stewart and finished the competition on top earning the title of 2nd BCT's Best NCO.
"The competition lasted for a day, though it was originally scheduled to last a little longer," he said. "Completing all six events in such a short period of time was difficult, but I stayed focused," he said.
The six events that made up the competition included a six-mile road march in full gear, a host of pull-ups and sit-ups, maintaining a vehicle, Soldier counseling, accessing a casualty during a situational awareness exercise, and assembling and performing a functions check on a M-4, M-9, and M240B, respectively.
First Sergeant Jovito Casanova, HHC, 1/30 Inf., attended the event in support of Kersey. Casanova said not only did the NCOs have to complete each of the six tasks, but they had to show that they were in control at all times.
The competition tested NCO skills, their performance in a garrison environment and how well they handled combat situations he said.
Kersey said because the six-mile road march was completed before the pull-ups and sit-ups, the competition was similar to an Army Physical Fitness Test in reverse.
"The ruck march was extremely tiring," Kersey said. "The first mile really wore me out because we had to have our pro (gas) mask on the entire mile. After that it just kept getting harder, but that's when I told myself 'put one foot in front of the other and you'll make it.'"
Kersey said that his favorite portion of the competition was assembling and performing malfunctions check on the weapons.
"I thought that part of the competition was pretty neat. The time limit made it challenging and exciting at the same time," he said.
The junior NCO said that although he is truly honored to be 2nd BCT's Best NCO, this is not the end of his accomplishments as a leader.
"Winning this competition made me proud, and it has motivated me to do even bigger things as a Soldier and NCO," said Kersey.
Kersey added that he believes he has also given his Soldiers a reason to look up to him.
"I'm just happy to be able to set a positive example for them. Mainly, I just want them to see that it pays off to be competitive; I want them to know that they can achieve anything they push themselves to."
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