2020 Best CBRN Warrior registration now open

By Sgt. Logan ThomasMarch 4, 2020

2020 Best CBRN Warrior registration now open
Teams cross the finish line on Gammon Field during a previous CBRN Warrior Competition. Registration is now underway for the 2020 competition. (Photo Credit: Ms. Dawn M. Arden) VIEW ORIGINAL

The U.S. Army Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear School is accepting nomination packets now through March 20 for the 2020 Best CBRN Warrior Competition on Fort Leonard Wood.

The competition -- scheduled from April 27 through May 1 -- will feature 25 two-person teams.

According to competition planner Capt. Andrew Lindsay, each organization is allocated a number of teams, but units may submit more packets than allocated.

Excess packets will be placed on a waiting list.

The competition is open to Soldiers and noncommissioned officers in the ranks of private through master sergeant; warrant officers 1 through 3; and commissioned officers from second lieutenant through major.

Lindsay said all Army applicants must be within Career Management Field 74, though service members from other branches of service and international military members of equivalent rank are also eligible to compete.

Last year was the first year the competition opened to international service members.

Lindsay said this year's event will differ from last year.

"Previous years have been conducted with large groups of competitors moving between events as a group," Lindsay said. "In order to achieve more consistency of exertion, this year's competition will be executed as a staggered release of teams. Other changes include … updated challenges to more accurately portray the diverse nature of the modern CBRN battlefield."

According to Master Sgt. Mauricio Montalvo, CBRN School noncommissioned officer in charge of senior personnel development, this will be the second year in a row that the Army Combat Fitness Test is included, but this year's iteration will be executed in line with current Army grading and execution guidance.

Competitors should expect to road march 30 to 35 miles during the event. In addition to the ACFT, individual warrior-level tasks, such as sensitive site assessment and exploitation, land navigation, combatives, an obstacle course, combat water survival test, weapons qualification and various CBRN tasks and events, are planned.

Lindsay said competitors should prepare to be challenged intellectually as well as physically.

"We are looking to stretch their technical skills within a physically and intellectually challenging environment," Lindsay said. "CBRN Soldiers must be capable of not only applying a vast array of technical skills but also be able to assess and communicate the effects of CBRN agents to their local commander."

Lindsay offered some advice to competitors.

"Don't rely on physical strength to carry you through the events," Lindsay said. "Competitors will not be able to 'strong-Ranger' their way through the competition. That being said, a team's ability to endure physical challenges … can give them the edge that makes the difference between first and second place. The bottom line is: show up, have some fun, leave your best effort on the field and get ready to raise that trophy at the Green Dragon Ball."

Winners of this year's competition will receive a trophy April 30 and be invited to return to the Green Dragon Ball for formal recognition.

For more information, visit https://www.milsuite.mil/book/docs/doc717167 or call Montalvo at 573.596.7374.

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