FORT STEWART, Ga. – Soldiers from the U.S. Department of Defense’s premier Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives (CBRNE) command proved their grit, ingenuity and tenacity during the Best Squad Competition, May 13 - 17.
The 48th Chemical Brigade squad won the 20th CBRNE Command Best Squad Competition on Fort Stewart, Georgia.
The team will now compete in the U.S. Army Forces Command Best Squad competition.
Spc. Junxian Wu from the 51st Chemical Company won Best Soldier and Sgt. Grant I. Crank from the 744th Ordnance Company (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) was the Best Noncommissioned Officer.
Wu said his team prepared for the five-day competition with physical training and warrior tasks and drills.
Wu credited Sgt. Gustavo Lopes for helping him to get ready for the competition.
“He helped me prepare for the competition by providing me with guidance on how to be successful as a Soldier,” said Wu. “His teachings helped me be a better Soldier than anyone in the competition.”
Wu said the biggest challenge of the competition was the 12-mile ruck march on the final day.
“I had to push through my exhaustion from the previous days to cross the finish line. I couldn’t let my comrades down and their motivation helped me accomplish my goal,” said Wu.
After earning the Best Soldier title for the 20th CBRNE Command, Wu plans to share his knowledge from the competition with his fellow Soldiers in the Fort Stewart, Georgia-based 51st Chemical Company.
“By doing the Best Squad Competition, I can help other CBRN specialists be better by offering valuable insights on what type of training is needed to improve their skills and readiness,” said Wu, who is originally from Rowland Heights, California.
A graduate of John A. Rowland High School, Wu is currently pursuing his associate's degree in general studies from Columbia College.
Wu said he joined the Army because he liked science and wanted to defend the freedom of the United States.
His company previously served on the Defense Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear (CBRN) Response Force, which provides domestic mass decontamination capabilities to the U.S. Northern Command’s Joint Task Force-Civil Support.
Crank said it took endurance to succeed at the competition.
“The most challenging part was not only the quantity but also longevity of physical tasks needing to be accomplished. There were also many taxing events on the legs and your overall fitness,” said Crank, who is a native of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. “To be prepared for this, I am an advocate for working out and going to the gym. I try to motivate everyone I work with to work out and also draw motivation from them to stay true to working out as much as possible.”
Crank said good leadership during his time in the Army helped to prepare him for success in the competition.
“My preparation mostly came from a culmination of my Army career and having good leaders that have forced me to practice and perfect many of the tasks that we performed,” said Crank. “This combined with becoming a leader as well and having to know these tasks proficiently in order to teach them to my Soldiers has kept me well-rounded in not only Army but my EOD knowledge as well.”
After joining the Army as a combat engineer, Crank became an EOD technician in 2022.
“I wanted to go EOD for a few reasons – one being that I love the ability to have a stateside mission with homeland response and get to use our training on real world scenarios all the time,” said Crank. “One of the other amazing things about EOD is the culture that we have, it doesn't matter who it is but when you meet another EOD tech you instantly are family and have such an amazing bond.”
Crank said his favorite EOD mission was a three-day response where he helped to dispose of thousands of rounds of expired munitions.
The Best Squad Competition included teams that represented the Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland-based 20th CBRNE Command Headquarters and Headquarters Company; the Fort Cavazos, Texas-based 48th Chemical Brigade, the Fort Carson, Colorado-based 71st EOD Group; and the Fort Campbell, Kentucky-based 52nd EOD Group.
In addition to Wu, the 48th Chemical Brigade team included Sgt. 1st Class Allison Grover from Baltimore; Sgt. Jesus Perez from Chicago; Spc. Johnmichael Quiblio from Yigo, Guam; and Spc. Romeo Hall from San Antonio.
In addition to Crank, the 71st EOD Group included Staff Sgt. Keith Gentile from Marlboro, Connecticut; Sgt. Connor Chambers from Merritt Island, Florida; Spc. Fabian Lewin from Portsmouth, Virginia; and Spc. Wiyao Alaki from Togo.
The 52nd EOD Group was represented by Sgt. 1st Class Jeremy Thornton from Minden, Louisiana; Sgt. Nikolai Krusenstjerna from Eugene, Oregon; Spc. Carmine Tufano from Mount Wolf, Pennsylvania; and Sgt. Levi Newhouse from Yakima, Washington; and Spc. Isaac Linton from Atwater, Ohio.
The 20th CBRNE Command Headquarters and Headquarters Company squad was represented by Staff Sgt. Christopher Hawkins from Clinton, Maryland; Sgt. James Bradley from Belle Chasse, Louisiana; Spc. Jonath Hoffman from Los Alamitos, California; and Spc. Antonio McNew from Sheridan, Indiana.
Headquartered on Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, the 20th CBRNE Command is home to 75 percent of the active-duty U.S. Army’s Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear (CBRN) specialists and Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) technicians, as well as the 1st Area Medical Laboratory, CBRNE Analytical and Remediation Activity, five Weapons of Mass Destruction Coordination Teams and three Nuclear Disablement Teams (Infrastructure).
From 19 bases in 16 states, Soldiers and U.S. Army civilians from the 20th CBRNE Command confront and defeat the world’s most dangerous hazards in support of joint, interagency and multinational operations.
Command Sgt. Maj. Dave Silva, the senior enlisted leader for the 20th CBRNE Command, said the squads excelled during the grueling competition.
Silva, who has deployed seven times and served in Iraq and Afghanistan, said that training events like the Best Squad and Best Warrior competition help to prepare the U.S. Army to succeed during large-scale combat operations against near-peer adversaries.
“The mission of our Army is to fight and win our nation’s battles,” said Silva, who is originally from Long Beach, California. “We just don’t go to show up. We are there to win and we want to be so powerful and mighty that just our existence is a deterrent.”
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