BALTIMORE — Lace up your boots and get ready, it’s time for the Region II Best Warrior Competition.
The first day was held at the H. Steven Blum Military Reservation in Glen Arm.
Getting locked, loaded and ready for combat. This competition gives these Army National Guard soldiers practice in the rigors of battle.
"Each state sent a non-commissioned officer and a soldier," said Major Ben Hughes with the Maryland National Guard.
Representing Maryland are Jordan Foster and Alexander Wilkinson-Johnson , who compete against soldiers from Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Washington DC for the title of Region II best warrior.
"The two soldiers, they both belong to our 29th ECAB and actually underneath our 29th Infantry Division and they're both intel soldiers, so not only are they physically fit mentally tough like they're smart," said CSM David Harry, who is the Senior Enlisted Leader for the Maryland National Guard.
Starting out bright and early these soldiers battled through day one. Even taking on obstacles from Estonia, who's been a state partner for 31 years.
"We had to you know break down and reassemble weapons we did an obstacle course we had the Estonian partner forces out here, they just took us through some interesting activities that they train to do,” said Specialist Foster.
Specialist Foster is the soldier competitor.
"When I joined and got out training I was told one way that you can set yourself apart from your peers if you're not given a ton of responsibility as a young private, is to maintain a really high physical fitness level so that's something that I’ve enjoyed doing and now I get to showcase it,” said Foster.
The competition lasts four days and it's not just physical toughness getting showcased. "The biggest obstacle for me was the mentality you know it's hot out here, it's humid. Even though I have been training it's not the same as a training environment, this is execution time,” said Staff Sergeant Wilkinson-Johnson, who is the Non-Commissioned Officer.
He's sees it's a competition that pushes soldiers to their limits, while allowing time to cheer each other on.
"That's another part of the whole competition it building relationships to network between other states, getting the soldiers where they need to get as far as their career as far as advancements go and building that army camaraderie within our own organization,” said Wilkinson-Johnson.
Soldiers win different level competitions to make it to Regionals.
A tough days work for people like you and me, but for these soldiers, it's just another day in the National Guard.
When Foster was asked, “How do you feel after all that today?” he responded, “I'm really sweaty, very dirty and cannot wait to shower."
The two winners of the regional competition will go on to compete in the national competition for Best Warrior.
