{"id":145102,"date":"2024-04-07T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-07T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=145102"},"modified":"2024-04-08T09:08:51","modified_gmt":"2024-04-08T09:08:51","slug":"iowa-soldiers-compete-in-2024-best-warrior-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=145102","title":{"rendered":"Iowa Soldiers compete in 2024 Best Warrior Competition"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Sgt. Lucas Peterson, a combat medic specialist assigned to Company C, 334th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division, was named the Iowa National Guard Noncommissioned Officer of the Year after competing in the 2024 Best Warrior Competition. (U.S. Army National Guard graphic by Staff Sgt. Katharine Schmidt)
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\n Pfc. Shawn Halverson, an infantryman assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 168th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division, was named the Iowa National Guard Soldier of the Year after competing in the 2024 Best Warrior Competition. (U.S. Army National Guard graphic by Staff Sgt. Katharine Schmidt)
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Twenty Soldiers competed to be named Best Warrior and Best Noncommissioned Officer in the 2024 Iowa National Guard Best Warrior Competition April 4-7, 2024, at Camp Dodge in Johnston, Iowa.<\/p>\n

Congratulations to the following Soldiers:<\/p>\n

2024 Soldier of the Year: Pfc. Shawn Halverson, an infantryman assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 168th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division<\/p>\n

2024 NCO of the Year: Sgt. Lucas Peterson, a combat medic specialist assigned to Company C, 334th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division<\/p>\n

Runners-up:<\/p>\n

Soldier: Spc. Jose Dominguez, a cavalry scout assigned Troop A, 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division<\/p>\n

NCO: Sgt. Schuyler Rilling, a combat medic specialist assigned to Headquarters & Headquarters Troop, 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division<\/p>\n

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Soldiers from across Iowa and two competitors from Kosovo completed tests of physical endurance, mental toughness, leadership abilities, as well as analytical and decision-making skills. Events included an Army Combat Fitness Test, obstacle course, medical tasks, land navigation, radio operations, weapons systems dismemberment, a stress shoot and more.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was stunned with myself as soon as I put hands back on [the radio], but it was like just muscle memory again with that,\u201d said Spc. Michael Hanson, a cannon crewmember with Battery B, 1st Battalion, 194th Field Artillery Regiment. \u201cI struggled at the first like half of assembly, but then inputting frequencies, making radio transmissions\u2014it was all a breeze.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even though it’s an individual competition, Soldiers demonstrated great collaboration and built camaraderie with their fellow competitors along the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody knows in the back of your mind, like, this is a competition,\u201d said Sgt. Ashley Grapp, a unit supply specialist with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 185th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion. \u201cBut, we\u2019re all still trying to kind of help each other and lean on each other when we when we need guidance.”<\/p>\n

The 2024 BWC represents the first time that a competition event was expanded into community surrounding Camp Dodge. The last graded event, a 12-mile ruck march, has historically been routed through the Camp Dodge training area. This year, the latter portion of the march was completed in Johnston, with competitors passing through Terra Park and crossing the finish line at Johnston City Hall. The Iowa National Guard partnered with the Johnston Police Department to ensure Soldiers were able to safely navigate roads.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe competitors bring a resum\u00e9 of hard work, dedication, and honed and sharpened skills,\u201d said Command Sgt. Maj. Christopher Casey, State Command Sergeant Major of the Iowa Army National Guard. \u201cThe local community should know that these are their citizen-Soldiers. So, while they may be employees at their local businesses, they’re also Soldiers, and their employers are allowing them to take time away during the week to come here and compete for recognition at the state-level competition.\u201d<\/p>\n

As they crossed the finish line, many Soldiers felt a sense of a pride and accomplishment.<\/p>\n

\u201cFeels great,\u201d said Sgt. Lane Arter, a small arms repairer with Headquarters & Headquarters Company, 185th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, while he marched toward the finish line. \u201cI love supporting my community, supporting my friends, my family, and my state.\u201d<\/p>\n

This was also the fourth year that competitors from Kosovo participated, in keeping with the National Guard Bureau\u2019s State Partnership Program. Kosovo and Iowa have been state partners since 2010.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe partnership between Iowa and Kosovo is very important to us,\u201d said OR-3 Emir Ahmetaj, with the Kosovo Security Force. \u201cWe always get new experiences, we learn new things from our partners, and it is very important for us to keep this partnership.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1 \/ 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption \u2013 Sgt. Lucas Peterson, a combat medic specialist assigned to Company C, 334th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division, was named the Iowa National Guard Noncommissioned Officer of the Year after competing in the 2024 Best Warrior Competition. (U.S. Army National Guard graphic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":145104,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-145102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=145102"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145102\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":145107,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145102\/revisions\/145107"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/145104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=145102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=145102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=145102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}