{"id":181115,"date":"2024-05-20T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-20T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=181115"},"modified":"2024-05-20T22:49:40","modified_gmt":"2024-05-20T22:49:40","slug":"new-york-connecticut-soldiers-are-regional-best-warriors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=181115","title":{"rendered":"New York, Connecticut Soldiers are Regional Best Warriors"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n New York Army National Guard Sgt. Peter Fillion, an infantryman assigned to Charlie Troop, 2nd Squadron, 101st Cavalry Regiment, lobs a simulation grenade during the 2024 Region I Best Warrior Competition on Camp Smith, New York, May 14, 2024. Soldiers threw grenades in six scenarios during the event, one of many taskings during the four-day competition. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Spc. Joseph Liggio)
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CAMP SMITH TRAINING SITE, N.Y. \u2013 New York and Connecticut National Guard Soldiers took the top slots in the regional Best Warrior Competition that concluded in lower Manhattan May 16.<\/p>\n

New York Army National Guard Sgt. Peter Fillion, a member of C Troop, 2nd Squadron, 101st Cavalry Regiment, placed first in the enlisted Soldier category.<\/p>\n

Connecticut National Guard Staff Sgt. Curtis Ruckey, an infantryman assigned to the 6th Recruiting and Retention Battalion, was the best noncommissioned officer.<\/p>\n

Sixteen Soldiers from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island and Vermont \u2014 eight competing in the noncommissioned officer category and eight in the junior enlisted category \u2014 vied for a chance to represent the region in the national competition later this year in Vermont.<\/p>\n

The New York Army Guard hosted the regional competition for the first time in 10 years.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s event took place at four locations in New York state. Participants competed at Camp Smith Training Site in the Hudson Valley, ran a race on an island on the brink of Niagara Falls, called in mortar fire at Fort Drum, and finished with a 12-mile march in New York City.<\/p>\n

New York Army National Guard Command Sgt. Maj. Edwin Garris said the goal was to create excitement and keep the competitors on their toes.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the national competition, there is always a surprise element where they expose the competitors to something that they aren\u2019t familiar with, such as moving them out of different training areas, so they don\u2019t get comfortable,\u201d Garris said. \u201cThat\u2019s why we move them around New York, to keep them moving because that\u2019s what it\u2019s going to be like at the next level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fillion said he enjoyed the competition and looks forward to the next level.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe competition was exceptional, and it was great to hone my skills,\u201d Fillion said.<\/p>\n

Ruckey said winning the Best Noncommissioned Officer award and finishing the competition was a huge relief.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really excited for the next level. I didn\u2019t think I would make it this far so I\u2019m happy that I can go to the next level and looking forward to meeting some new guys and competing with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The competition began at Camp Smith near Peekskill. Soldiers were tested on military knowledge, conducted day and night land navigation and engaged targets with the M-4 carbine, M-17 pistol and M-249 light machine gun.<\/p>\n

After two days at Camp Smith, the Soldiers boarded a CH-47F Chinook helicopter flown by B Company of the 3rd Battalion, 126th Aviation, and flew across the state to the Youngstown Training Area in western New York.<\/p>\n

They spent the night there, woke up early and ran a five-mile race at Niagara Falls State Park. After more testing, they flew to Fort Drum, home of the 10th Mountain Division.<\/p>\n

The competitors directed the fire of 120 mm mortar rounds by Soldiers from the 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team.<\/p>\n

New Jersey National Guard Spc. Michael Schwyher, assigned to 104th Engineer Battalion, said he enjoyed competing with his fellow Best Warriors.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love competing with guys that have the same mentality of pushing each other,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd to do it here with Niagara Falls in the background is motivating; it\u2019s not something most people get to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

The competition ended with a 12-mile timed ruck march at the southern tip of Manhattan.<\/p>\n

When everybody had finished, they went to the nearby 9\/11 Memorial.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the best parts of doing the Region I competition in New York was getting to ruck through the city,\u201d said Rhode Island Sgt. Jeremiah Cosme, an infantryman assigned to 1st Battalion, 143rd Infantry Regiment.<\/p>\n

The national competition will be hosted by the Vermont National Guard in August at the Ethan Allen Firing Range. The winners will advance to the Army-wide competition.<\/p>\n

For more National Guard news<\/a><\/p>\n

National Guard Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n

National Guard X<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New York Army National Guard Sgt. Peter Fillion, an infantryman assigned to Charlie Troop, 2nd Squadron, 101st Cavalry Regiment, lobs a simulation grenade during the 2024 Region I Best Warrior Competition on Camp Smith, New York, May 14, 2024. Soldiers threw grenades in six scenarios during the event, one of many taskings during the four-day […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":181117,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-181115","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\/181115","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=181115"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181115\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":181118,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181115\/revisions\/181118"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/181117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=181115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=181115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=181115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}