{"id":25923,"date":"2023-09-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=25923"},"modified":"2023-09-04T06:41:33","modified_gmt":"2023-09-04T06:41:33","slug":"fifteen-ny-air-and-army-guardsmen-head-to-south-african-military-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=25923","title":{"rendered":"Fifteen NY Air and Army Guardsmen head to South African military competition"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Four Soldiers and one Airmen who took part in the South African National Defence Forces Military Skills Competition in October 2022, pose for a photo during a break in the competition in Potchefstroom, South Africa. The New York National Guard will send 15 Soldiers and Airmen to compete in the 2023 competition which begins on Sept. 9, 2023, and runs through Sept. 16, 2023. Courtesy photo by Sgt. 1st Class Andrew Guckian)
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\n A New York National Guard Soldier negotiates the water obstacle course at the South African National Defence Four Military Skills Competition in Potchefstroom, South Africa in October 2022. The New York National Guard will send 15 Soldiers and Airmen to compete in the 2023 competition which begins on Sept. 9, 2023, and runs through Sept. 16, 2023. Courtesy photo by Sgt. 1st Class Andrew Guckian)
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NIAGARA FALLS AIR RESERVE STATION, New York –Fifteen New York National Guard Soldiers and Airmen are headed to the Republic of South Africa on Friday, Sept. 8 to compete in the South African National Defence Force Military Skills Competition.<\/p>\n

The New York National Guard has fielded teams in this competition before, but this year an all-woman team of Army and Air National Guard members will participate as well.<\/p>\n

The women will compete against female teams from other nations.<\/p>\n

The event which runs from Sept. 9 to 16 and is held at a South African Army base in Potchefstroom in South Africa\u2019s Northwest Province, is sponsored by the South African military\u2019s Reserve Forces Council.<\/p>\n

The participants are judged on rifle and pistol marksmanship, an eight kilometer run, a land obstacle course, a water obstacle course, and grenade throwing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI Did it last year and it was an amazing time,\u201d said Army Guard Sgt. 1st Class Andrew Guckian, a human resources specialists assigned to Camp Smith Training Site near Peekskill.<\/p>\n

When he got the chance to compete again in 2023, he jumped at the opportunity, Guckian said.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s been sharing what he learned last year with the other 14 members of the contingent on emails and computer calls, he said.<\/p>\n

Along with the all-woman, joint service team, the New York National Guard is sending an Army National Guard and an Air National Guard team to compete. Each team consists of five personnel, a coach and four participants.<\/p>\n

In the past, as many as 21 nations have sent teams of reserve Soldiers to compete, but the pandemic shut down the event for two years and only four national teams, including Guckian and the other New Yorkers showed in 2022.<\/p>\n

This year, it\u2019s expected that the event will see more international competitors again, said Air Guard Command Chief Master Sgt. Edward Stefik, who is serving as team leader and coach for the Army team.<\/p>\n

Stefik, who serves as the senior enlisted leader for the 107th Attack Wing, took a second place finish during the 2014 competition.<\/p>\n

His task, since the contingent was identified in June, has been to pull together a group of Army and Air Guard men and women who live and drill across the state, Stefik has said.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, everybody identified to be part of the New York National Guard team are disciplined, self-starters who can prepare for the physical challenges on their own, Stefik said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is unique about the Guard, between both the Army and the Air, is when you are training on your own and staying professional and physically fit, you can put us in the game anywhere and we can succeed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The group, he emphasized, has a lot of diversity\u2014men, women, Airmen, Soldiers– and they come from across the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe represent not just the Army and Air Force, we represent the makeup of New York,\u201d Stefik said.<\/p>\n

Air Guard Major Tiffany Mock, the coach for the women\u2019s team, said the four women- -two from the Air Guard and two from the Army Guard\u2014 are all motivated and ready to compete.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there is a lot of pressure on the females,\u201d said Air Guard Staff Sgt. Morgan Dibernardo, a member of the 107th Attack Wing. \u201cPersonally, I am very nervous but super excited,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Army Sgt. Keyonta Williams, an Army National Guard recruiter from New York City, said she too was very excited about the chance to compete with other women.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can compete at the highest level,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Williams said she expects to do best on the obstacle course because she works hard to stay fit.<\/p>\n

The New Yorkers will have three or four days before the competition to practice on all the competitions.<\/p>\n

This is very important, Guckian said, because Potchefstroom is 4,396 feet above sea level. People who live in Buffalo, and New York City need some time to acclimatize, he said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also a good chance to get uses to the South African R-4 rifle and their issue pistol, Guckian said. The R-4 is slimmer than an M-16 A2 or M-4, but the pistol is similar to the M-9 Barretta, he said.<\/p>\n

The swimming obstacle course is also very challenging, Guckian said. It\u2019s fun, but it means going under and over water obstacles in a pool as fast as possible.<\/p>\n

The woman\u2019s team might have an edge in this task, Stefik said, because Airman 1st Class Vincenza Costanzo, a member of the 107th Attack Wing from North Tonawanda, was a swimming champion in high school and college.<\/p>\n

Air Force Master Sgt. Zachary Villano, one of the three coaches and a member of the 109th Airlift Wing, said that the logistics of getting The logistics of getting 14 people from across New York, and one servicemember from California, ready for an international trip and competition, has been demanding but worth it.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot has gone into this, and I can\u2019t wait to get there and see these competitors do their thing,\u201d Villano said.<\/p>\n

The New York National Guard has been competing regularly in this event since signing a training partnership agreement with the South African National Defence Force in 2003 as part of the National Guard\u2019s State Partnership Program.<\/p>\n

Taking part in the skills competition are:<\/p>\n

Army Male Team<\/p>\n

Coach: New York Air National Guard Command Chief Master Sgt. Edward Stefik , a Lewiston resident and a member of the 107th Attack Wing.<\/p>\n

\u2022\tLt. Col. Andy Miller, a Clinton resident and a member of the 53rd Troop Command headquarters.<\/p>\n

\u2022\tCapt. Nick Trentarelli, a Corning resident and a member of the 42nd Infantry Division headquarters.<\/p>\n

\u2022\tSgt. 1st Class Andrew Guckian, a Poughquag resident assigned to Camp Smith Training.<\/p>\n

\u2022\tSPC Josh Gonzalez, an Amsterdam resident assigned to the 42nd Infantry Division headquarters.<\/p>\n

Air Force Male Team<\/p>\n

Coach: Master Sgt. Zachary Villano, a Clifton Park resident and member of the 109th Airlift Wing.<\/p>\n

\u2022\tMaster Sgt. Jonathan Corcoran, a Slingerlands resident and member of the 109th Airlift Wing.<\/p>\n

\u2022\tSenior Airman Hayden Wagner, a member of the 274th Air Operations Support Squadron who lives in Vacaville, California<\/p>\n

\u2022\tSenior Airman Kyle Spriggs, an Albany resident and a member of the 109th Airlift Wing.<\/p>\n

\u2022\tAirman 1st Class Trek Bjelica, a Mayfield resident and member of the 109th Airlift Wing.<\/p>\n

Women’s Team\/ Army and Air Force<\/p>\n

Coach: Air Guard Major Tiffany Mock, a North Tonawanda resident and member of the 107th Airlift Wing.<\/p>\n

\u2022\tAir Guard Staff Sgt. Morgan Dibernardo, a North Tonawanda resident and a member of the 107th Airlift Wing.<\/p>\n

\u2022\tArmy Guard Staff Sgt. Keyontae Williams, a Queens resident assigned to the Army National Guard Recruiting and Retention Battalion.<\/p>\n

\u2022\tArmy Guard Sgt. Quian Han, a Manhattan resident assigned to Joint Forces Headquarters.<\/p>\n

\u2022\tAirman 1st Class Vincenza Costanzo, a North Tonawanda resident assigned to the 107th Airlift Wing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1 \/ 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption \u2013 Four Soldiers and one Airmen who took part in the South African National Defence Forces Military Skills Competition in October 2022, pose for a photo during a break in the competition in Potchefstroom, South Africa. The New York National Guard will send 15 Soldiers and Airmen […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25925,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25923","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\/25923","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=25923"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25923\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25928,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25923\/revisions\/25928"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/25925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}