Wisconsin Soldier marches on to Best Warrior competition

Date: May 17, 2010
By Spc. Eric W. Liesse
112th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

A Wisconsin National Guard Soldier in the second year of his military career will represent Wisconsin and the upper Midwest in August at the National Guard Bureau's Best Warrior Competition at the Warrior Training Center, Fort Benning, Ga.

Pfc. Randy Fendryk of Mukwonago, a multiple launch rocket system specialist with Battery C, 1st Battalion, 121st Field Artillery in Sussex, was named Soldier of the Year for Region 4, consisting of seven states around and including Wisconsin. Spc. Trevor Garner, Illinois National Guard, was named first alternate.

Staff Sgt. Adam Little, Michigan Army National Guard, was named Noncommissioned Officer of the Year for Region 4. Sgt. Cody Brueggen of Oconomowoc, a utilities equipment repairer with Detachment 1, 107th Support Maintenance Company in Sparta, was named first alternate.

Fendryk and Brueggen advanced to the regional competition after being named the top finishers at the state Soldier and NCO of the Year competition March 7. Both the state and regional competitions were held at Fort McCoy. There Soldiers competed over the course of three days in such events as a physical fitness test, weapons qualification, land navigation, hand-to-hand combat and a formal board appearance.

Starting in the early-morning hours Tuesday, May 11 and ending Thursday, May 13, the annual competition tested two Soldiers from each of the region's Army National Guard organizations: Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota and the competition's host state, Wisconsin. With about 800 total points over 14 different rated events, the competitors were forced to give their all to have any chance of winning.

"Despite Mother Nature trying her best, I think we pulled of a pretty successful competition," said Command Sgt. Major George Stopper, Wisconsin state sergeant major and host of the regional competition. The many different Wisconsin units gave what Stopper said was an "absolutely flawless execution."

"With the 15-20 mile-an-hour winds, 40-degree weather and freezing rain, I think everyone's performance suffered on the [physical fitness] test," Little said. The PT test, starting early morning on Tuesday, began the weather pairing that plagued the entire competition: belowaverage temperatures and near-constant rain and drizzle. The Soldiers' soaked boots after the three-hour land navigation course that afternoon vividly displayed their hardships.

"The most challenging event for me would have been the land navigation," Fendryk said. "I just couldn't find my points for some reason. I kind of wanted to break down, but I still pushed on." "You can't really judge someone just by looking at them," Brueggen said. "You're not a supersoldier. You just have to be better than everyone else."

"When I did my state-level competition in March, it was like a run-through for this competition," Stopper said. He began planning the competition in June 2009, intending the state and regional competitions to mirror each other.

"This was a chance to showcase my people," said Command Sgt. Major David Wetuski, Wisconsin's 641st Troop Command Battalion senior enlisted leader. The Madison-based 641st was in charge of many of the week's logistics and personnel support, supplying everything from equipment needs to medics to photographers. The battalion was also in charge of developing and executing the land navigation courses.

"I keep using the word 'showcase,' but I'm just so proud of all my Soldiers here," Wetuski said. "The state and regional's were essentially the same competition - minus four miles on the road march," Fendryk said. The week's last rated event on Thursday, a 12-mile road with each Soldier carrying at least a 35-pound load, did have a few less miles and a flatter course than the state competition. However, it was by no means easy.

"Even if you win in the road march, you still lose," Fendryk joked. "12 miles with any amount of weight on your back hurts."

Tuesday saw multiple other events as well. After the PT test, the Soldiers competed for the highest rifle qualification score, as well as a high marks in a "stress fire" event. That event required the Warriors complete a two-mile road march followed immediately by a five rounds of quick, short-ranged rifle fire between fast-pasted physical exercises. The event is made to test the Soldiers' accuracy under harsh physical and mental stress.

The land navigation, both day and night, followed the rifle ranges. Between the two navigation courses, the competitors took a short written exam and a "mystery task" requiring Soldiers to indentify different objects at a distance as well as properly send the information using proper radio etiquette.

"I'd like to take back to my unit [to help train others] the Army Warrior Tasks," Little said of Wednesday's largest event. "It was like a mini-field training exercise." The AWT event, developed and ran by the Milwaukee-based 157th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, had multiple smaller stations held concurrently. It had the Soldiers display proper procedure for many different warrior tasks such as evaluating a casualty, requesting a medical evacuation and moving through obstructed and harmful terrain.

Wednesday began, however, with an old Army standard: the confidence and conditioning course. The obstacles forced the competitors to literally dig deep to get through many stations like monkey bars, a vertical rope climb and low rope crawls.

The day's last event was, as Stopper put it, a "pretty ruthless" senior enlisted board consisting of three different state sergeants major from the region. With three questions per minute for 30 straight minutes, plus a close inspection of each contestant's dress uniform, many of the contestants talked of high nerves prior to appearing before the board.

At the competition's end, finishing with the road march early Thursday morning, all the Soldiers were visibly weary. However, none had given up.

"What they gain here, they take back to their unit and train [other Soldiers]," Stopper said. The caliber of Soldiers required to compete at this level allows for their attitude and pool of talents to "spread like wildfire" through their home units.

"Being a Soldier is all about the strong protecting the weak," Little said. Through this grueling competition, these 14 Soldiers should the paragon of that strength - true Army Strong.

This is the second straight year Wisconsin has sent a contender to the National Guard's Best Warrior Competition. Last year, Spc. John Wiernasz of Vadnais Heights, Minn., a member of Detachment 1, 950th Engineer Company in Spooner, advanced to the National Guard-level competition.