Wisconsin National Guard sweeps regional Best Warrior competition

By Spc. Cassandra Monroe

Iowa Army National Guard

Two Wisconsin Army National Guard Soldiers took top honors at the Region IV Best Warrior Competition May 9-12 at Camp Dodge, Iowa, and will now advance to compete against the best Soldiers across the National Guard for national honors in late July.

Thirteen Soldiers from Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin competed in events such as the Army Physical Fitness Test, combat water survival test, M-9 pistol and M-4 rifle qualification, day and night land navigation, confidence course, a nine-mile road march with a 35-pound backpack, an essay and an appearance board in dress uniform.

Sgt. Steven Dahl of Oconto, a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 128th Infantry in Menomonee, Wis., bested six other competitors in the Soldier category at the Region IV Best Warrior Competition at Camp Dodge, Iowa, held May 9-12. He was a specialist when the competition began at the unit level last fall.

Sgt. Brandon Swanson of St. Croix Falls, also a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 128th Infantry in Chippewa Falls, Wis., beat out five other competitors in the noncommissioned officer category.

"It's a lot of weight off my chest, that's for sure," Dahl said. "I'm relieved now - hopefully next year I can sponsor one of my Soldiers and take it again to give him a heads up."

"The competition was great, and all the competitors were phenomenal, and in the end I was not expecting to win," Swanson added. "I can't even describe how I felt. I was just as happy when [Dahl's] name was called out because we're from the same company."

For Staff Sgt. Matthew Ward, a Green Bay, Wis., native and infantryman with Company A, preparing Dahl for the competition was second nature.

"I'm [his] squad leader actually, and I looked at him and said, 'You can pick anyone you want as your sponsor,' and he ended up picking me," Ward said.

Ward and Dahl prepared for the competition by modeling their training to mirror past competitions and by utilizing local training areas.

"We used a local armory to train, and we also came up to Ft. McCoy twice to do some training as well," Ward said. "Whatever resources we could get hold of, we used.

"I feel extremely proud, but he put in the effort," Ward continued. "He had the motivation and dedication to put in the work - that's what gave him the edge."

Staff Sgt. Joshua Eads, Swanson's sponsor, was also pleased.

"The level of competition was tough, but I think it brought out the best in him," Eads said. "Sgt. Swanson is literally a human sponge - he's one of those rare individuals that can take information from any given source at any type of level and he automatically processes it and applies it. He was born to do stuff like the Best Warrior Competition."

According to Command Sgt. Maj. John Breitsprecker, the senior enlisted advisor for the Iowa Army National Guard, the regional Best Warrior competition evaluated each Soldier's skill as a war fighter.

"Every one of the tasks we test here are Soldier-type skills, to include the combat water survival tasks, the marksmanship training and the physical readiness," Breitsprecker said. "It's all tied at what warriors do, either in combat or during their unit missions."

"I can't swim and water survival always gets me, but I did it no problem this time," Dahl said. "I surprised myself - when the going gets tough, you just have to stay calm and not worry about anyone else but yourself."

Wisconsin Army National Guard State Command Sgt. Major George Stopper said that the appearance board was a critical piece in evaluating the mental aptitude of competitors.

"It's a fairly intimidating event because [there are] three senior command sergeants major sitting in front of the room with the Soldier and [they] fire questions at them," said Stopper, who was also the president of the enlisted board. "We had 90 questions in a period of 30 minutes, but the reason why we give them so many questions is that so when they get to the next level in the competition, they've had exposure to a lot of different topics."

Spc. Matthew Kosloski, a Lansing, Mich., native and a cable systems installer maintainer with the 126th Network Signal Company, 46th Military Police Brigade, was chosen as the runner-up for the Soldier of the Year. Staff Sgt. Patrick Helderman of Medina, Ohio, a military policeman with 838th Military Police Company, was chosen as the runner up for the noncommissioned officer of the year.

This will mark the third straight year the Wisconsin Army National Guard has competed at the National Guard Bureau's Best Warrior Competition, held in late July at the Warrior Training Center, Fort Benning, Ga.