WASHINGTON, Oct. 8, 2007 -- A noncommissioned officer from The Old Guard and a Ranger were named Army NCO and Soldier of the Year, respectively, after competing in the 2007 Best Warrior Competition at Fort Lee, Va.

Staff Sgt. Jason R. Seifert represented the National Capital Region of the Military District of Washington and was named NCO of the year.  His home unit is the 3rd Infantry (The Old Guard), Fort McNair, Washington

The solider of the year is Spc. Heyz T. Seeker from the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, who made it to Fort Lee from the 75th Ranger Regiment at Hunter Army Airfield, Ga.

The competition was held Oct. 1 through 5, and Sgt. Maj. of the Army Kenneth O. Preston announced the winners on the opening day of the Association of the United States Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition in Washington.

Twenty-six NCOs and soldiers representing the Army major commands as well as the guard, reserve, MDW and Third Army competed in this year’s event.  They were tested in a variety of areas from land navigation, battle skills in the field with combatant and non-combatant role players, physical fitness and an appearance before a board of command sergeants major.
This is the sixth year of the competition, and Preston said it has evolved from primarily a competition with a board and common task tests to what it is today -- reflecting the Army’s evolving and changing mission. 

“The premise of this whole competition starts with the traditional board appearance in the soldiers’ Class A Army green uniform and goes on to the hands-on component piece, which is really focused on warrior tasks and battle drills,” Preston said.
By 2010, 75 percent of the world population will be urbanized, and the land navigation portion of the event was changed to reflect that last year, said Staff Sgt. Joseph Berg, operations noncommissioned officer in charge of this year’s land navigation event.
Younger soldiers don’t work on land navigation as much, and competitors have the opportunity to put it into practice during the competition, Berg said.  At checkpoints, competitors interacted with role players and had to use passwords to receive coordinates for their next stops.

This year, Preston said the competition showcased reflexive fire techniques, and barricade shooting was added where competitors had to run point to point and hit targets down range. 

A Humvee Egress Assistance Trainer was also brought in, something that Seeker said he didn’t have much opportunity to train with in the past. That, combined with the marksmanship portions, “will definitely prepare you for going overseas.”  He has deployed to Afghanistan three times as well as once to Iraq.

Even though it was a competition, Seifert said he formed bonds with his fellow NCOs and they “came together to help each other out.”  Their backgrounds were from all parts of the world, and he could talk with different soldiers who had deployed, which was a great learning experience for him since he has yet to deploy himself.

Both Seifert and Seeker credited their wives for supporting them during the competition process.  Seifert said his wife would help by calling out hand and arm signals while sitting in their living room back home.

Preston said the competition is one where anyone can win, and there isn’t a single military occupational specialty that has an advantage.  He noted that Spc. Samuel Yoo, a pianist with the 389^th Army Band representing U.S. Army Materiel Command, did very well and was preparing for a deployment with his unit.

Other diverse backgrounds included a former Romanian army special forces soldier (Cpl. Mihai Mocanu), a combat medic who was U.S. Army Forces Command’s first female representative in the competition (Sgt. Jamiell E. Goforth), and the 2003 Soldier of the Year returning to compete in the NCO category (Staff. Sgt. Russell A. Burnham).

Seifert’s advice to next year’s group of competitors is to “challenge yourself.  Start with the basics.  Learn the study guide and apply it to everyday situations.”

Seeker said soldiers should push themselves to do better whether it’s just studying harder or just having a goal of doing more pushups.

Even though Seifert and Seeker were singled out, Preston considered all competitors winners.  They reached the final level of competition, and what they experienced at Fort Lee can be passed on to soldiers back home.

“What I want them to take back is their experiences and what they’ve gained along this process,” Preston said.  They can share “with their peers, with their subordinates as well as their leadership to create and put more imagination in the training that they are doing.”
 
POC:
John Grady
Director of Communications
Association of the United States Army
(703)-907-2613
jgrady@ausa.org