The competition was organized to determine the best NCO and Soldier serving under the 172nd Inf. Bde. Three Soldiers and four NCOs entered the brigade-level competition for a chance to compete in the U.S. Army - Europe competition later this year.
The seven competitors trained prior to the competition in tasks such as land navigation, road marches, combat lifesaver skills and preparing for the examination board.
“The preparation for the competition was actually my favorite part,” said Sgt. John A. Dawson, a team leader with Company C, 2nd Battalion, 28th Inf. Regiment. “There was one week where we did road marches with all of our gear on. It reminded me a lot of Afghanistan and it pumped me up for the competition.”
Competitors began the competition with the Army Physical Fitness Test followed by a board examination, a written test and an essay.
“The first day was an administrative day for the participants,” said Sgt. 1st Class Anthony W. Dawn, Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear NCO, 172nd Inf. Bde.
The second day, competitors began a 12-mile road march around the FOB in the early morning in an effort to beat the heat from the rising sun. After arriving at the finishing point, the participants zeroed and qualified with unassigned M4 carbine assault rifles at the Sage Range.
During and after qualifying, the competitors disassembled and reassembled crew-served weapons. When those tasks were complete, the Soldiers grouped together and completed a stress-shoot scenario. They also performed a stress-shoot scenario at night with limited visibility.
“The stress shoot scenario was challenging for me because I had to shoot on my non-dominant side, but it helped me to tactically progress,” said Sgt. Anthony M. Byers, intelligence analyst, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 9th Engineer Bn.
After a night of minimal sleep, the competitors started early again to begin daytime land navigation. After finding a point, each Soldier had to perform certain tasks before moving to the next one. These tasks included reacting to a chemical attack, identifying and throwing grenades, a medical lane with simulated injuries to personnel and combatives maneuvers to detain a resisting insurgent.
Later that night, the competitors set off in the dark to find three points on a different land navigation course. The lanes included searching for a cache dismount, assembling and disassembling a claymore and a communication operations point.
As the last day of the competition began, Soldiers had no idea what was ahead of them as they loaded into humvees and began a small convoy. The NCOs in the competition were informed they were the convoy commanders in charge of the personnel within each vehicle.
One at a time, NCOs assumed responsibility of the convoy. The Soldiers were tested on convoy operations, reaction to improvised explosive devices, reaction to direct fire and situational reports.
The winners of the competition were announced at the 172nd Inf. Bde., Fourth of July celebration. Brigade Command Sgt. Maj. Steven McClaflin, announced Spc. Andrew X. Yang, rifleman, Company C, 2nd Bn., 28th Inf. Regt. and Staff Sgt. Stephane Douge, power generator equipment repairer, Company B, 172nd Support Battalion, as the winners of the competition.
“I’m honored to represent my battalion and the brigade in Germany during the USAREUR competition,” said Yang, a native of Greenbay, Wis.
“I feel unbelievable right now,” said Brooklyn, N.Y. resident Douge with a huge grin on his face. “This means so much to me, and it means a lot for my unit to be able to represent them as a NCO in the next competition.”
Douge and Yang will return to Germany in August to compete in the USAREUR competition. The winner of that competition will go on to compete in the Army-wide competition later this year.
