Best Warrior

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BALTIMORE – Fourteen competitors from throughout the Army National Guard are slated to battle it out in a physically and mentally challenging five-day competition to determine the Army Guard’s Soldier and Noncommissioned Officer of the year July 14-18 in locations throughout Maryland.

Hosted by the Maryland Army National Guard the 2025 Army National Guard Best Warrior Competition tests competitors on a variety of tactical and technical tasks including weapons proficiency, land navigation, emergency medical tasks, and combat casualty care. These tasks are completed over a grueling set of courses throughout the state that includes multiple timed ruck marches and the Army Combat Fitness Test.

Winners in the competition – one Soldier and one NCO – are named the Army Guard’s Soldier and NCO of the Year and will compete in the Department of the Army Best Squad Competition this fall. Runners-up in the Best Warrior Competition fill out the Army Guard squad competing in the Best Squad Competition based on their finish in Best Warrior.

Competitors in this year’s Army Guard Best Warrior Competition include:

Soldier Category
Spc. Adam Andrews - Rhode Island
Spc. Robert Ruiz-Rhoades – Pennsylvania
Spc. Jaden Hughes - Alabama
Spc. Logan Rutledge – Indiana
Spc. Alexander Thomson – Nebraska
Spc. Canyon Blassingame - Montana
Sgt. Michael Fouts – Arizona

NCO Category
Sgt. Kristopher Piwowarczyk - New Jersey
Staff Sgt. Miles Crawford – Maryland
Staff Sgt. Nicolas White – Georgia
Staff Sgt. Brandon Byrne - Wisconsin
Sgt. Luke Entz – Nebraska
Sgt. Matthew Lee – Montana
Sgt. Luke Cloward - Utah

Video Gallery

Video by Stacia Courtney

Virtual Strike Group Verifies New U.S. Navy Combat Capability in Complex Test

Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division

Aug. 30, 2016 | 4:20

DAHLGREN, Va. – Video footage featuring the Navy's evaluation of a strike group’s gun weapon systems, combat systems, and unmanned vehicles’ interoperability with surface and air assets while firing on targets at the 2016 USS Dahlgren demonstration, Aug. 30.

It was the first time an entire Navy strike group was brought together in a land-based environment spanning the entire kill chain – plan, detect, control, engage and assess.

“This demonstration integrated capabilities across multiple laboratories, utilizing unmanned and manned sensor platforms, engaging a hostile swarm threat of surface craft attacking a virtual naval battlegroup consisting of a Nimitz class aircraft carrier, an Aegis class cruiser and an Independence class Littoral Combat Ship,” said Neil Baron, Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) distinguished scientist for combat control.

At one point, senior Navy officials – flag officers, commanding officers, and two-dozen senior executives – watched engineers fire a 30 millimeter gun on the Potomac River Test Range from their Littoral Combat Ship’s (LCS) - Surface Warfare (SUW) Mission Package Command and Control laboratory several miles away.

"This event brings it all together,” said Rear Adm. Tom Druggan, NSWC commander. “We have to field systems that are a slam dunk win for the Navy. When push comes to shove, the Navy has to win. Our job is to make sure the fleet wins today and in the future.”

The test – made possible by a cybernetic laboratory called USS Dahlgren – conducted engagement coordination with virtual and hardware representations of systems on the USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74), USS Bunker Hill (CG 52), and USS Independence (LCS 2) during live fire destruction of surface threats utilizing the LCS 30 millimeter, Aegis MK 46 gun system's 5-inch guns, and simulated hellfire missiles.

“This has been five to six years in the making and couldn't come at a better time as we see real-world events such as the recent small boat incursions in the Middle East, highlighting the need for the Fleet,” said Capt. Brian Durant, NSWCDD commanding officer.

Druggan, Durant and their counterparts watched as actual combat system equipment from the aircraft carrier and two surface combatant laboratories directed live fire on the Potomac River Test Range as fictitious surface threats attempted to attack.

The live fire engagements continued throughout the scenario, demonstrating integration of currently fielded capabilities, from MH-60R and MH60S Seahawk helicopters to the Aegis Combat System and the Ship Self-Defense System with new technologies such as Virtual Automatic Scoring System.