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 Senior Airman Kevyn Allen, Airman Tia Herring

Base gym facilities at Thule AB, Greenland

2D Audiovisual Squadron

Sept. 26, 2022 | 8:28

Base Gym facilities at the top of the world. Thule Air Base (pronounced too-lee) is located in Greenland - a country within the Kingdom of Denmark and inhabited by approximately 56,000 people. Greenland covers nearly 840,000 square miles; more than 80 percent is covered either by the ice cap or smaller glaciers. Thule AB is locked in by ice nine months out of the year, but the airfield is open and operated year round.
Thule AB exists today due to agreements between the United States and the Kingdom of Denmark, specifically addressing mutual defense. Strategically, Thule AB’s “Top of the World” vantage point enables Space Superiority. Thule AB supports Missile Warning, Missile Defense and Space Surveillance missions from the solid-state phased-array radar operated by the 12th Space Warning Squadron (12 SWS) and Satellite Command and Control through the Thule Tracking Station operated by the 23rd Space Operations Squadron, Detachment 1 (Det-1).
Thule AB, the DoD's northernmost installations, is operated by the 821st Space Base Group and part of Space Base Delta 1.