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 Maj. Karla Evans

Whitmire Honors Decades of Service with Dedication Ceremony

South Carolina National Guard

June 14, 2025 | 0:11

Maj. Gen. Robin B. Stilwell, adjutant general of South Carolina was one of the former Soldiers gathered at the Whitmire Armory to honor its historic legacy and the citizen-Soldiers who trained within its walls, Whitmire, South Carolina, June 14, 2025. Family members, friends, along with community members and local officials attended. In 1961, Company C, 1st Battalion, 118th Infantry Regiment, consisted of 102 men. Today, Retired Command Sgt. Maj. Billy Rhodes from Clinton and Private 1st Class Billy Joe Tankersley from Greenwood are the only living representatives from the 1961 "Whitmire Guard" unit that once called the Whitmire Armory home. The occasion marked the dedication of a commemorative plaque recognizing the generations of service members who have passed through the armory since 1961. (U.S. Army National Guard video by Maj. Karla N. Evans)