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

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Video by Petty Officer 2nd Class Daniel Willoughby

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Fall/Winter Home Fire Safety

Naval Safety Command

Oct. 27, 2021 | 3:21

Cold, rain, and snow bring many hazards to driving and other day-to-day activities, slips and falls remain a major concern at work and home and fires caused from cooking or decorations continue to be major problems in the Fall and Winter seasons. The Naval Safety Center is your safety advocate. We preserve warfighting capability, combat lethality, and readiness by working with our stakeholders to identify, mitigate, or eliminate hazards in order to reduce unnecessary risk to people and resources. Through our guiding principles of safety policy, safety risk management, safety assurance, and safety promotion we support the Navy and Marine Corps enterprise. (U.S. Navy video by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Daniel Willoughby/Released)