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 Staff Sgt. Blake Essex

Interview: 173rd Airborne Capt Thomas Krause discusses crisis response training with Morocco at African Lion 2025

U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa

May 19, 2025 | 2:17

U.S. Army Capt. Thomas Krause, commander of Destined Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade, discusses the importance of crisis response training with Royal Moroccan Armed Forces partners at African Lion 2025 (AL25), in Cap Draa, Tan Tan, Morocco, May 20, 2025. AL25, the largest annual military exercise in Africa, brings together over 50 nations, including seven NATO allies and 10,000 troops to conduct realistic, dynamic and collaborative training in an austere environment that intersects multiple geographic and functional combatant commands. Led by U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF) on behalf of the U.S. Africa Command, AL25 takes place from April 14 to May 23, 2025, across Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, and Tunisia. This large-scale exercise will enhance our ability to work together in complex, multi-domain operations—preparing forces to deploy, fight and win. (U.S. Army video by Staff Sgt. Blake Essex)

Key statements from Krause:
00:52:06 “It’s important that all of our soldiers are experts in their craft so that in the event we are called, we are ready.”

01:20:16 “A crisis can happen anywhere at any time so getting used to working with the forces on the ground anywhere you go in the world is a very, very key skill. You can’t be an effective asset if you don’t know how to work with others.”