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 John Benedetto

MHSRS 2024 Distinguished Service Award: Roxana Lescano

Defense Health Agency

Sept. 5, 2024 | 2:07

This award is to highlight significant accomplishments of Ms. Roxana Lescano during her 35 years of service. Ms. Lescano has demonstrated unwavering dedication to advancing research integrity and compliance within the Military Health System. One example, to strengthen Military Health System Research Integrity, Ms Lescano successfully coordinated and executed numerous sessions of Institutional Review Board training programs. Her effort was recognized in 2023 by the Navy Human Research Protection Program as a “best practice” and hailed across Navy medical research commands as a model program to follow. As an expert in international medical research regulations and ethics, Ms. Lescano has led the development and establishment of research integrity programs throughout Central and South America regions, beginning with NAMRU SOUTH. Her efforts have strengthened the role NAMRU SOUTH plays in infectious disease research and surveillance within the region, contributing to the health protection and deployment readiness of US and host partner service members.