Army Guard's Soldier, NCO of the year prove their mettle

FORT BENNING, Ga. - The rules dictated that just one Army National Guard noncommissioned officer and just one Soldier would emerge as the winners from two grueling days of competition here.

But those who watched seven NCOs and seven Soldiers compete in the final stages of the 2007 Army National Guard Noncommissioned Officer and Soldier of the Year Competition said there wasn't a loser in the pack.

"They are just extraordinary young Americans," LTG H Steven Blum, the chief of the National Guard Bureau, said as he entertained the competitors at Fort McNair in Washington on Aug. 6. "Any one of these men or women could win this competition."

The winners were announced at the Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States' annual conference in Oklahoma City on Aug. 15: The 2007 Army National Guard NCO of the Year is Staff Sgt. Mark Dornbusch from Texas. The Soldier of the Year is Spc. Erik Nowak from West Virginia.

Dornbusch and Nowak will represent the National Guard at the Army's NCO and Soldier of the Year Competition at Fort Lee, Va., Oct. 1-5. The winners are scheduled to be announced by Sgt. Maj. of the Army Kenneth Preston on Oct. 8.

Dornbusch and Nowak were chosen from among 14 regional winners who competed in a 48-hour challenge at the Army National Guard Warrior Training Center (WTC) at Fort Benning on Aug. 1-4 and appeared before evaluation boards in Washington on Aug. 5.

It was the first time that the Army Guard has conducted such a competition to select its best NCO and Soldier of the year.

For the first time, the Army National Guard will compete directly with the 12 major Army commands. In the past, Guardmembers competed first at 1st Army, then at U.S. Army Forces Command, but Army National Guard Command Sgt. Maj. John Gipe successfully lobbied Preston to change that.

"I felt that with the Army National Guard representing 350,000 Soldiers, we should have the right to enter the competition at the DA level," Gipe explained. "I also wanted  to name a single Guard Soldier and NCO of the Year."

The Fort Benning phase of the National Guard's 2007 competition was more than a competition. It was training.

"We're going to coach, teach and mentor them, as well as evaluate them for the next 48 hours," WTC Battalion Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Siter said on the first day. "We've taken the Army's competition that they run over four or five days, all their events, and we've combined them into 48 hours."

Gipe explained why. "I wanted to insure that we really tested our competitors so they would be fully confident they could handle anything thrown at them."

The competitors included 13 men and one woman. Some work full time for the National Guard. Others are traditional Guardmembers who balance civilian vocations with family life and monthly drills. Some have only been in the Guard for a couple of years. Others are halfway through careers that started in the Regular Army. Some were the first members of their family to enlist; others are continuing a tradition stretching back generations. They represented 11 different states.

Some had been competing for a year, working their way through a selection process that began in their home units and continued through states and regions.

"This is much harder, a lot harder," Spc. Kyle Brewer of the Iowa National Guard said during the Fort Benning phase of the competition.

Brewer enlisted as a private in 2004. He balanced preparation for the Soldier of the Year competition with the demands of life as a full-time University of Dubuque in Iowa aviation student, his walk-on position as a wide receiver for the university's football team and his National Guard commitments. Like other competitors, he faced additional challenges such as a four-hour drive from college to his unit and the regional competition for Soldier of the Year falling in the middle of finals week at college.

At the WTC, Brewer and the 13 other competitors completed an Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT) with a twist: Competitors were not told how long the run would be until they crossed the finish line. The normal APFT distance is two miles: They ran five.

They did chin ups. They completed a combat water survival test in full uniform with weapons. They spent half a day performing warrior tasks such as employing an M18A1 Claymore mine and maintaining, loading and unloading an M240B machine gun. They performed first aid.

They dripped sweat in Fort Benning's humid 94-degree heat, struggling to stay hydrated and follow an azimuth as they battled through thick brush, crossed a stream and scrambled up steep slopes during day orienteering. They zeroed M4 carbines in nine rounds, then endured a stress shoot and night firing qualification tests.

They proved their proficiency with night vision devices, administered intravenous drips, filed intelligence reports and marched 10 miles while carrying 35 pounds of equipment.

What they didn't do was sleep a whole lot. Two hours sleep on the ground, with rucksacks for pillows and nothing between them and night sky was followed by a six-point, limited-visibility land navigation course. Still, the competitors kept going, completing a 15-obstacle course and fighting each other during 30-second combatives, boxing and pugil stick bouts.

There was more: Entering and clearing a house on an urban operations range with simulated ammunition rounds and a live opposing force, also armed. Completing a 50-question written examination. Reciting the NCO or Soldier Creed from memory.

"The competitors went way over and above what our expectations were," Siter said as the Benning phase wound down. "We really were surprised to see that at the end of the competition all 14 of them were still there. All 14 of them are winners. They'll stand toe-to-toe with anybody. I would go to war with each and every one of them. It makes me really proud, more than ever, to be a Guardsman after seeing the past couple of days."

After a steak and shrimp dinner, they flew to Washington, where they faced an evaluation board that accounted for 40 percent of their overall score.

Dornbusch is a National Guard pre-air assault, basic NCO and infantry course instructor in Texas. He enlisted for active duty in 1997, joining the National Guard in 2004.

He completed the five-mile run in 32 minutes, ran the 10-mile road march and refused to tap out during combatives even when he clearly wasn't going to defeat Sgt. 1st Class Maurice Brown, his closest competitor in the Fort Benning phase.

"It's what I've been doing since I was 17 years old," the married 28-year-old father of one said of the Army. "It's not all that I know, but I love it. It's not the pay. I just love being a Soldier. The camaraderie. I love training. I love deploying. I love all aspects."

He also likes the Guard. "It's all what you make of it," he said. "The Guard's stepped up their training. You get a good variety of people from the outside that bring different skills. I get to work with mature people that have a diverse background."

Nowak completed the road march with 15 seconds to spare. "I knew if I stopped, I wouldn't keep going," he said. A military policeman, he enlisted in the National Guard in 2006 with no prior military experience. His preparation included a six-day-a-week personal training program.

Winning, while nice, wasn't necessarily the whole point. "I've learned so much," Brewer said. "All the extra training I've received. All the people I've met. I would never normally get to receive training on night vision scopes and advanced optics."

The WTC trains Soldiers and members of other military branches in courses that include pre-ranger, light leader, air assault, pathfinder and pre-master gunner skills. About 75 percent of students come from the National Guard and 100 percent of the cadre.

Siter already is planning the 2008 contest. "I think next year I'm going to make it harder," he said, with a hint of a smile.

Competition at the WTC that Brewer characterized as "two days of pain" and the evaluation boards were followed by a week in the nation's capital that included visits to the White House, the National Guard Association of the United States, the Capitol, Arlington Cemetery and the Pentagon and the dinner with the chief of the National Guard Bureau.

Blum, who also entertained the six Outstanding Airman of the Year, surveyed the guests at his official residence that overlooks the Washington Channel.

"There may be a future command chief or a command sergeant major in this group," Blum said. "Or even a future chief of the bureau."

Note: Tech. Sgt. Mike Smith contributed to this report.