FORT LEE, Va. - Out in a field here behind an operations center for the U.S. Army's 2007 Noncommissioned Officer and Soldier of the Year event, Staff Sgt. Mark Dornbusch and Spc. Erik Nowak both made the same sportsman's comment about their final days of competitive soldiering: it was less about winning or losing and more about the journey and the experience for the National Guard.
Nowak, Army National Guard Soldier of the Year, and Dornbusch, the Army Guard's NCO of the Year, had joined 24 other Soldiers from 12 major Army commands resting in the afternoon shade Oct. 3 to await the final deciding events for the Army's best warrior.
The Army's top NCOs and Soldiers of the year competed Oct. 1-5 for the title. It was the first time that the Army National Guard and Army Reserve had competed with the active duty Army as separate entities. For that, Nowak and Dornbusch will always be the first, and they set a bar for Guard members who follow.
Nowak and Dornbusch were in the field dressed in the Army's latest combat helmet and inceptor body armor system to meet the media. The Soldiers had to don the Army's latest personal protective equipment by the standards, including ballistic glasses, flak-vests and elbow and knee pads. They wore the equipment throughout the competition. They also wore a special patch on their right shoulders.
"They get to wear the Best Warrior patch while they are here during the week," said Sgt. Maj. Anthony Aubain, command sergeant major of the Combined Arms Support Command here. "It shows that they are 26 of 500,000 Soldiers in this Army who met the standard to get to this far."
"It is showing, I think, about what the Guard has been doing for the last few years," said Dornbusch about the Guard competing here. "We are deployed all the same way together; we are doing the same fight. Yeah, there are differences between Guard and active duty but when it all comes down to it, it's all the same job. We got to go out there and do the mission."
"It is one Army, and that's what is so great about this," said Aubain, whose garrison has hosted the competition for the last five years. "The competition is pretty tough this year, and it looks like the winning football team came."
To make it this far, Dornbusch said he juggled study time and events with his responsibilities as a husband and father and as a traditional and full-time Guard member for the 136th Regional Training Institute at Camp Mabry in Austin, Texas.
For nearly a year, all 13 Soldiers of the Year and 13 NCOs of the Year had climbed through their ranks in competitions at their units, regions and major commands to get here, and time and time again, they demonstrated their expert skills as Soldiers.
Sergeant Major of the Army Kenneth O. Preston, who attended the week's events, said that in the past the Guard and Reserve had competed, but both were channeled through the Army's Forces Command. "I think it is good," said Preston of the change, "... it really puts more of a spotlight on the Guard and Reserve Soldiers. What I'm hoping is that this competition is viewed and seen by those company troop battery commanders in the Guard and reserve, those first sergeants out there and, of course, they also continue to sponsor the monthly, quarterly and annual Soldiers of the Month competitions."
Dornbusch and Nowak took their turns with the active and reserve Soldiers here in proving their best military appearance, knowledge and bearing before a formal board chaired by Preston and including six senior command sergeants major. Candidates answered questions about a variety of topics including troop-leading procedures and preparations to get Soldiers to execute missions. It also included pre-combat checks and inspections to test their knowledge on the expectations of first-line supervisors. Other questions centered on taking care of Soldiers including counseling, sponsoring, coaching and teaching subordinates.
The competitors also took a written exam and sweated in the dark during an early morning physical fitness test of push-ups, sit-ups and a two-mile run. After that, they spent subsequent days and nights navigating Fort Lee during an urban warfare orientation course competition, and they fired the M-4 rifle in zeroing-in, alternating position and weapons qualification shoot-outs. They continued with little sleep.
Nowak ran across the finish line Oct. 4 during the day urban orientation event. He was soaked in sweat. Dressed in full combat gear and carrying a 38-pound rucksack, he had run much of the five-mile course (called a "lane") while plotting on a map to locate four checkpoints.
"They have three hours to complete their lane and check back in with their score sheet," said Master Sgt. Dan Choice, lane noncommissioned officer in charge. Choice monitored the Soldier's progress from a tent located at the finish/start line. He said that at each point the competitors had to work through four scenarios, which included interacting with actors dressed like Iraqi civilians. "Basically we are trying to recreate what the Soldiers are actually doing down range as far as combat," said Choice. "Urban orienteering is where you navigate and utilize the existing road networks."
Nowak and Dornbusch finished in time but with little help from the hot and humid Virginia autumn weather.
Before the competition, Nowak made a prediction: "It will be hard," he said. "I won't get much sleep, and there will be little time for food. It sounds like an Army day."
Nowak was here just 17 months since his initial enlistment in the military. He works full-time in recruiting and retention for the West Virginia Guard and serves as a traditional Guard member for the 157th Military Police Company there.
Approaching their final day of competition, the Soldiers woke on cots inside Fort Lee's Warrior Training Center for a mystery event that included escaping from a rolled over Humvee, starting an intravenous line, rescuing hostages from insurgents, engaging the enemy on a simulator, inspecting combat and dress uniforms, and a fighting it out in a combative skills tournament.
Using their own wits and know-how, Nowak and Dornbusch teamed up in their final weapons event to identify friend from foe in an advanced field operations.
Shouldering M-4 rifles that were connected to a computer, the Soldiers stood in an engagement skills training room before a large movie screen as combat scenarios played out and tested their ability to identify the enemy.
The competitors had to wait for the results on Oct. 8, Columbus Day, at the All Army Conference in Washington. There, during a luncheon hosted by Preston, the Army announced its top warriors.
The top warriors are U.S. Army NCO of the Year Staff Sgt. Jason Seifert from the 3rd U.S. Infantry (The Old Guard) and U.S. Army Soldier of the Year Spc. Heyz Seeker from the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, 75th Ranger Regiment.
"If I did well, I did well," said Nowak. "The preparation was over. I had to trust in my preparation and just go with it."
The final decision was made from a system of points collected from all the events. Points were based on each Soldier's physical and mental performance, skills and abilities.
"All 26 of the Soldiers are winners," said Preston at the conference. "They were a very impressive group [and] we are all very proud of their accomplishment and what they will continue to do for their Soldiers, units and organizations around the world."