NY Army Guard Corporal Troy Perez, a Yorktown Heights resident, will represent New York at National Guard's nationwide Best Warrior contest

Local Soldier finished first at Army Guard Northeast Region Best Warrior Competition in Vermont, August 13-16

Jericho, Vermont (08/19/2020) — Troy Perez, a Yorktown Heights resident and a corporal in the New York Army National Guard, will be participating in the Army National Guard's Best Warrior Competition set for Sept. 13 to 16 at Camp Shelby, Mississippi.

Perez finished in first place in the junior enlisted category at the Army Guard's regional Best Warrior event held at Camp Ethan Allen, Vermont over the weekend of August 13-16. This qualifies him to compete in the national Army Guard event.

The winner of that event competes against representatives of the Active Army and the Army Reserve for top honors in the entire Army.

Perez came in first after a weekend of events known as the Best Warrior Competition, which included tests of military knowledge, a military skills competition, a marksmanship competition, competing for the best score in the Army Combat Fitness Test, and a 12-mile speed march with full pack.

Perez is a member of the 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry which his based at the Lexington Avenue Armory in Manhattan.

Staff Sgt. Matthew Ortiz, another member of the 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry, took first place in the non-commissioned officer category at the regional competition.

This marks the third time in three years that both winners from the Northeast Region Best Warrior Competition have been New York Army National Guard Soldiers.

Perez and Ortiz are also both emergency medical technicians working for the New York City fire department. They first met while attending the emergency medical service academy.

Their experience as EMTs, and the bond they share outside of the National Guard, helped them do better at the Best Warrior events, Perez said.

"Being an EMT, especially someplace like New York City, where the call volume and the work load is very high, it forces you to deal with extreme stress," Perez said. "Other peoples' lives are in your hands so you have to be prepared to come to work and be mentally agile and fit for duty."

Ortiz, from Bethpage, New York on Long Island, and Perez, trained together to get ready for the New York Best Warrior Competition and then to hone their technique for the regional event at Camp Ethan Allen."We stayed motivated and pushed each other every day," Perez said,

Along with the usual Best Warrior events there was a surprise event which Perez had not had a chance to train for: axe throwing.

The event was included as a salute to Vermont's Green Mountain Boys, the state's first militia who took Fort Ticonderoga from the British in 1775.

A tomahawk, or small axe, was part of their equipment and they were expected to keep it sharp and clean and be able to use it to start a fire or kill an enemy scout.

The Soldiers were given a chance to practice, and then threw axes at silhouette targets.

"That was fun," Perez said. "I never threw an axe in my life and it turned out Ortiz and I both placed first in the axe throwing."

"That was a nice experience," he added.

Now, his emphasis will be on getting ready for the national Army Guard Best Warrior event at Camp Shelby, Perez said.

New York Army National Guard Command Sgt. Major David Piwowarski, the state's top enlisted Soldier, said he was confident that Perez has what it takes to win at the Army Guard national competition.

"Corporal Perez took first in 12 of the 22 scored events, winning 55 percent of the time," Piwowarski said. "This is dominant work by a hard working infantryman."

Perez, who serves in Alpha Company of the 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry, joined the New York Army National Guard in 2018.

Perez holds a bachelor's degree in business management and is a graduate of the Army's Ranger School, the Airborne School, and the Combat LifeSaver Course.

His awards include the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal, and the National Defense Service Medal.

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