NY National Guard conducts regional Best Warrior Competition at Camp Smith Training Site

Media Advisory : Members of the press are invited to cover this event on May 14, 2024

Camp Smith Training Site, Cortlandt Manor, New York (05/13/2024) — The New York Army National Guard will be hosting the northeast region Best Warrior Competition at Camp Smith Training Site on May 14.

Sixteen National Guard Soldiers from New England, New York, and New Jersey will be competing to represent the region at a national competition this summer.

Members of the press are invited to cover the shooting events being held on the afternoon of May 14.

WHO: Sixteen National Guard Soldiers who have won their state Best Warrior Competitions.

WHAT: A series of events that test the Soldiers' military knowledge, military skills, marksmanship, land navigation ability, physical fitness, and endurance over four days from March 13 to March 16. The competition will take place in Western New York, Fort Drum, and Manhattan as well as Camp Smith.

WHEN: Members of the press are invited to Camp Smith at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, May 14, to cover the stress shoot and other marksmanship events at Camp Smith.

WHERE: 11 Bear Mountain Bridge Rd, Cortlandt, NY 10567

Coverage Opportunities:

Video and still photographs of the shooting events and interviews with Soldiers taking part in the events as well as event organizers.

Reporters who wish to cover the competition must contact Sgt. 1st Class Jonathan Pietrantoni at 518-817-6587 or email jonathan.g.pietrantoni.mil@army.mil for access to this secure military facility.

BACKGROUND

The Best Warrior Competition is an annual event for Soldiers in the Active Army, Army Reserve and Army National Guard.

National Guard Soldiers compete at the battalion and then brigade level and then eventually compete to be the best in their state. Soldiers compete in the junior enlisted and noncommissioned officer categories.

The winners at the state event then compete in regional competitions, like that the New York National Guard is hosting. Those winners then compete to be the best in the National Guard. The winners of that competition then compete against Soldiers from the active Army and Army Reserve to be the top Soldier in the Army.

The New York National Guard's competitors in this year's event are Sgt. 1st Class Travis Wood and Spc. Peter Fillion. Both men are assigned to C Troop, of the 2nd Squadron, 101st Cavalry Regiment which is headquartered at Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station.

Fillion is from Amherst, while Wood is from the hamlet of Basom in Genesse County.

When the New York Army National Guard has hosted the regional competition in the past, the contest was held at Camp Smith and the United States Military Academy at West Point.

This year, the event organizers wanted to give the competitors a chance to see more of New York.

Events on May 13 and 14, which include written exams, land navigation, a stress shoot during which Soldiers run and shoot, grenade throwing and several hands on military skills test will take place at Camp Smith.

At the end of the day on May 14th, the competitors will board a CH-47 F Chinook helicopter and to the New York National Guard's Youngstown Training Area in Niagara County to spend the night.

At 7 a.m. on May 15 they will conduct a five-mile run at Goat Island at Niagara Falls State Park. They will then return to the training area, compete in an M-17 pistol firing contest and test their medical skills and knowledge.

From there they will fly to Fort Drum New York. At Fort Drum and compete to see who can direct 120 millimeter mortar rounds onto a target in the shortest time.

At the end of the day, they will fly back to Camp Smith on board a CH-47.

On May 16 the Soldiers will be flown to New York City to conduct a 12-mile forced march with a 25-pound pack starting at the Battery Park helipad, going up the west side of Manhattan to the Intrepid museum and back. They will finish at the 9/11 Memorial.

That night the competitors and support staff will share in a formal meal at the Thayer Hotel, located on the grounds of the United States Military Academy at West Point.

The cumulative scores in all these events will determine the top winners in the enlisted and noncommissioned officer categories.

Media Attachments