Air Force Staff Sgt. Juan Nunez, a security forces specialist with the 136th Security Forces Squadron, Texas Air National Guard, Fort Worth, Texas, completes the sit-up portion of the joint army physical fitness test during the Texas Military Department 2017 Best Warrior Competition March 3, 2017 at Camp Swift in Bastrop, Texas. Nunez was graded based on his overall score that included a three mile run, push ups and sit-ups. (Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman De’Jon Williams)
BASTROP, TX, UNITED STATES
Photo by: Senior Airman DeJon Williams
136th Airlift Wing (Texas Air National Guard)
BASTROP, Texas —Soldiers and Airmen from the Texas Military Department competed alongside service members from partner nations in the Best Warrior Competition March 2 – 4, 2017, at Camp Swift near Bastrop, Texas.
Twenty-seven members of the Texas Army National Guard and Air National Guard joined with service members from Chile and the Czech Republic to compete in a series of tactical exercises and soldiering tasks in a competition intended to foster joint-force and multinational comradery.
“It’s a great opportunity to bring our Soldiers and Airmen together in competition,” said Maj. Gen. John F. Nichols, the adjutant general of the Texas . “While it’s a friendly competition, it’s also a very, very hard competition.”
This year, the Best Warrior Competition consisted of various scored and timed events including; the Army Physical Fitness Test, weapons qualification, a road march, night land navigation, writing an essay, and appearing before a board that reviewed competitor’s personal appearance, military bearing and knowledge. The competition concluded with a mystery event, the details of which were not revealed until the event began.
Nichols said he appreciated the effect that this joint competition will have on future collaboration.
“That allows young Soldiers and Airmen to build relationships and gain experience that they will carry with them through their whole careers,” Nichols said.
The experience the Texas Military Department forces gain from this joint competition will also translate to real-world benefits in emergency response and warfighting capabilities, Nichols said.
“The reality is that if we as the Texas Military Department find ourselves responding to an emergency, we are able to work with other branches or our foreign allies and operate more effectively,” Nichols said.
“With us having a joint Best Warrior Competition, we have our Guardsmen honing their skills to ensure mission readiness,” said Command Sergeant Major John Sampa, command sergeant major of the 36th Infantry Division. “But they also get to do that in conjunction with other services and our international allies to see how they operate.”
This will be the second time personnel from the military of Chile have joined Texan Soldiers and Airmen at the Best Warrior Competition, and the first for soldiers from the Czech Republic.
The intent of the joint competition is for the foreign partners to also gain experience working alongside members of the Texas Military Department, Sampa said.
“It’s our hope that they will take the impression back to their countries and their units that Texas Soldiers are well-trained Soldiers, professional Soldiers and be willing to come back again to train with us and, if need be, fight alongside us.” Sampa said.