U.S. ARMY PHOTO BY JON BLEIWEIS, APG NEWS … · CertificateofAchievement“foroutstanding...

Thursday, July 5, 2018 • APG News A3

Operation Clean Sweep participants recognized

Thirteen soldiers from thethe 8th Ordnance Companyin Fort Bragg, North Carolina,as well as civilians from theLogistics Readiness Center atAberdeen Proving Ground,were recognized by APGGarrison Commander RobertL. Phillips III and GarrisonCommand Sgt. Maj. JonathanA. Uribe-Huitron for theircontributions toward Opera-tion Clean Sweep.

The soldiers assisted withmoving, issuing, receiving,shipping, re-packing, invento-rying and inspecting 11,054different lines of munition atAPG, or more than 36 millionpounds, since their arrival onMarch 1. The group left APGFriday.

In this photo, Phillipsplaced an Army achievementmedal on Staff Sgt. LawrenceE. Ross Jr.

U.S. ARMY PHOTO BY JON BLEIWEIS, APG NEWS

Seven Soldiers from throughout the 20thChemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear,and Explosives (CBRNE) Command com-peted in the 2018 Best Warrior Competition,held June 17-22 at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst,NewJersey.

Staff Sgt. Brandon Hatch, of the 754thOrdnance Company, 52nd Ordnance Group(EOD),earnedtophonorsastheNoncommis-sioned Officer of the Year, and Spc. MichaelMcClean with Headquarters and Head-quarters Detachment, 71st Ordnance Group(EOD)was selected as theSoldier of theYear.They will represent the 20th CBRNE Com-mand at the U.S. Army Forces Commandcompetition inAugust.

“We plan this competition months inadvance, and Ihave a strongNCOcadre fromaround the command to help run thesewarrior skill events,” said Master Sgt. DavidRio, NCO in charge of the competition. “Wewant to make this accurate and realistic intestingawide rangeofSoldier skills.TheFortDix training sites are exactly what weneeded.”

The command competition has been heldsince 2007. Competitors are evaluated ontheir physical fitness, knowledge, practicalexecution of warrior tasks and battle drills,andgeneralArmyknowledge.

Pvt. Naod Alemayehu, a signal supportspecialist who competed for the 52nd EOD,said he was not deterred by the physicalexertionof thecompetition.

“I played a lot of soccer in clubs beforejoining the Army so I was prepared for thephysicalpartof the training.”

Utilizingthevarious trainingopportunitiesat Fort Dix, the competition challenged eachSoldierwithmultiplewarrior tasks includingaphysical fitnesstest, tacticalcombatcasualtycare, an obstacle course, weapons mainte-nance, visual signal techniques, helicopterlanding zone operations, a written exam, dayand night land navigation, and an 8-milemarchwitha45-poundrucksack.

“I amhaving funwith all of this,” said Spc.Andre Van Lange, a CBRN specialist repre-senting the 48th Chemical Brigade. “This isan accelerated learning process consideringthephysicalnatureof thetraining.Butstayinginshape isahobbyofmine.”

The competition concluded with eachSoldier answering questions about ArmyknowledgeandSoldierskillsbeforeaboardofcommand sergeants major. Each Soldiers’performance at every event was scoredagainst anestablishedstandard.

“This is a realistic experience,” said Sgt. JiLu, the CBRN NCO who represented the48thChemicalBrigade. “Iwould likemoreofmy peers to have this opportunity. I think itwouldbringus togethermore.”

PhysicalchallengesThe stress shoot activity onDay2 involved

significantphysical activity followed immedi-atelybyrunningtoafiringlinetoshootanM4rifle with all actions done on sand. A stressshoot testsaSoldier’sability toengageatargetafter prolonged physical exertion andmentalexhaustion.

“Thestressshootwasthemostchallenging[event] for me,” shared Spc. John Frazho, aroad vehiclemechanic and the lone competi-tor fromHHC,20thCBRNECommand.

The physical actions, designed to simulatethe stress of combat, included dragging a180-poundmannequin on a Skedco stretcher,followedbyflippinga120-poundtireoverand

overonacourse, thencarryingtwo40-poundwater jugs, followed by running to the firingline.

“The stress shoot was more challengingthan I expected,” said Soldier of the YearMcClean, who serves as an intelligenceanalyst. “It was an experience that was greattraining forme.”

Once they reached the stress shoot firingline, each Soldier fired five rounds at a target,then crawled to fire from a prone position,then crawled again and fired from anunsupportedposition.

“It’s good to be in this competition,” saidHatch, the NCO of the Year who also is anEODtechnician. “I takepride inwhat it takestobehereandhowIstackup.Thestressshootwasuniqueandrealistic.”

UrbanOrienteeringAttheurbanorienteeringtrainingscenario,

the test required Soldiers to depart anassembly area to go to a starting point. Inaddition to a compass and grid map of thearea, each Soldier had a helmet, a rifle, ahydration source under an assault pack andover a protective tactical vest, a gas maskstrapped to his leg, and a tactical radio forcommunication.

Theirmissionwas to followtheprescribedroute through buildings and terrain to com-plete multiple tasks and drills. The trainersconstantly encouraged the Soldiers to “com-plete the mission” even if they got stuck orconfusedononephase.Theyhadthreehourstoreachtheselectedgridreferencepointsandcomplete the mission. The competitors saidthey were impressed by the range of eventsandsharedtheirthoughtsonthecompetition.

“I really like the learning and that this is ahands-onexperience,” saidSgt.KalenBolton,anEODtechnicianrepresentingthe71stEOD.

During the June 22 award ceremony,Hatch and McClean were presented theArmyCommendationMedalby20thCBRNECommand leader Brig. Gen. James BonnerandCommandSgt.Maj.KennethGraham.

“Thereisalotofvalueinconductingeventssuch as these,” said Graham. “For thecompetitors, it allows for them to demon-strate their knowledge, skills and abilities aswell as physical stamina and mental capa-bility. For theNCOcadre, it is an opportunityfor them to learn and grow as a leader andtrainer.Finally forme, I value this training for

what it allowsme to see from a holistic standpointofSoldier readiness.”

Each Soldier also received a 20th CBRNECertificate of Achievement “for outstandingperformance andwarrior ethos;” a backpackfilledwithsupplies;acommandcoin;aneaglephoto from the Association of the UnitedStates Army’ Maj. Gen. Harold GreeneAberdeenChapter; andachallengecoin fromtheVeteransCorpsofAmerica.

“This is a hard event to pull off,” Grahamadded, “and we did it extremely well thisyear.”

20th CBRNE Command Soldierscompete for best warrior selectionBy Clemens Gaines20th CBRNE Command

From right, Brig. Gen. James Bonner, commander of the 20th CBRNE Command, congratulates Spc. Michael McClean of the 71st Ord-nance Group (EOD), who was selected as the Soldier of the Year, and Staff Sgt. Brandon Hatch, of the 52nd Ord. Group (EOD), who wasnamed NCO of the Year, as 20th CBRNE Command Sgt. Maj. Kenneth Graham, command sergeant major, 20th CBRNE Command looks onduring the Best Warrior Competition award ceremony at Aberdeen Proving Ground. The two will represent the Command at the U.S.Army Forces Command competition in August.

U.S. ARMY PHOTO BY PFC. JAMES WHITAKER, 55TH COMBAT CAMERA

Pvt. Naod Alemayehu, representing the 52nd Ordnance Group (EOD), flips a 120-poundtire during the stress shoot exercise of the 20th CBRNE Command 2018 Best WarriorCompetition at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey.

U.S. ARMY PHOTO BY CLEMENS GAINES, 20TH CBRNE COMMAND