Fort Carson announces winners of Best Warrior Competition

Fort Carson announced the winners of the 2018 Best Warrior Competition, which brought U.S. servicemembers from around the world to the Springs to represent their units.

SSG Kendall Feb and SPC Dylan S. Caramella with the 53rd Signal Battalion, 1st Space Brigade were named the winners Thursday. They’ll represent the Army in the Military District of Washington Best Warrior Competition in August.

Feb and Caramella also received Army Commendation Medals for their victory.

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Six soldiers from all over the world are at Fort Carson this week, competing for one title: the Best Warrior.

The U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command is holding their final round this week. On their third day of competition, KRDO got an inside look at what physical demands are required of the soldiers.

These six men and women aren’t used to being out in the field because their day-to-day jobs are usually spent inside and behind a desk. That’s why Nick Sciara from the Bravo Company 53rd Battalion said, “I’m a soldier first before I’m a satellite network controller so I kinda want to prove that I can do the same stuff that every other soldier can do.”

The day started with a 12-mile ruck. When we got to them, they were in their last mile trudging to the finish line, but as they approached their final steps, many broke into a sprint. Kendall Feb, also from the Bravo Company 53rd Battalion, said, “at some point, it’s just a mental game, this ruck march. Your body just reaches a point where your body just pushes through it. There’s nothing you can do to prepare yourself for that.”

After taking a quick break, the six soldiers were driven to a shooting range, but before they could get behind the gun, they had to endure some physical training. This was to prepare them for what’s called a “stress shoot.”

Three soldiers lifted and squatted with a wooden log, while the others were ordered to move a mock downed soldier across a field. Commands like, “that was too slow, go again!” were heard. For Lauren Pauzus a competitor from the 100th Missile Defense Brigade and currently serving Colorado’s National guard said the yelling helped her move forward, “once we came together as a team, and we were communicating more, it was a lot easier to get through it together.”

Despite their exhaustion, the soldiers then had to shoot several rounds at targets. Their accuracy decides how many points each would get. Those points are later added to their final score that will determine the winner.

The competition continues tomorrow with oral boards before senior non-commission officers from the Space and Missile Defense Command.