Best Warrior competition ends Thursday

Twenty-eight army soldiers from across the country are in Fort Lee, Virginia this week participating in the Best Warrior competition.

It’s like the Super Bowl for the Army. Those 28 are described as the best of the best.

“These are very physical competitions,” said Spc. Keegan Carlson, Colorado Springs native. “They’re very physically demanding.”

Spc. Carlson, from Colorado Springs, is one of the 28 competing in these intense games.

“My battalion exposed me at the lowest level. They wanted a soldier to compete and I fit the profile,” he said. “I scored the highest, so they sent me on to the next level.

The games include the physical training test: two minutes of pushups, two minutes of sit ups, carrying soldiers over distance and moving equipment over miles of terrain. But there’s a vital mental component, too.

“Land navigation skills, you’re out here with a map and a compass trying to find your way with a protractor,” he said. “You’re studying everything under the sun.”

He’s competing with other reservists and active-duty soldiers in these competitions which push soldiers to their limits.

They spend months studying tactics before performing them, being rated, and then selected as winners to go to the nation’s capitol.

“I’ve learned a lot of tasks that aren’t typical. Being able to take those activities back and saying, this is what I’ve learned, this is what I’ve shared with 28 competitors, it exposes you to the army as a whole. It’s nothing but the best,” he said.

The winners will be announced later Thursday night at an awards ceremony.

They’ll represent the Army at the U.S. Army’s Annual Event in Washington, D.C. this weekend.