224th Sustainment Brigade crowns its Best Warriors
Pair of Soldiers will represent brigade at state competition.
Story and photos by Staff Sgt. Matthew Ramelb
224th Sustainment Brigade Public Affairs
Oct. 23, 2020
AZUSA, Calif. — U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Luis Viscarra, unit marksmanship trainer with the 1114th Transportation Company (TC), located in Bakersfield, and Spc. Uriel Deniz, a motor transport operator with the 756th TC Detachment (Det.), located in Moreno Valley, won the 224th Sustainment Brigade (SB) Best Warrior Competition held Oct. 15-17 at Bonelli Park in San Dimas and the National Guard armory in Azusa.
Viscarra and Deniz, who both represented the 746th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion (CSSB), also known as the Cavaliers, competed against fellow Guardsmen of the 224th SB from the 749th CSSB and 224th Special Troops Battalion.
Nine Soldiers competed from the three battalions. One noncommissioned officer and one lower-enlisted Soldier would emerge victorious, but for both victors to come from the same battalion signified an all-Cavaliers’ win.
Master Sgt. Benjamin Rosenberg, operations NCO with the 746th CSSB, attended the competition as the senior enlisted representative for his battalion, and he discussed factors for his Soldiers’ success.
“I think where we exceled is that we conducted a battalion-level competition,” said Rosenberg. “That gave us a bit of an advantage, and our Soldiers were quite prepared.”
Rosenberg said he was extremely proud of his Soldiers for how resilient they were in meeting the mental and physical demands of the contest.
On day one of the competition, competitors checked in at Azusa armory in the evening and began performing their warrior tasks before bedding down.
On the morning of day two, they moved to Bonelli Park and performed the Army Combat Fitness Test, which was followed by the best-warrior race. The race consisted of a Zodiac boat race, an unknown distance run, unknown distance ruck march and a land navigation course in temperatures near 100 degrees.
“We added things that took them out of their comfort zone, like paddling a Zodiac across the lake, that none of them had done before.”
Competitors then moved back to the armory to perform their remaining warrior tasks and stand before Command Sgt. Maj. Andrew J. McKindley, 224th SB Command Sergeant Major, along with a panel of senior NCOs for an appearance board. The final competitor completed the board in the early morning hours of day three.
McKindley explained his reasoning for the events of the competition.
“I tried to mirror it like an adventure race for nonstop, 18 hours of physical, mental and realistic toughness.”
“I tried to mirror it like an adventure race for nonstop, 18 hours of physical, mental and realistic toughness,” said McKindley. “We added things that took them out of their comfort zone, like paddling a Zodiac across the lake, that none of them had done before.”
McKindley said the adversity of his Soldiers equates to combat skills that they will need on the battlefield, to be able to think under pressure, pain and fatigue.
“The boat, the run, the ruck march and the land nav back to back was insane, and I can definitely say that my will was tested,” said Viscarra, who won the competition in the NCO category. “But the win feels so good right now, and I’m going to remember that no matter what, you’ve just got to keep going.”
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Luis Viscarra, unit marksmanship trainer with the 1114th Transportation Company, 746th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, California Army National Guard, performs a leg tuck during the Army Combat Fitness Test event in the 224th Sustainment Brigade Best Warrior Competition (BWC) at Frank G. Bonelli Regional Park in San Dimas, Calif., Oct. 16, 2020.
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Luis Viscarra, unit marksmanship trainer with the 1114th Transportation Company, 746th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, California Army National Guard, performs a leg tuck during the Army Combat Fitness Test event in the 224th Sustainment Brigade Best Warrior Competition (BWC) at Frank G. Bonelli Regional Park in San Dimas, Calif., Oct. 16, 2020.
Viscarra credited his win to the help he received from his sponsor Sgt. 1st Class Arturo Lopez, a platoon sergeant with the 1114th TC, who has been his mentor since Viscarra joined the National Guard.
“He was a private when I was an E-5 sergeant, and I’ve been working with him since then,” said Lopez. “We identified and brushed up on some weak points before the event, and we’ll continue to build from there.”
While Viscarra and Lopez had time to prepare, Deniz, who won the event in the lower-enlisted category, discussed the challenges he and his sponsor, Sgt. 1st Class Eric Brady, platoon sergeant with the 756th TC Det., faced while they were activated for the wildfire missions.
“We were with Task Force Tahoe for 29 days, had no internet, and only had two days off before the competition,” said Deniz. “We used whatever training materials we had on site, and after a day of fighting the fires I’d go running and ruck marching to stay in shape.”
U.S. Army Spc. Uriel Deniz, a motor transport operator with the 756th Transportation Company Detachment, 746th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, California Army National Guard, departs the starting point of the unknown-distance ruck march during the 224th Sustainment Brigade Best Warrior Competition (BWC) at Frank G. Bonelli Regional Park in San Dimas, Calif., Oct. 16, 2020.
U.S. Army Spc. Uriel Deniz, a motor transport operator with the 756th Transportation Company Detachment, 746th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, California Army National Guard, departs the starting point of the unknown-distance ruck march during the 224th Sustainment Brigade Best Warrior Competition (BWC) at Frank G. Bonelli Regional Park in San Dimas, Calif., Oct. 16, 2020.
Brady said they rehearsed a lot of battle drills like radio operations, land navigation and board meetings, and they squeezed in the training whenever they could.
“I believed in him, he believed in himself, and he proved effective,” said Brady. “He’s self motivated, but I’m going to put my best foot forward and prepare him for the next step.”
Viscarra and Deniz will move on to compete in the California Best Warrior Competition scheduled for January at Camp San Luis Obispo.
“As a command sergeant major, I’ve never won at the state level,” said McKindley. “But we’ve got good competitors this year, and we’re coming for you.”
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