California National Guard Hosts Region VII Best Warrior Competition 2024

story by 1st Lt. Alan Wong
69th Public Affairs Detachment

May 9, 2024

CAMP SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – Sixteen National Guard Soldiers from across the country converged upon Camp San Luis Obispo and Camp Roberts to compete in the Region 7 Best Warrior Competition, May 5-10, 2024. The California Army National Guard facilitated the event to identify and recognize the most exceptional and proficient Soldiers and noncommissioned officers through a series of competitive events. One junior enlisted Soldier and one noncommissioned officer from this event will move to the next round of competition.

U.S. Army Sgt. Shayan Mirzazadeh, an intelligence analyst at the California National Guard headquarters, said what drew him to the National Guard was the adventurous lifestyle. He is also a student at University of California Santa Barbara and is graduating next month.

“It’s a good challenge, and it’s a good time, and you get to meet a lot of cool people,” said Mirzazadeh when asked about his participation in the competition. “It’s just overall fun stuff you don’t get to do every day.”

The event included a physical assessment, pre-combat checks/pre-combat inspections, day and night land navigation, unknown distance ruck, M4 carbine and M17 pistol marksmanship, obstacle course, written essay, unknown distance run, mystery events, and appearance board.

The Region 7 competition included Soldiers from Arizona, California, Colorado, Guam, Hawaii, Utah, New Mexico, Nevada and three from California, including one Air National Guard member choosing to join the Army competition.

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Caden Biddinger from Utah joined the National Guard at the age of 17 to pay for school and subsequently deployed to the middle east. His military occupational specialty in the Utah National Guard is human resources.

Biddinger emphasized the importance of knowing the basic Soldier skills to prepare for the competition.
“To prepare for this event, really just those level one skills, a lot of physical fitness,” said Biddinger. “The level one skills are really where I put a lot of my time and just dive into regulations.”

On day one, the grueling events included the physical assessment and day and night land navigation. The physical assessment included one-mile runs at the start and end, push-ups, sprint, ball toss, kettlebell carry, high crawl, and 3-5 second rushes. The physical assessment quickly fatigued even the most physically fit contenders.

“It used to be all about physical assessment, but now we’ve brought the 360 evaluation,” said U.S. Army 1st Sgt. Christopher Davis, a senior enlisted leader at 223rd Regional Training Institute. “The mental aspect really comes into play, and I think that is the most challenging for some of our competitors. The physical stuff they can train for all the time but we throw them the curveball with the mental aspect. Whether it is the exams, the essays, critical thinking skills that come into play, and ultimately that rounds them out as a good Soldier.”

Davis is responsible for operations at the Regional Best Warrior Competition and has been helping run the Best Warrior Competition for 18 years. He has worked to build a competition that assesses overall Soldier skills that include both physical and mental challenges.

During day two, the warriors ruck marched a distance unknown to the contenders with at least 35 pounds until they reached the zeroing range to prepare for the M4 carbine and M17 pistol marksmanship. The day ended with the obstacle course.

Then, on the third day, the competition started with an unknown distance (4 mile) run along Morro Bay, California and led to a sequence of mystery events, including a grenade range, radio assembly, medical evacuation, reacting to a chemical threat, grenade launcher, and stress shoot.

During day four, Soldiers concluded the event with an appearance board testing candidates with questions on military knowledge and history.

U.S. Army Spc. Christopher Tiznado, a Las Vegas resident and a heavy equipment operator in the Nevada National Guard, is a full-time union carpenter and mentioned that he chose his military occupational specialty to be related to his interest in construction work and degree in architecture.

“Funny story, I asked my leadership if there were any slots for Air Assault they were like ‘yeah there are some but you have to win best warrior in the state,’ so I was like, ‘okay, if that’s what it takes, then that’s what it takes,’” he said when asked why he joined the competition.

At each of the eight regional Best Warrior Competitions, one NCO and one Soldier will step away as the winners of the event and move on to the NGB Best Warrior Competition. The two winners of the national event will then compete against the active and reserve Army components.

U.S. Air Force Command Chief Master Sgt. Lynn E. Williams, senior enlisted leader to the adjutant general of the California National Guard, was present to support the event.

“[The competition] gives the Soldier and Airmen an opportunity to stretch themselves and see how they operate under stress whether it be physically or mentally,” he said. “All the events here really give them the opportunity to learn about themselves but also builds teamwork and camaraderie amongst themselves. This is an event they’ll never forget.”

Davis noted that he looked forward to formally including the Air National Guard at future Best Warrior Competitions.