CAMP CASEY, South Korea — The Eighth Army announced its best warriors Friday after a rain-soaked competition that saw about 35 soldiers, shoot, ruck and swim to the top this week.
The six-day contest began with the Army’s physical fitness test and a dip in the pool to test their water-survival capabilities. By midweek, competitors had demonstrated their Army knowledge at a formal board, shown marksmanship under duress with a stress shoot and navigated across South Korea’s hilly terrain in day and night.
On Thursday, they pushed through heavy rains in a functional fitness test that involved flipping tires, crawling on the ground and running laps while wearing gas masks. That was followed a couple of hours later by a 12-mile orienteering course across post, rucking to various stations to test basic soldiering skills from using a radio to applying first aid.
The competition finally ended with a 12-mile road march on Friday.
The winners were: Sgt. 1st Class Terrance Widmer, 2nd Infantry Division, as best noncommissioned officer; Cpl. Jacob Bee, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, as best soldier; 1st Lt. James Reed, 1ABCT, 3ID, as best officer; Warrant Officer David Hobart, 2ID, as best warrant officer; Pfc. Kim Do, 35th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, as Best KATUSA.
The best warrior competition is an annual Army-wide competition that starts at the battalion level and ends with 22 troops from 11 major commands competing to be named best soldier or NCO at Fort A.P. Hill, Va., in September.
Widmer and Bee will advance to the best in the Pacific contest next month in Hawaii.
The best officer, warrant officer and KATUSAs – who are South Korean augments to the U.S. Army – ended their run at the Eighth Army level.
fichtl.marcus@stripes.com Twitter: @marcusfichtl
