Algonquin Soldier competes to be Army's best

Related Media

Photo Cutline 1

FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, PENN. (07/23/2018) (readMedia)-- They're the best and the brightest the Army National Guard has to offer from around the country. This week, 14 Army National Guard Soldiers, including Sgt. Tycjan Sieradzki of Algonquin, Illinois, are competing to win top honors in the 2018 National Guard Bureau's (NGB) Best Warrior Competition, July 23-27 at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania.

The Best Warrior Competition is one of the toughest tests of a Soldier's mental and physical training. It's a grueling five-day test of a Soldier's endurance, mental toughness, and military skills through a series of events, including an Army Physical Fitness Test, M-4 rifle and M-9 pistol qualification, stress fire exercise, day and night land navigation, written test, essay, appearance board, Army Warrior Tasks, and a 12-mile ruck march.

Each Soldier and noncommissioned officer first competed in and won at their respective state and regional level competitions to move onto the national competition. Sieradzki, an emergency care sergeant for the Illinois Army National Guard (ILARNG) Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 178th Infantry, 33rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team based in Chicago, won the title of Region IV Noncommissioned Officer of the Year during competition at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, in May.

"These competitions take a lot of time to prepare for and compete in," Sieradzki said. "It exposed me to a lot of different experiences that I can now bring back to my unit and pass along to the junior Soldiers."

The Soldier who wins the NGB Best Warrior Competition goes on to compete in the All-Army Best Warrior Competition in September.

Photo Cutline 1: Sgt. Tycjan Sieradzki of Algonquin, Illinois, a Soldier with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 178th Infantry Regiment based in Chicago, stands with his awards at Marseilles Training Center in Marseilles, Illinois, April 8 following the Illinois Army National Guard Best Warrior Competition. (Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Bryan Spreitzer, Illinois National Guard Public Affairs)