Army Guard Sgt. Sean Massimo, a New Rochelle resident, earns top honors at competition

Iraq War Veteran named NonCommissioned Officer of the Year at Army National Guard Best Warrior competition

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Sgt. Sean Massimo

CAMP SMITH TRAINING SITE, NY (04/07/2014)(readMedia)-- A New York Army National Guard Soldier and New Rochelle, N.Y. resident has won top honors in the state's annual Best Warrior Competition.

Sgt. Sean Massimo, a military policeman with the 442nd Military Police Company, took first place in the traditional non-commissioned officer (NCO) of year category, Staff Sgt. Jeff Dorvee took first place in the Active Guard Reserve (AGR) NCO of the year category, and Spc. Caleb Longley took first place in the traditional Soldier of the year category.

Dorvee, a member of the 1427th Transportation Battalion, scored higher than Massimo to become overall NCO of the year. Dorvee will join Longley, a member of the 152nd Engineer Support Company and Pulaski N.Y. resident, to take part in the First Region Best Warrior Competition in May.

Massimo was one of a dozen troops from across the state who took part in the three-day competition, which began here April 3. Both champions of each NCO category won by less than a point, said Command Sgt. Maj. Frank Wicks, the New York National Guard command sergeant major.

"This is the closest competition we've ever had," Wicks said.

"I'm glad I got to come here," said Massimo. "I loved the competition."

For Massimo, the Best Warrior Competition harkened back to his combat experience. He joined the Army in 2002 and served with the 4th Infantry Division in southern Baghdad, Iraq in 2005 and 2006. In 2008 he joined the New York Army National Guard's 101st Signal Battalion and has been awarded the Iraqi Campaign Medal, the Army Commendation Medal and the Army Achievement Medal, among his other awards.

A personal trainer in civilian life, Massimo has his associates degree in construction management and civil engineering.

The competition tested the troops in a wide range of Soldier skills, including marksmanship, physical fitness, endurance, military knowledge and land navigation. Soldiers scored points in each event, and the highest scores decided the winners. Along with early days and late nights, the Soldiers rose to the challenge of the fast tempo of events.

"This competition is non-stop," Massimo said. "It's just constantly on the go. It's constantly moving," he said.

In addition to qualifying with their rifles, the Soldiers had to undergo a separate "Stress Shoot" event, made up of three firing points spaced 100 meters apart. After engaging targets from the first point, troops had to drag a 120-pound simulated casualty to the next point, engage targets, then carry a full five-gallon water can to the next point, engage targets, then sprint to the last point and engage targets there.

To a certain degree, the Best Warrior Competition mimics the combat experience, he said.

"It gets a little nerve-racking, but if you remember what you have to do, and you depend on the other guys to remember what they have to do, everybody comes home safe," he said.

As with the stress shoot, Soldiers in combat must keep cool, make split-second decisions and not overlook any minor detail, Massimo said. It also involves multi-tasking, like communicating over a radio to evacuate wounded while being shelled, rocketed or shot at, he explained.

But combat, by far, is a pass-fail endeavor, Massimo said.

"You're either going to do the job, or be one of the unlucky ones, unfortunately," he said.

At the northeast region BWC, Dorvee and Longley will be competing against the Best Warriors of Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine and New Jersey. The Region One competition is scheduled to take place from May 13 to 15 in Camp Ethan Allen, Vt.