Army National Guard Spec. Caleb Longley, a Pulaski Resident, Wins National Guard Competition

Citizen Soldier is New York Army National Guard Enlisted Soldier of the Year.

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Specialist Caleb Longley

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

Spc. Caleb Longley, an engineer with the 152nd Engineer Support Company, took first place in the traditional Soldier of the year category. Staff Sgt. Jeff Dorvee took first place in the Active Guard Reserve (AGR) non-commissioned officer (NCO) of the year category and Sgt. Sean Massimo took first place in the traditional NCO of year category.

Dorvee scored higher than Massimo to become overall NCO of the year, and will join Longley to take part in the First Region Best Warrior Competition in May.

A native of Syracuse, N.Y., Longley joined the Army Reserves in 2010, and transferred to the New York Army National Guard the following year. In 2012, Longley and other troops responded to Hurricane Sandy, which he described as "an eye-opening, life-changing experience for me."

"Seeing the military and civilian population band together as one cohesive unit to accomplish a mission for an entire city will always stand as the highlight of my life," Longley wrote in his biographical sketch.

For his response to Hurricane Sandy, Longley was awarded the Humane Service to New York State medal. He's majoring in technology management at the State University of New York at Oswego.

Longley was one of a dozen troops from across the state who took part in the three-day competition, which began here April 3.  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.

Each day of the competition started early, ended late and was filled with physically demanding events with little time to rest in between. The second day of the competition began at 5:30 a.m. with an Army Physical Fitness Test, where Soldiers performed a specified number of push-ups and sit-ups, and completed a two-mile run within a specified time, based on their ages.

"It was a very hard competition," said Longley. "I felt prepared; but you can only prepare so much."

That's because every competitor had to prove their physical and mental proficiency, while also demonstrating that they could operate effectively under stress.

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

"I'm nervous but I feel that this competition has really prepared me," said Longley. "I just plan to keep training and to do my best."

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.