He was no match. In full uniform and under time pressure, he defeated the best players of the "Best Warrior Competition" in the US. A Polish soldier from the Territorial Defence Army Training Center returned with the winner's cup after a three-day rivalry at the Illinois National defender Training Center – "Marseilles Training Center".
In over 20 years of history, no Pole has always won this prestigious title. This year's “Best Warrior Competition” in the US won a soldier at the WOT Training Center, confirming the advanced level of training of Polish territorialists. – It is worth noting that these are elite professions, which require not only cognition and skills, but besides intellectual resilience and stress management capabilities – says Lt. Krzysztof Wójcik, press officer of the Training Centre for Territorial Defence.
The “Best Warrior Competition” competition was held at the end of March at the training centre Illinois National Guard – "Marseilles Training Center". At the invitation of the American side, Poland represented 2 soldiers of the Toruń centre. – They are carefully selected representatives with a advanced level of training. The best soldiers selected from individual units – adds Lieutenant Wójcik.
Challenge for the selected
About 10 officers and privates selected from nearly 10,000 soldiers of the Illinois National defender fight for the title of best warrior each year. Poles have been participating in them for respective years.
This year the soldiers had to execute 11 challenging tasks – from competition for dynamic shooting with short and long weapons (M4 and M17), by giving first aid in the field of combat, to tasks from navigation or radio communication. As the winner of the competition emphasizes, the level of conflict was highly high, and the success was decided by preparation and determination. – Last period and a half I devoted to very intense training preparing for physical competition. I am glad that they have full paid off and have succeeded in winning. Competing with so well prepared soldiers was an inspiring experience for me and forced me to constantly rise the bar – added the corporal (names at the request of the individual do not reveal).
A major challenge was besides the competition during which players utilized American equipment. – Competitions included, among others, arms handling, with which soldiers only got acquainted on the spot. This required a fast adaptation and a large amount of cognition in a short time," said the CSWOT press officer. Everything was in English.
Character check
During the three-day competition, the Polish soldier declassed the competition, winning almost all competitions. The most hard – as he admits – were physical tests, and especially a demanding march at a distance of almost 20 km with 15 km of equipment, in addition to a helmet and with a gun. – This task started on the 3rd day of the competition, erstwhile the fatigue level after all erstwhile competitions was very high. It was then the main function played by the will to fight and yet managed to finish the march with a reasonably decent time – says the winner.
The second of the Polish players placed 3rd in the classification of the enlisted officers. As Lt. Krzysztof Wójcik emphasizes, this kind of competition is not only a competition, but besides an crucial component of training. – Each specified game is simply a good chance to exchange experiences. They show that the training courses in territorial defence troops are correct, and soldiers can usage acquired skills in practice," the lieutenant says. He adds that participation in the “Best Warrior Competition” and another specified competitions at global level confirms the advanced level of preparation of Polish soldiers and their ability to operate in stress and in an unknown environment.
