CONTACT: Col. Richard Goldenberg, 518-786-4581, richard.goldenberg@us.army.mil

FOR RELEASE: Wednesday, May 15, 2013

ON SITE: Col. Richard Goldenberg, 518-786-4581, richard.goldenberg@us.army.mil

CAMP SMITH TRAINING SITE, CORTLAND MANOR, N.Y. (05/15/2013)(readMedia)-- The New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs and the New York National Guard’s Camp Smith Training Site will host the top enlisted Army National Guard Soldiers and Non-Commissioned Officers (sergeants, or NCOs) from the eight Northeastern States here for a military skills competition May 15-17. Members of the media are invited to visit Camp Smith on Thursday May 16 to cover some of the most exciting parts of the competition. WHO: Sixteen Soldiers from Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey. WHAT: A competition testing the Soldiers physical fitness, military knowledge, endurance, marksmanship, and land navigation skills. Each state sends Soldiers who did well at their statewide competition. Soldiers who win at the regional event will go on to compete against other Army Guard Soldiers to decide who will compete against representatives of the Active Army and the United States Army Reserve. Senior Non-Commissioned Officers from the Northeast States conduct the competition and serve as evaluators. WHEN: Media opportunity at 11 a.m. Thursday, May 16 WHERE: Camp Smith Training Site on Routes 6 and 20 in Cortlandt Manor, just north of Peekskill. For access to this secure military facility members of the media must contact Col. Richard Goldenberg, 518-727-7314 to arrange for entrance to the facility. Visual and Coverage Opportunities: Visual imagery opportunities include Soldier moving between skill evaluations on the Camp Smith training site. Interviews with leaders and competition participants can be coordinated. BACKGROUND: Northeast Region Best Warrior Competition: During the competition eight junior enlisted Soldiersâ€â€œSoldiers from the ranks of private, private 1st Class, to specialist-will compete against each other for the Best Soldier title, while eight Non-Commissioned Officers in the rank of Sergeant, Staff Sergeant, or Sgt. 1st Class-compete to be the Best NCO. Senior Non-Commissioned officers from the eight northeastern states will run the competition. The annual competition, held at Camp Smith, helps build Soldier skills across the force, said New York Army National Guard Command Sgt. Major Frank Wicks. "It really helps build the skill sets of all the Soldiers because everyone wants to be the best," Wicks said after the 2012 competition. "It just makes for a more professional force," he added. The winners at Camp Smith will go on to compete against National Guard Soldiers from around the country. The winners of that Army National Guard competition, in turn, will face off against their counterparts from the Active Army and the U.S. Army Reserve. The competition tests the Soldiers knowledge in the areas of military justice, field sanitation, security and intelligence operations, military courtesy, leadership, counseling and how to deal with chemical and biological weapons. The participants negotiate land navigation courses by day and night, and take an Army Physical Fitness Test to determine who gets the top score. Participants are quizzed by a board of senior sergeants who evaluate them on their ability to handle stress and military appearance, as well. They are graded in their ability to handle hands-on military tasks, as well as their marksmanship ability with the M-4. The contestants must qualify with their weapon and also score well during the "Stress Shoot" event which tests their ability to engage man-sized targets while maneuvering, and pulling a simulated casualty. Soldiers also participate in a10 kilometer road march around the Camp Smith site. The Soldiers will also have the opportunity to tour the United States Military Academy, which is just up the Hudson River from Camp Smith, and to have lunch in one of the Academy Dining Facilities. This year Army National Guard Specialist Rachel Blanchette, a Patchogue, N.Y. resident and logistics specialist with Company E, 3rd Battalion, 142nd Aviation at the Farmingdale Armed Forces Reserve Center will represent New York as the enlisted Soldier of the Year. Blanchette is a full-time member as a coordinator of the New York National Guard Military Forces Honor Guard. Sgt. 1st Class David Colliton, an Amsterdam, N.Y. resident and a veteran of the Iraq War, will represent the New York Army National Guard as the state’s NCO of the Year in the regional competition. Colliton is a signal support systems specialist, assigned to Joint Force Headquarters in Latham. He recently returned from a tour of duty in Bahrain and Kuwait, serving there with Company C of the 27th Brigade Special Troops Battalion. He served in Iraq in 2005-2006 with the 344th Combat Support Hospital of the Army Reserve. Colliton works in the Information Technology field as a civilian employee for the New York National Guard. Camp Smith Training Site: Camp Smith is the largest of three training locations owned by the state of New York and operated by the New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs for the New York National Guard. The 1,613 acre facility includes 126 acres of main that includes 50 buildings, along with 229 acres of range and 1,256 acres of wooded training area. The site was first used by New York to train state militia in 1888. Camp Smith has been in continual use since then. Soldiers can train on M-4 carbines, M-16 rifles, M-240B machineguns, M-9 pistols, and the M-14 sniper rifle at the existing ranges, and conduct infantry tactical training on the wooded hillsides. Along with units of the New York Army National Guard, Army Reserve, local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, and the Corps of Cadets at the United States Military Academy at West Point, use the training facilities. Camp Smith is also home to the headquarters of the all-volunteer New York Guard and houses patrol boats used by the New York Naval Militia. Images from the 2012 competition are available for media use at the NY National Guard Flickr site at http://www.flickr.com/photos/nyng/sets/72157629762234412/with/7212175358/ Follow The New York National Guard on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube: FaceBook: New York Army National Guard, https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/nationalguardny?fref=ts Twitter: http://twitter.com/NationalGuardNY YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/nynationalguard