Congratulations are in order for junior nursing student, Gabrielle Beveridge! In addition to training to become a nurse, Gabby serves in 1-189th General Support Aviation Battalion (GSAB) of the National Guard. She was selected to be one of eight participants in a competition to determine the 2023 Noncommissioned Officer of the Year out of 2,800 soldiers in the Montana Army National Guard.
"The army has taught me that discipline will always take you further than motivation. When the motivation has run out, discipline will bring you home. My favorite quote is 'Get comfortable being uncomfortable' which really hit home last week." - Gabrielle Beveridge
Gabby was the only female in the BestWarrior competition which took place April 3-7, at Fort Harrison, MT. The competition consisted of 24 events testing physical readiness, weapon prowess, and soldier skills.
Gabby provides a detailed explanation of the competition below.
We arrived and were immediately sent into a PT test that tested every aspect of our fitness abilities. Agility, strength, endurance and power. We were loaded up and sent to the range to shoot M4s and 320(grenade launchers) then sent to an obstacle course that led into the night. We woke up and were dropped in the hills to test our land navigation skills where we ran around the mountains for hours plotting our points. We then started our lanes where we were tested on combat lifesaver skills, a stress shoot with a M4, M17, 249, and 240 (while doing strenuous cardio to max our heart rates and test our shooting abilities) grenade throwing, filling and executing radio calls, restraining a detainee, responding to a chemical attack, calling for fire, responding to an IED, completing a range card, and PMCSing a vehicle, assembling and disassembling a .50cal, 240, and mk19 grenade launcher. We then started night land nav where we had to run around base finding our plots and at each plot there was a lane where we performed more skills. The next morning, we loaded our rucksacks (big backpacks) that weighed around 40 lb (without water) and our M4s and started off on our half marathon run in boots. After this, we had a board interview with the highest-ranking noncommissioned officers in the state, a uniform inspection and a written essay. It was a busy couple of days and I am very happy it is over.
Following the weeklong competition, Gabby was awarded #1 female Noncommissioned Officer of the Year, Best Warrior Hustle Award, and took second overall! Congratulations, Gabby, on this amazing accomplishment!