By Dawn Arden
Public Affairs Office

FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Feb. 20, 2019) — The U.S. Army Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear School is searching for competitors from across the Army for the 2019 Best CBRN Warrior Competition. The school is accepting applications now through March 15.

A maximum of 25, two-person teams will be accepted for the competition slated to be held from April 29 to May 3 on Fort Leonard Wood.

The competition is open to Soldiers and noncommissioned officers ranking from private through master sergeant; warrant officers from warrant officer 1 through warrant officer 3; commissioned officers from second lieutenant through major. All Army applicants must be within Career Management Field 74. Service members from other branches of service and international military members of equivalent rank are also eligible to compete.

“Two Soldiers make a team, regardless of rank. So you could easily have a corporal with a captain — no restrictions,” said Sgt. Maj. Antonio Leonvega, 3rd Chemical Brigade S-3. “This year, we’re opening the competition to our sister services and international partners. Those teams must remain to those categories; in other words, you can’t mix a Soldier with a Marine and the same with international (service members.)”

Leonvega said commands are welcome to submit more packets than allocated slots. These teams will be screened and placed on a waiting list.

Col. Sean Crockett, 3rd Chemical Brigade commander, said the school moved this year’s competition dates, which are typically held in conjunction with CBRN Week in the end of June, up by a few months for a couple of reasons.

“First, to avoid the heat of the summer as much as possible,” Crockett said. “Next, this event is a major undertaking for the (school) and brigade staff. As such, we wanted to separate this event from the CBRN Regimental Week in June, which takes an equal staff-planning toll on our team.”

Competitors should be prepared to road march approximately 35 miles and compete in a variety of Soldier-related events, such as the Army Combat Fitness Test, land navigation, combatives, obstacle course, the Combat Water Survival Test, patrol base operations and zeroing/qualifying with a weapon.

Participants should also be prepared to compete in a myriad of CBRN related tasks and events.

Crockett said there are other changes this year of which competitors should take note.

“While we have reduced the days of this year’s event from five to three, we have significantly
increased the rigor associated with this year’s event,” he said. “This is primarily a result of comments from competitors of last year’s event who complained of too much ‘down time.’”

Maj. Nick Bell, 3rd Chem. Bde. S-3, said this year should flow more smoothly.

“We are trying to make it more fluid so teams go from one event to the other, and teams should expect a balance between individual-level warrior tasks, CBRN tasks and being pushed physically,” Bell said.

Crockett concurred and said, “Rest assured, we fixed it this year — be ready.”

Winners of this year’s competition will return to Fort Leonard Wood June 28 for an award presentation scheduled to be held during the Green Dragon Ball.

For more information on requirements and nomination packets, contact Sgt. 1st Class Reginald Pleasant, USACBRNS Senior Personnel Development noncommissioned officer, at 573.563.1306.

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About Fort Leonard Wood
Fort Leonard Wood is a thriving and prosperous installation that has evolved from a small basic training post more than 75 years ago to a premier Army Center of Excellence that trains more than 82,000 military and civilians each year.

Fort Leonard Wood is home to the U.S Army Maneuver Support Center of Excellence and three U.S. Army schools: the U.S. Army Engineer School; U.S. Army Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear School; and the U.S. Army Military Police School. In addition to training engineer, CBRN and military police specialties for the Army, Fort Leonard Wood also provides gender-integrated in-processing and Basic Combat Training for new Soldiers.

Fort Leonard Wood also hosts and trains with the largest Marine Corps and Air Force detachments on any Army installation as well as a large Navy construction detachment.

More information about Fort Leonard Wood is at: https://home.army.mil/wood/index.php/about/mission.