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A first-year nursing student at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh surprised even herself when she took third in a grueling state Best Warrior Competition recently at Fort McCoy—the expansive military training center near Tomah.

“I actually didn’t realize I took third until after the final ceremony and I was just very surprised,” said Justine Freund of Eldorado. “My sponsor (SPC Jack Knott, a fellow medic from her platoon) kept saying I was doing a lot better than I thought, but I still was not anticipating it.”

The three-day competition tested endurance, mental toughness and military skills of National Guard members from across Wisconsin in events that are based on what they might see in combat.

“Most members selected for this opportunity have months to train and prepare for the competition,” said Michelle Munns of the UW Oshkosh Veteran Resource Office, where Freund is a student assistant. “Justine had one month notice to prepare. She took third place, which is a huge accomplishment for any soldier, but especially notable for someone who had just one month to prepare while juggling school.”

Freund is a medic with HHC 2-127 Infantry, a Wisconsin National Guard unit based in Appleton.

Soldiers competed at company, battalion and brigade level to advance to state and compete against each other for the Best Warrior title.

During the competition, they took part in a physical fitness test, qualified on the M9 and M4 weapons systems, completed a 12-mile timed ruck march, wrote an essay and completed a written exam, took part in a uniform inspection, an oral Army knowledge examination, drill and ceremony evaluation and were tested on combat casualty care.

Freund said she had about 10 blisters on her feet and had “road rash” from the gear on her back during the ruck march. Weighing just over 100 pounds, Freund was marching with a ruck weighted with an estimated 60-70 pounds.

She said the hardest part to train for was the weapons qualifications, because she did not have the materials to shoot ahead of time. The event, she said, marked the first time she had ever fired a shotgun.

“My strength, for sure, would be the competition involving the (simulated) casualties, but I also excelled in the physical fitness test,” she said.

Preparation

Freund spent a few weeks studying and located resources from people in her unit or in the UW Oshkosh Veteran Resource Center to help her train for tasks that included land navigation as well as drill and ceremony.

During the event, she and her sponsor, Knott, would go over what they believed the next competition would be. (The events were kept secret from soldiers until they took place.)

At night, Freund and Knott studied and prepared for the next day.

“My main motivation was to be able to show that I can be a small female and still be strong and successfully do my job and to not let my unit and my own family down,” she said.

Freund received an Army Achievement Medal for her third place finish. Spc. Austin Jahnke of Company A, 1st Battalion, 128th Infantry of Menomonee, and Sgt. Clayton Smith of Headquarters Battery, 1st Battalion, 120th Field Artillery of Berlin, advance to the Region IV Best Warrior Competition. The top competitors from six states in the region will face off today through May 10, at Fort McCoy, for the right to advance to national competition July 23-27 in Pennsylvania.

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