Local Nat’l Guard Soldier Wins Best of Brigade
Earlier this month at Fort Drum, Mitchell Stogel of White Plains won a New York Army National Guard soldier competition as Best of the Brigade for Non Commissioned Officers (NCOs). He will advance to the National Guard’s statewide competition.
Stogel is one of 12 Soldiers from the New York Army National Guard’s 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team who vied to be the best in the brigade.
Each of the brigade’s six battalions sent two finalists to compete in the three-day competition. One Soldier competed in the junior enlisted category for Soldiers in the rank of specialist and below and one competed in the noncommissioned officer category for sergeants to sergeants first class.
Just making it to the brigade-level competition is an accomplishment in itself, said 27th Infantry Brigade Sgt. Major Thomas Ciampolillo. A Soldier has to be selected first by their company and then compete and win their respective battalion best warrior competition, he said.
Selected as the best in the brigade were Cpl. Mitchell Cooper, an infantryman assigned to Delta Company, 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry Regiment from Camillus, N.Y., and Sgt. Mitchell Stogel, from White Plains, an infantryman assigned to the Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry Regiment.
During the competition the soldiering skills of each contestant were put to the test.
The first hurdle was a formal military board comprised of all the 27th IBCT battalion command sergeants major and presided over by Ciampolillo.
During the board the Soldiers were tested on their knowledge of Army policies, regulations, and history.
Following the board, the Soldiers participated in a hands-on weapons evaluation.
After the weapons portion of the competition, armed with only a compass, protractor and map, the Soldiers put their orienteering skills to the test by completing a land navigation course.
The most strenuous part of the competition was the eight-mile ruck march. With a 35-pound rucksack on their backs, each of the contestants was up before daybreak to complete the competition’s final event.
After completing all of the above events as well as the Army Physical Fitness Test and written exam, the two winners were selected and announced.
Cooper and Stogel will represent the 27th IBCT as they advance to the statewide competition scheduled for early March where they will compete against Soldiers representing the 53rd Troop Command, Joint Force Headquarters, and the 42nd Infantry Division.
The winners of that competition face off against the best National Guard Soldiers and NCOs from other northeast states in a bid to be the best in the Army National Guard and the Army.
This past November, Stogel won a similar competition at the Battalion level. That honor earned him a free trip to Ireland this spring.
A 2008 graduate of White Plains High School, Stogel served 3-1/2 years in the regular Army, including a nine-month tour in Afghanistan. He is currently an honors student majoring in Architecture at NYIT.
Mitchell is the son of Chris and Chuck Stogel of White Plains.
Source: NYS Division of Military and Naval Affairs
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