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LATHAM, NEW YORK (08/27/2024) (readMedia)– New York Army National Guard Sgt. Peter Fillion, an Amherst resident, part-time architect, and graduate student, is one of two winners in the 2024 Army National Guard’s Best Warrior Competition.
The national competition, featuring the most physically fit and tough Soldiers in the 325,000-Soldier Army National Guard, wrapped up on August 8 at the Ethan Allen Firing Range in Jericho, Vermont.
Fillion won in the enlisted Soldier category because he was a specialist when he competed in the New York Army National Guard Best Warrior Competition in April.
He competed against six competitors from across the country in the junior enlisted Soldier category.
Each of these Soldiers had previously won their unit, state, and regional Best Warrior events
Noncommissioned officers compete in a separate category.
Fillion will now compete alongside other Army National Guard Best Warrior top finishers in the Army’s Best Squad Competition from Sept. 29 to October 10.
It’s the first time a New York Soldier has taken home this honor, according to Command Sgt. Major Edwing Garris, the New York Army National Guard’s top enlisted leader.
This is a significant accomplishment, said Major General Ray Shields, the adjutant general of New York.
“Sgt. Peter Fillion is an outstanding Soldier and every one of us in the New York National Guard is proud of his win in this very demanding competition. I am sure he was do well in the Army Best Squad Competition which will be held in the fall. Being the Best Warrior in the Army National Guard is an incredible accomplishment,” Shields said
Fillion, who enlisted in the New York Army National Guard in 2021, is an infantryman assigned to C Troop of the 2nd Squadron, 101st Cavalry, which is based at the Masten Avenue Armory in Buffalo.
Fillion is working part-time as an architect at Kideney Architects in Buffalo, while working towards a master’s in architecture at the University of Buffalo.
He competed in and won Best Warrior competitions at his unit, the state level, and then at the northeast regional competition before going to the national Army National Guard event.
Being best in the entire Army Guard “is kind of surreal”, Fillion said.
“It’s an interesting feeling because you’ve had a major accomplishment in one area, but in your civilian life you just go back to who you were before,” he said. “They’re happy for you, but they don’t really understand what it took to get there.”
Best Warrior competitions include marksmanship, a physical fitness test, land navigation, military skills, boards where Soldiers are quizzed on their military knowledge, and a long distance “ruck march”.
“Ruck marching is the most difficult because you are carrying weight and walking for a long time and everything kind of hurts but you just keep going,” he recalled.
Fillion’s edge in the competition came in the areas involving military knowledge, said Garris said.
“That’s where he shines,” Garris said.
At that level of competition everybody is physically fit, or they wouldn’t have gotten that far, he explained.
“But the separation, is the mental aspect of it,” Garris said. “You may be able to move, shoot and communicate, but can you think on your feet?”
Fillion said he agreed.
“A lot of units send their top dog physically, but they often overlook how many points can be earned on intellectual tasks,” he said. “There are many times I wasn’t the strongest person, but I was the one that knew the most about unified land operations.”
He credited his wife Samantha, an intensive care unit, with his success on the knowledge based parts of the event, because she helped him study.
His unit also helped him get ready by putting him on orders in the weeks prior to the national competition so he could focus on preparing, Fillion said.
“I made sure to spend a lot of time working on my physical ability, making sure my legs were super strong,” Fillion said. “That was my main focus, working out, because I had done a lot of the intellectual stuff.”
As he moves onto the Best Squad event-competing with Soldiers he was competing against-he’s going to be working to improve his endurance and shooting skills, Fillion said.
He’s also thinking about where he’ll go with the Army National Guard. He’s half-way through his initial six-year enlistment and looking at the different paths he could take in the Guard.
“I have enjoyed my time in the Guard so I am not in a hurry to do get out. I’ve been giving it 110 percent and I will keep on giving it 110 percent, “he said.
