Published: September 18, 2009 09:43 pm      

Local National Guard Staff Sergeant competing for NCO Soldier of the Year award

By KANDACE MCCOY

kandace.mccoy@register-news.com

MT. VERNON — A local Illinois Army National Guard Staff Sergeant has advanced to the state level of the Noncommissioned Officer/Soldier of the Year Competition held in Marseilles.

Staff Sgt. Anthony Krajefska, Recruiting and Retention NCO at the Mt. Vernon National Guard Armory, has been preparing and studying for the competition, which began Thursday. A win at the state level will advance Krajefska to the national competition.

“I’ve been selected to basically represent Southern Illinois,” he explained. “There’s six different brigades which consist of over 1,000 soldiers each — for the regional competition you represent your brigade. I’ll be representing Recruiting and Retention.”

Though Krajefska said he was honored to be chosen to compete, he said preparing for the competition is “very tedious.”

“It’s kind of hard,” he said. “There’s a lot of preparation. The type of testing is a little bit more advanced on our end because we’re expected to know more as leaders. Basically, it’s a competition to see who is the best leader in Illinois.”

During the four-day competition, which concludes on Sunday, Krajefska will be testing on a 5-mile road march, Army warrior tasks, modern Army combatives, a shooting competition, land navigation — written exam and field exam — and a confidence obstacle course among others. On Sunday, he will be facing an Appearance Board of 10 high-ranking officials in which he will be questioned on various topics, such as the weight, description, mechanics and ammunition for different weapons.

“It’s a very prestigious event,” he said. “If I win, I will go on to the national level near Washington, D.C. and represent Illinois.”

And win or lose, the competition is important to Krajefska as his warrior skills, physical endurance and knowledge is put to the test.

“I spent 19 months at the start of the war, from early 2003 until Aug. 2004,” he said. “I’ve been recruiting since 2005. I really have not done anything like this (competition) until this point. As a NCO you want to be confident and answer honestly to the best of your ability.”

Krajefska has been a member of the Illinois Army National Guard for 10 years. His wife is also a member of the Guard.