Guardsman Excels in Military Skills Competition

POTCHEFSTROOM, South Africa - New York Air Guard Senior Airman Vincenza Costanzo was the top-scoring woman at a week-long South African National Defence Force Military Skills Competition.

Costanzo was one of 17 New York National Guard Soldiers and Airmen who represented the United States at the annual competition from Oct. 28 to Nov. 2 at South Africa's Army Support Base Potchefstroom.

Teams from the Netherlands, Germany, Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa also participated.

The 133 participants competed in conventional and swimming obstacle courses, pistol and rifle marksmanship, an 8-kilometer run in combat gear and grenade-throwing.

The New York National Guard, which has had a State Partnership Program relationship with South Africa's military since 2003, regularly sends teams to compete in the event.

This year, 10 Soldiers and seven Airmen - 12 men and five women - represented the New York National Guard.

The New York team captain, Lt. Col. Andrew Miller, commander of the 102nd Military Police Battalion, said Costanzo "was phenomenal."

He said Costanzo, who was a competitive diver at Canisius University, performed superbly in the unusual water obstacle event.

Costanzo finished second in three of the events. Senior Airman Jayla Decicco took two third-place finishes, and Army Guard Staff Sgt. Stacey Hart was third in another event.

Airman 1st Class Roko Jelavic took a third-place for men.
Miller and Army Guard Staff Sgt. Jonathan Harris, assigned to A Troop, 2nd Squadron, 101st Cavalry, finished in the top 25% of men who competed.

The New Yorkers' showing was more impressive because the other foreign military teams practice for these events often, said Air Guard Chief Master Sgt. Catrina Gray, the women's team coach and an emergency manager from the 107th Attack Wing.

"We all jelled really well together," Miller said.

"The people that go on these kinds of missions are usually high performers," Miller explained. "You get a really good group of people who know how important that this is, and they want to do well and they encourage each other."

Costanzo, also an emergency manager in the 107th Attack Wing, agreed.

"We crushed it, I think, because we all were competitive and we all know our strengths and how we could perform well," she said.

The obstacle course was the toughest event, Costanzo said.

"Potchefstroom is almost a mile above sea level. It was a hot summer in South Africa. It's very arid and the air quality is not the best," she said. "So, it was a challenge for people used to New York's more temperate climate."

Air Guard Maj. Antonios Dimoulas, the deputy staff judge advocate for the 107th Attack Wing, and the "old man" of the group at 44 years old, said that despite the difficulties, he was happy to compete.

"I wanted to do something in a very military way that would allow me to push myself physically and do it with a group of people from the United States that would have one common goal," Dimoulas said.

The marksmanship competitions required the Americans to shoot with South African weapons.

That was also a challenge, Dimoulas said, because the South African R4 rifle is less accurate than the American M16A2 or M4 rifles the New Yorkers use.

Meeting military people from other nations and learning about South Africa's culture was a significant part of the event.

"Regardless of who came home with a medal around their neck, we all won at building friendships and relationships with soldiers from other countries we never dreamed we would meet," said Chief Master Sgt. Catrina Gray, 107th Attack Wing.

The New York competitors:

Women's Team
• Senior Airman Vincenza Costanzo, 107th Attack Wing
• Staff Sgt. Stacey Hart, 2nd Squadron, 101st Cavalry
• Senior Airman Jayla Decicco, 105th Airlift Wing
• Senior Airman Alexa Reeves, 105th Airlift Wing
• Chief Master Sgt. Catrina Gray, 107th Attack Wing

Men's Team
• Sgt. 1st Class Nicholas Zito, 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry
• Master Sgt. Eugene Marmontov, 105th Airlift Wing
• Staff Sgt. David Hacker, 109th Airlift Wing
• Airman 1st Class Roko Jelavic, 109th Airlift Wing
• Sgt. Jonathan Harris, 2nd Squadron, 101st Cavalry
• Senior Airman Khalik James, 105th Airlift Wing
• Sgt. Essa Njie, 14th Finance Detachment
• Lt. Col. Andrew Miller, 102nd Military Police Battalion
• Sgt. John Winheld, 152nd Engineer Company
• Maj. Antonios Dimoulas, 107th Attack Wing
• Sgt. Craig Rowell, 152nd Engineer Company
• 1st Sgt. Thomas Carpenter, 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.