“The pain of regret is way worse than the pain of training.”
Sgt. Cooper Hulse on Friday was reflecting on the Army National Guard’s Best Warrior Competition.
The competition is an annual Army-sponsored event designed to measure a soldier’s physical fitness, mental acuity, and demonstrated skill in warrior tasks and battle drills. So far, Hulse has taken first place at the brigade, state and regional levels.
This is the second time the 28-year-old Hulse, a 2013 Kamehameha Schools Hawaii graduate from Kalapana, has vied to be Best Warrior. This time around, he’s competing as a non-commissioned officer. The first time, in 2014, was in the enlisted soldier competition.
“I was a private back then, and I got second place,” Hulse said. “So, coming back to it as an NCO, it was more redemption for myself than anything else. The pain of regret is a helluva thing. I knew I could do it.
“So, when I was selected to represent, I left it all out on the field.”
Between May 7 and 11, Hulse — who competed in volleyball and swimming at Kamehameha — won Non-Commissioned Officer of the Year in the Warrior Competition for Region VII. As Hawaii state champion, he defeated soldiers from Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Guam.
Hulse, the non-commissioned officer in charge of the Tactical Command Center for the 1st Squadron, 299th Cavalry Regiment, 29th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Hawaii Army National Guard headquartered in Hilo, advances next month to the All-Guard National Best Warrior Competition in Alaska. He’ll be one of seven regional winners competing for the coveted title of National Best Warrior.
To get the gist of the competition, imagine the “American Ninja Warrior” television show and then de-glamorize it — with an obstacle course that looks as though it will leave your hands splintered, a 12-mile rucksack march, fireman’s carry run on the beach, sled drag, written exam, board interview, marksmanship and the standardized Army Combat Fitness Test.
“The coolest part of the competition for me was definitely the experience that I was able to learn and gain from not just our instructors and graders, but also from our fellow competitors,” Hulse said. “They’re bringing a wealth of knowledge from all across the country that not only makes it hard to compete with them but is a big melting pot of information.
“The knowledge transfer is amazing from one soldier to another.”
Hulse said that at a few junctures during the multiday competition, he struggled and “had to dig deep.”
“I remembered that as an NCO, as a sergeant for my men, as a leader, they’re expecting me to be physically harder and mentally tougher than my opponents,” he said. “And if anything comes between me, my team, my family, or any of that — I will be physically harder and mentally tougher.
“That is what got me through.”
Hulse said the hardest part was facing questions from the board, comprised of sergeant majors, the highest NCO rank in the Army.
“I don’t enjoy interviews very much,” he said.
One element of the competition Hulse enjoyed was marksmanship, which he described as a “stress shoot.”
“Your heart rate is anywhere from 150 to 170 (beats per minute) by the time you touch a weapon and you start engaging your targets,” he said. “For the stress shoots, you’ll do everything from a low crawl to a dead sprint to fireman’s carries to sled drags.
“And you’re expected to engage your targets with effective fire throughout the entire time.”
Competitors fired three different military-grade weapons: the M4, a gas-powered, magazine-fed 5.56 mm carbine rifle; the M249, a 5.56 mm squad automatic weapon known as the SAW, essentially a light machine gun; and the M17, a 9 mm semi-automatic pistol.
“The most fun to shoot is the SAW, the automatic weapon. My expertise, though, is with the M17, the handgun,” Hulse said.
Hulse was honored Friday by a proclamation from Mayor Mitch Roth, who declared it “Sgt. Cooper Hulse Day.”
“I was completely surprised. I wasn’t expecting this at all,” Hulse said. “I was just told, ‘You’ve got an interview, something to do with the competition, so be sure to dress up nice and show up on time.’”
Asked about the national competition next month, Hulse said, “I’ll show up prepared and make it tough for the competition.”
Hulse’s Army classification is as a cavalry scout.
“We specialize in reconnaissance and forward observation,” he said. “We have a saying, ‘We’re not the tip of the spear, we’re ahead of it.’ Because we need to tell the spear where it’s going.
“We basically find the bad guys. We’re the eyes and ears of the battlefield for our commanders.”
Maj. Keoki Leong, executive officer of the 1st Squadron, described Hulse as “the total embodiment of the non-commissioned officer.”
“A leader and mentor, he is professional, dependable, and highly capable of executing duties above his rank,” Leong said. “He also brings forth the aloha spirit and warrior ethos of both the American soldier and the Kanekoa.”
Hulse described himself as “single with a dog.” And while he enjoys being at home with family, the beach and other Hawaii perks, he has embraced the Army and its warrior lifestyle.
“What prompts me to stay in and continue to serve my community and serve my country is my leadership. They’ve shown me what it means to have honor, to have respect, to have strength, teamwork, esprit de corps. And they’re the ones who planted the seed in me by telling me, ‘Hey, you have the potential to be a great leader. We need you to stay.
“‘We need you to teach the next generation.’”
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.