The top soldier and noncommissioned officer from the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, will join their peers from across the post for the corps-level competition, which runs from June 2-6.

“It’s friendly competition,” said Master Sgt. Mickey Robinson, who has competed in similar events in the past. “You end up getting bragging rights.”

For the soldiers and noncommissioned officers who advanced by winning their battalion-level competitions, the contest is another opportunity to put their skills to the test after they were put into overdrive for 15 months in Iraq. The brigade returned home in September.

Sgt. Harrison Barber, a 21-year-old infantryman, earned the NCO title from the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, while still recovering from a friendly fire incident in Iraq in July that did significant damage to his right knee.

Still undergoing rehabilitation, Barber can’t fully participate in his unit’s training regimen because he can’t jog long distances and has trouble sprinting and jumping.

The spot in the competition “makes me feel like I’m contributing somehow and able to represent the battalion in a positive way,” he said.

“In combat, you need to do what you have to do because it’s life and death. But doing it here, there’s definitely no penalty if you don’t make it, besides personal pride. Either way it goes, you won your battalion so you’re still a winner. You’re just at another level competing.”

The initial competitions are voluntary and open to all soldiers.

“Every soldier should know how to do this stuff,” Robinson said.

Sgt. Angel Munoz, 28, is trained to purify water but demonstrated enough skill to take the NCO title for the 296th Brigade Support Battalion. He served in Iraq in 2006 with the 1st Armored Division before transferring to Fort Lewis. He said his earlier stint firing howitzers helped build his skills.

“We’re all soldiers,” he said. “Regardless of my MOS (military occupational specialty), I’m going to do the most that I can and the best that I can.”

The first part of the brigade competition has the seven NCOs and six soldiers complete a written exam and compete at a variety of skill competitions. The NCOs judge their performance. Those skills include evacuating casualties, moving while under fire and searching detainees and vehicles.

The ranks will be whittled down further by week’s end, and the remaining soldiers and NCOs will compete in weapons firing and land navigation during daytime and nighttime events next week before the two winners are selected.