Ciara Lanman, Staff Writer

25 year old Joseph Broam is a current Armstrong Senior pursuing a degree in Liberal Studies with a minor in Military Science.This past April, Broam competed for the title of Region III Best Warrior 2016 and won.

His success can be traced to his background.

“My father has been in the army since I was born,” he explained. “I joined the Georgia Army National Guard Jan. 17, 2014, and the fall before that January, I got into the ROTC program here at Armstrong.”

Broam studied at Oklahoma Christian University in Edmond, Oklahoma before transferring to Faulkner University in Montgomery, Alabama. After Faulkner, he made the decision with his sister, Jordan Broam, to come to Armstrong State University.

“My father and my mother were both moving here to Savannah, so my sister and I took the opportunity,” Broam said. “We came to catch up on years that we missed while our dad was deployed.”

However, family was not the only factor that drew Broam to Armstrong.

“Essentially, when I finally decided to pursue my military career they [the other universities] didn’t have anything to offer me.”

The Region III Best Warrior Contest, as Broam explained, is compiled of physical, mental, and a combination of mental-physical challenges.

“Your mental events consist of a board where you sit in front of Sergeant Majors while they ask you series of questions based on different categories like weapons, safety, doctrine, as well as giving information about yourself and reciting the Soldier’s Creed.”

The mental part of the competition also consists of a general knowledge test and an essay.

The physical and the mental-physical challenges change based on each competition, though the contestants can always count on a 12 mile ruck-sack march, an Army Physical Fitness Test, combat water survival test, numerous obstacle courses and weapons qualification test.

Other mental-physical challenges consisted of taking weapons apart and putting them back together properly, giving medical treatments while engaging in a combat situation and participating in a mystery event that contestants are not aware of until they show up to compete.

“It took me a little bit to grasp the idea of being the National Warrior. Someone had finally quantified it to me as one out of 350,000 and it finally hit me. This is like winning the national championship in the NCAA. I was happy and definitely honored.”

He attributed his successes to a group effort. He said his father, family, friends, and God all gave him the capabilities and help that he needed to make it. Admitting that it took a lot of personal effort, as well, he jokingly added that he is a bit of a “gym junkie.” This gave him an upper hand in the competition.

“It really puts it out there for people to see that this is both a personal and a group effort. It took a lot of sacrifice.”

Broam explained his future plans: “I commission next summer and I’d love to branch Infantry until I reach First Lieutenant (promotable). Then I would like to put in a packet to assess for Special Forces.”

He claimed that these are more short term goals, while his long term goal is to retire as Lieutenant Colonel. “The army has been good to me and my family since I was born and I’d love to give back.”

Broam says he prefers the structured lifestyle that the military offers.

He does not think that the title of the Georgia Army National Guard Best Warrior will impact his future enormously, but admitted that it has definitely readied him for his commission and will hopefully help his pursuit of being an infantryman.

Broam believes these accomplishments have brought him to where he is and will ultimately help him grow further in his future endeavors.

He has a statement of motivation: “If you’ve got a goal, just keep pushing forward. It’ll eventually pay off.”

Specialist Joseph Broam will be representing the U.S. Army National Guard in the U.S. Army Best Warrior competition this September.