FORT A.P. HILL, VIRG. – Staff Sgt. Andrew Fink, the son of Tom and Karen Fink of Cook, is among the elite soldiers who began competing this week in the U.S. Army Best Warrior Competition.

Twenty-six of the Army’s finest warriors, representing 13 U.S. Army major commands, will test their skills and knowledge against Army standards and each other.

Fink, a special operations combat medic in the Army Reserves, previously took first in his division in the Best Warrior Competition.

A 2002 graduate of Cook High School, Fink has served in Afghanistan and later joined the Army Reserves. He is currently stationed in Madison, Wis.

He said he entered the Best Warrior Competition not only to test himself but to show his fellow soldiers that setting lofty goals and pursuing them is important.

“To get to this level, I had to win at my brigade and division levels,” said Fink in a phone interview on Monday.

He described the competition as “pretty intense” with competitors undergoing a number of physical and mental challenges.

A press release issued by the Army notes that during the competition, soldiers will be tested on their Army aptitude by conquering urban warfare simulations, board interviews, physical fitness tests, written exams, and warrior tasks and battle drills relevant to today’s operating environment.

Some of the tasks that Fink had to compete in the division competition held last May including a 10-kilometer foot march through woods and tank trails under the blistering North Carolina sun, a litter carry stress march for nearly a mile carrying a 185-pound medical mannequin, map reading and terrain orientation drills and a run through Fort Bragg’s “Little Nasty Nick” obstacle course.

“For as long as we’ve had a United States Army, we’ve had different degrees and levels of competitiveness,” said Sgt. Maj. Paul Klikas, U.S. Army Reserve Command G-37. “The Army Reserve Best Warrior Competition exemplifies what that level of excellence should look like.”

The current competition began at Fort A.P. Hill on Monday and consisted of an Army physical fitness test, a written examination on general military topics and a graded essay on an assigned topic.

Those moving on to Phase II advance to Washington, D.C., where they are tested on their military appearance and bearing while being quizzed on general Army knowledge by a panel of the Army’s most senior sergeants major.

Competition winners will be announced at an awards ceremony held at the Washington, D.C., Convention Center on Tuesday afternoon.