Advertisement
soldier of the year Monday after a week-long competition at Fort Lee, Va.
Obray was among the top 24 soldiers in the Best Warrior Competition, informally known as the “Super Bowl” of Army contests. He is the first Reservist to win the title.
Soldiers and noncommissioned officers squared off in a test of skill and endurance, which included a grueling 6-mile run carrying 80 pounds of equipment and a grilling by the Army’s top enlisted men. Obray also won a hand-to-hand combat tournament that was much like the popular Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Sgt. 1st Class Brian Eisch, an ROTC instructor at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, was among the competitors for NCO honors.
As a high school freshman, Obray, of Granada, Minn., was so overweight he could barely run a mile. Then his older brother, Christopher Obray, joined the Army, and David starting getting in shape, losing more than 70 pounds.
Since then, the 22-year-old has devoted himself to fitness, running around Lake Winona and pumping out 500 to 1,000 pushups a day. That’s in addition to carrying a full course load and serving as WSU Student Senate president.
“All the free time I’ve had I’ve spent training,” Obray said Monday from Washington, D.C.
Now he’s looking forward to some down time — and catching up on class work. But first he will have to make time for the national media, including a scheduled spot on “Good Morning America.”
“I’m meeting people I’ve seen photos of,” Obray said. “People who travel regularly with police escort.”
Contest winners receive cash awards and spend the year travel-ing the country to represent the Army.
“I’m just really happy to be representing the warriors of the U.S. Army,” he said. “And the Winona State Warriors.”
