Rhode Island National Guard

This Memorial Day, we honor and remember the men and women who gave their lives in service to our nation.

Across nearly four centuries, Rhode Islanders have answered the call in every generation. Some never came home.

Today, we stand with them. We speak their names. We remember their sacrifice. And we recommit ourselves to the duty they carried before us.

We are forever grateful.

We will never forget.

Memorial Day 2020 Tribute Capt. Mark Incze, a visual information specialist assigned to the R...

Rhode Island National Guard Adds Norwegian Foot March to Best Warrior Competition

Story by Staff Sgt. Rachel List

EAST GREENWICH, R.I. — The Rhode Island National Guard's Best Warrior Competition expanded this year with the addition of the Norwegian Foot March, an internationally recognized military endurance event that challenges service members to complete an 18.6-mile march carrying a 24-pound rucksack within a strict time standard.
Rhode Island hosted the event, and featured it in the competition, for the first time. Sgt. Maj. Brian Lancey, G3 operations sergeant major at Rhode Island Joint Force Headquarters, organized the event and said the decision came down to two things: growing the competition and giving every participant something to take home.
"I'm trying to make it more enticing for people to want to do it," Lancey said. "And even if you didn't win Best Warrior, if you completed the march, you still have a badge you can wear."
Soldiers who finished the course within the required time standard earned the Norwegian Foot March medal, a decoration authorized for wear on the Army dress uniform. Lancey coordinated the award process directly with the Norwegian Embassy, submitting a packet that detailed the event's safety measures and logistics. The embassy approved the packet on the first submission.
"The embassy said, 'Great packet, great product, go ahead and do it,'" Lancey said. "Now that the march is done, I’ll send more paperwork to the embassy and they will send me the certificates."
Lancey noted that opportunities to earn foreign military badges are rare for Rhode Island Guardsmen. Prior to this year, the most common path was through airborne operations with a foreign jumpmaster. He sees the Norwegian Foot March as a way to expand those opportunities.
"People underestimate a little award you can put on your uniform," Lancey said. "It's a motivation tactic."
The Best Warrior Competition has no mandated event list, giving organizers the flexibility to build their own lineups. Lancey said he keeps his selections focused.
"I try to keep it all combat-related," he said.
Lancey had considered including the march in Rhode Island's upcoming regional Best Warrior Competition, but the event's weather restrictions made a June event too uncertain. The march cannot be conducted when temperatures exceed 77 degrees Fahrenheit.
"Depending on the weather in June, it might exceed that," Lancey said. "I don't want someone to attempt or complete it and then not get qualified."
Lancey expects the Norwegian Foot March to become a regular part of Rhode Island's Best Warrior Competition and is exploring ways to open it to soldiers outside the competition as well.
"Some people are super squared away but might not want to partake in Best Warrior," Lancey said. "They could still do the foot march."
Adding the Norwegian Foot March significantly raises the physical and mental bar for Rhode Island’s Best Warrior Competition.

(U.S. Army National Guard photos by Staff Sgt. Noah Moroski)

The Rhode Island National Guard hosts a promotion ceremony for its newest Chief Warrant Officer 5, CW5 Jacob Smith, at Joint Force Headquarters, Camp Fogarty, East Greenwich, Rhode Island, Thursday, May 21, 2026. CW5 Smith has served in the RI National Guard for 26 years and currently serves as the AGR Branch Manager. The ceremony was hosted by Maj. Gen. Andrew Chevalier, the Adjutant General, and attended by CW5 Smith's family, friends, and dozens of his uniformed friends and colleagues.

(U.S. Army National Guard photos by Maj. Mark Incze)