Rancho grad wins Army’s Best Warrior competition

Ever since graduating from Rancho High School 17 years ago, Heyz T. Seeker wanted to be the best soldier in the Army.

This month, after two separate active duty stints, four tours in combat zones and a brief career as a sushi chef, the 35-year-old infantry specialist from Las Vegas got his chance.

And, he succeeded, winning the Army's Best Warrior competition at Fort Lee, Va., to capture "Soldier of the Year" honors.

"It was overwhelming at first. It's still sinking in," he said by phone Tuesday from Washington, D.C., where the winner was announced.

"There's a lot of weight on my shoulders now," he said.

Seeker was chosen the best of more than a dozen competitors after a series of physical and mental challenges on urban combat, physical fitness and written exams.

He said his inspiration through the weeklong ordeal that ended Friday was "the confidence that my leadership had in me and my abilities, the experiences I gained from overseas and also the desire to be the best, always striving to be No. 1."

His desire to be a soldier was inherent. Both his father and stepfather fought in the Pacific campaigns of World War II. Seeker was 2 years old when his father died.

Seeker represented the Army Special Operations Command in this year's competition. He said his success is a testament to the high caliber of training that stems from his regular Army training and later in the Nevada National Guard's 1st Squadron, 221st Cavalry.

Seeker lived in the Las Vegas Valley from 1983 through 1990, when he graduated from Rancho in North Las Vegas.

His mother, Maxima Voelker, retired last year after working at the Luxor. She now lives part time with him and his wife, Guadalupe, and their three children at his duty station at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Ga.

After graduating from Rancho, Seeker attended the University of Colorado, Boulder on a three-year ROTC scholarship.

After Desert Storm in 1991 he decided to enlist in the Army. He endured airborne training and four years at Fort Richardson, Alaska before joining the Nevada National Guard as a tank crew member.

In 1998, he moved to San Diego to pursue work as a sushi chef, carrying out his culinary arts education from community college in Southern Nevada.

"After 9/11 I had a little bit of patriotism left in me and in 2004 I signed up again after a six-year break in service. Out of my own will I decided to come back in," he said.

Although he was a seasoned soldier, he went back to basic training at Fort Benning, Ga., seeking a new job specialty: infantryman.

Assigned to Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, he served in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2005 and three tours for Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, the last of which ended in May when he returned to the East Coast to train for the Best Warrior competition.

He said the most challenging part of the competition was the series of mystery events.

"No matter what you prepare for, sometimes they throw a wrench in the whole thing," Seeker said.

One of the events was a simulated Humvee roll-over. "You have 17 seconds to escape ... and be ready for action," he said.

In another segment, Seeker said he was tested on riot control to see "if you would actually fire your weapon if you didn't need to."

Of his competitors, he said, "any one of them could have won on any given day. I definitely saw the strength of all the units."

His goal, he said, is to be the first soldier with Filipino roots to become sergeant major of the Army.

"I'm always striving to be better," he said.

Contact reporter Keith Rogers at krogers@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0308.