HENDERSON, Nev. — Nevada Army National Guard Pfc. Mace Veit completed Ranger School, Airborne School, Air Assault School and Pathfinder School before his 20th birthday, accomplishing in less than six months what can take many Soldiers years to achieve.

The 19-year-old Foothill High School graduate passed every phase of the Army’s 62-day Ranger School on his first attempt, then earned three coveted skill badges and a Ranger Tab. Fewer than 20% of Soldiers who attend Ranger School complete every phase without recycling.

For Veit, it started with a decision made just days before graduating from cavalry scout training at Fort Benning, Georgia, when a National Guard liaison informed him he had been identified for the Ranger Team Leader Initiative, a program that selects high-performing Soldiers and prepares them for Ranger School.

The opportunity meant staying at Fort Benning after cavalry scout training instead of returning home, with no guarantee he would ultimately earn a Ranger School slot.

“I was really scared,” Veit said. “I didn’t know if I was ready for it.”

Still, he chose to stay.

“I had to take the opportunity when it was there because you never know if you’ll ever get it again.”

Before joining the military, Veit envisioned a future as a firefighter. While attending Foothill High School in Henderson, he searched for a path that would allow him to serve while still pursuing civilian career opportunities.

“I was trying to think, would I have to sacrifice being a firefighter or another future career to join the military?” Veit said. “Then I thought, well, the National Guard, I could do both.”

Veit’s mother, Jessica Veit, a Henderson Police Department sergeant with 11 years of service, said her son’s decision to join the Nevada Army National Guard surprised her, but his ability to thrive in a disciplined environment did not.

“I never expected any of this, but I did expect something great from my son,” Jessica said. “He’s been very disciplined his whole life. He’s very regimented. When he says he’s going to do something or puts his heart into it, he always does it.”

Veit enlisted in the Nevada Army National Guard at 17 during his junior year of high school and spent nearly a year attending Recruit Sustainment Program drills before shipping to training. The additional preparation helped him build a foundation in military skills and eased his transition into Army life.

During his time in the Recruit Sustainment Program, Veit trained alongside his recruiter, Sgt. 1st Class Paul Duncan, an accomplished endurance athlete who recognized his potential early.

The two spent time outside of drills logging miles together, building the endurance and mental toughness that would later help Veit through the Army’s toughest schools.

After graduating from cavalry scout training with a leadership award, Veit entered RTLI and later the National Guard’s pre-Ranger course. As Ranger School approached, doubt started to weigh on him.

“I remember before I went to Ranger School, I kept thinking, ‘Imagine if I fail,’” Veit said. “I would call my parents and tell them it’s a really hard course and not a lot of people pass.”

Once training began, he learned to focus on the task immediately in front of him.

“Maybe, beforehand, you’re a little nervous and a little scared,” Veit said. “But once I got there, I had to shut it off and just go: ‘I’m here to do this.’”

That mindset carried him through a year of continuous training and four elite Army schools.

Jessica said watching her son move through the pipeline gave her a deeper appreciation for the leaders who recognized his potential and helped guide him through the process.

“It makes me very thankful to the folks at RTLI and the instructors and the mentors that he had to be able to find that potential because I feel like that potential in him was always there,” Jessica said.

Despite his accomplishments, Veit said confidence was never what drove him forward.

Instead, he learned he was often more capable than he believed.

“I always underestimate myself,” Veit said. “Everything seems like a huge, impossible mountain to scale. But then I get there and start doing it and realize, ‘Okay, I can do that.’”

The lesson became especially important during Pathfinder School, where students are required to master detailed planning procedures, calculations and technical information.

“There were a lot of little intricate details you had to remember,” Veit said. “You focus your energy on memorizing one thing and then you end up forgetting something else.”

At times, the course’s complexity became frustrating. He said he often made the same mistakes repeatedly and worried about failing near the end after coming so far.

What helped him push through was the support of the Soldiers around him.

Throughout his training, Veit credits drill sergeants, instructors and fellow students for helping him succeed. Those friendships became one of the most valuable parts of the experience.

“There’s a saying that says, ‘You don’t earn your Ranger Tab, your buddy does,’” Veit said. “It’s true. I would not have been able to do it without my friends from Ranger School.”

Those friendships expanded his view of what was possible after the military. During nearly a year at Fort Benning, Veit trained alongside Soldiers, noncommissioned officers and officers from across the Army; many shared lessons from their own careers.

One piece of advice stood out.

“A lot of people would tell me, ‘You have so many options, you don’t even know,’” Veit said. “That really stuck with me because it made me realize I need to capitalize on that.”

No support system, however, was more important than his family. Veit said his parents supported his decision to enlist from the beginning, even though they had never discussed his future in military service before.

As he progressed through training, they traveled repeatedly to Georgia to attend graduations and celebrate milestones.

“My mom literally showed up to every single graduation she could,” Veit said. “Knowing I had people rooting for me back home was a huge morale boost.”

Jessica said she flew to Columbus, Georgia, 10 times during her son’s training to attend the graduations and milestones she could. Her favorite moment came during Darby Pass, when Ranger School students who complete the first phase of training pass through a gate before continuing to the next phase.

“He didn’t know I was going to be there,” Jessica Veit said. “Seeing him come through that gate was the most prideful, amazing moment that I will never forget with my son.”

Now back in Nevada after nearly a year away from home, Veit is spending time with family before reporting to the Nevada Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 221st Cavalry Regiment, which transitioned into a mobile infantry battalion as part of the Army’s Transformation Initiative.

As he looks toward the future, firefighting is still a possibility. But after spending months surrounded by experienced military leaders and high-performing Soldiers, he is also exploring college, government service, and other opportunities he had not previously considered.

Jessica said she hopes her son uses the lessons and experiences from the last year to help others.

“I would love to see him translate all that he’s learned and experienced to inspire others and be a leader for others,” she said.

For now, Veit is focused on the mindset that carried him through all challenges placed in front of him: take the opportunity, put in the work and care enough to give it everything you have.

“If you want to excel in something,” Veit said, “You have to care about it.”

Reno, Nev. (KOLO) -Two fairs in two locations with both aiming to honor the Silver State’s history.

Starting June 11, Mills Park in Carson City hosts its tenth annual fair. At the same time, the Reno-Sparks Livestock Events Center and the Nevada State Fairgrounds will launch its first fair in more than 15 years. The event is reviving a tradition tied to what organizers call the longest-running annual event in Nevada history, dating back to 1874.

Both event organizers say they’re paying tribute to the state’s legacy, but in Reno, the Nevada Department of Agriculture says theirs is a more traditional fair experience. However, there is a price to get in and parking fees later in the day.

Ciara Ressel with the official Nevada State Fair say that, under NRS 551, the Nevada Department of Agriculture is the only entity that can host the “State Fair of Nevada.” They say their programming is built around nostalgia from past fairs, including youth agriculture programs like the Nevada Junior Livestock Show and 4-H.

Meanwhile, the fair in Carson City is free to attend and will feature carnival rides along with deep-fried favorites among other vendors. On June 13, there will be an area of businesses run by children.

There won’t be concerts or livestock in Carson City, but organizers say the four-day event will continue its mission: honoring Nevada’s history.

Last week, we ranked the Mountain West football schedules based on their difficulty, with Nevada having the fifth toughest out of 10 teams in the league. Today, we’ll zoom in closer on the Wolf Pack’s schedule by ranking the team’s 2026 opponents from least interesting to most interesting. Here is that list.

12. at Middle Tennessee (Sept. 19): Nevada’s home-and-home series against Middle Tennessee, which was scheduled in 2023, didn’t add much pop to the non-conference schedule. And while the first game in the series last year at Mackay Stadium had a thrilling ending — the Blue Raiders scored the game-winning touchdown with 21 seconds remaining to overcome a late 13-0 deficit — it was an overall ugly game with limited appeal for this year’s rematch.

11. at UTEP (Oct. 10): The MW was in desperation mode when it added UTEP as a full member after losing five schools to the Pac-12 in September 2024. The Wolf Pack and Miners were briefly WAC rivals but have only played four times, with Nevada leading the series 3-1. The most memorable game was Chance Kretschmer’s 327-yard, six-touchdown outing against UTEP in 2001, a 48-31 Wolf Pack win. This game was originally a non-league matchup before UTEP joined the MW.

10. at Northern Illinois (Nov. 14): NIU is another first-year addition to the MW, although it has more history of football success than UTEP, which has only three bowl berths in the last 20 seasons (the Huskies have 14 bowl appearances during that stretch). Still, with NIU coming off a 3-9 season, losing its head coach in February and ranking 131st out of 136 FBS teams in per-game home attendance in 2025, this is not a very buzzworthy game.

9. vs. San Jose State (Oct. 24): The Spartans and Wolf Pack have played in 24 of the last 26 seasons, so this could be an emerging rivalry in the new-look MW. Four of the last six games in the series have been decided by one score. Nevada whipped SJSU, 55-10, last season and will host the Spartans in back-to-back years. That revenge factor for SJSU might add a little spice to the game, but this has not historically been a game that has fired up the Wolf Pack faithful.

8. vs. Hawaii (Nov. 21): The Rainbow Warriors have won five of its last six games against Nevada, which had gone 7-1 against Hawaii in the eight games before that. The Rainbow Warriors seem to save their best for Nevada with lopsided wins over the Wolf Pack in 2019 (by 51 points), 2022 (15 points), 2023 (13 points) and 2024 (21 points). Hawaii has generally been a good litmus test for the quality of the Nevada football team, which should again be the case in 2026.

7. vs. Air Force (Sept. 26): The Wolf Pack and Falcons have played just eight times during Nevada’s 14 seasons in the MW, but this will become a more regular annual game in the new conference membership. These games have generally been tight, with five of the eight contests decided by three points or fewer. And it’s always cool to see a different style of offense, with the Falcons running a triple-option rushing attack, which has averaged 39.5 ppg in its eight games against Nevada.

6. vs. Western Kentucky (Sept. 5): A non-league game against Western Kentucky would not typically rank highly on the interest meter, but this marks Nevada’s 2026 season opener and its result could play a huge role in whether the Wolf Pack wins enough games to qualify for a bowl this season. The Hilltoppers have reached a bowl in seven straight seasons and won at least eight games in six of those years, so this will be an excellent test for Nevada against a quality Group of 6 program

5. vs. New Mexico (Nov. 6): After an excellent 2025 season, the Lobos are primed to be one of the MW’s best football programs following the loss of Boise State, Fresno State and San Diego State to the Pac-12. And with Nevada’s ambitions being higher in this new-look conference, being able to win the Battle of the Wolves will be important. Nevada mustered one of its better efforts of the 2025 season last year in Albuquerque before falling to New Mexico, 24-22.

4. vs. Montana State (Sept. 12): Typically, Nevada’s annual game against an FCS school does have much sizzle. But this year’s contest does. Not only is Montana State coming off an FCS national championship, but the Bobcats’ trajectory on that path was started when now-Nevada head coach Jeff Choate led the program from 2016-20. It’s not often an FBS team is an underdog against an FCS school, but that’s likely the case in this one. And Nevada has lost three games to FCS schools since 2017.

3. at UCLA (Oct. 31): Nevada is just 3-31 on the road against Power 4 schools since joining the FBS in 1992, but this seems like a winnable road game against a Big Ten team … as long as Nevada is in better form this year than the previous four seasons. UCLA is coming off a 3-9 campaign and is 53-65 over the last decade. So, this is one of the more vulnerable Power 4 foes the Wolf Pack could face. And Nevada fans should be excited to see its team play in the Rose Bowl, one of college’s top venues.

2. at North Dakota State (Oct. 17): How hard is it to play in NDSU’s Fargodome? “It’s a harder place to play than Boise,” Nevada head coach Jeff Choate said. “I’ve been there.” The Bison’s move from the FCS to the FBS this season comes after it dominated that lower level to the tune of 10 national titles in a 14-year span. NDSU fans should be enthused by this move and provide a stiff road environment for Nevada, which is just 4-20 on the road over the last four seasons.

1. at UNLV (Nov. 28): The biggest game of the year every year is the Battle for the Fremont Cannon, which has typically tilted in favor of Nevada but been won by UNLV each of the last four seasons. Since Chris Ault resigned following the 2012 campaign, the Wolf Pack is just 5-8 against the rival Rebels, with UNLV’s football program being powered by rocket fuel in recent seasons with three straight MW title game appearances. In the regular-season finale, Nevada tries to turn the Cannon blue for the first time since 2021.

Columnist Chris Murray provides insight on Northern Nevada sports. Contact him at crmurray@sbgtv.com or follow him on Twitter @ByChrisMurray.