USASOC names NCO, Soldier of the Year

[Dan]

RELEASE NUMBER: 060720-01
DATE POSTED: JULY 20, 2006

USASOC names NCO, Soldier of the Year
By Paul D. Prince
U.S. Army Special Operations Command

FORT BRAGG, N.C. (USASOC News Service July 20, 2006) – Two of fourteen U.S. Army Special Operations Command Soldiers, one noncommissioned officer and one Soldier, were named NCO and Soldier of the Year July 20, after competing in a demanding four-day challenge of intellectual and physical events here.

Staff Sgt. Douglas W. Norman of Headquarters, Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion 75th Ranger Regiment, Hunter Army Airfield, Savannah, Ga., was named the NCO of Year, and Spc. Edward A. Hull of Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), Fort Campbell, Ky., was named the Soldier of Year for this year’s competition. Both Soldiers will represent USASOC at the Army-level competition.

The USASOC NCO and Soldier of Year competition was a face-off among Soldiers from the various subordinate commands and units. They were tested in categories ranging from Army physical fitness, weapons proficiency and land navigation to Common Task Testing and general Army subjects.

The runners-up in the USASOC NCO and Soldier of Year competition were Sgt. John M. Doyle of Bravo Company, 3rd Bn., 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Campbell, Ky.; and Spc. Nicholas A. Huge of HHC, 1st Bn., 75th Ranger Regiment, Hunter Army Airfield, Savannah, Ga.

Other Soldiers who participated in this year’s competition were Staff Sgt. Estefan Nastvogel of HHC, 160th SOAR (AV) (A), Fort Campbell, Ky.; Sgt. Cristian A. Banu of HHC, 96th Civil Affairs Battalion (A), 95th Brigade, Fort Bragg, N.C.; Pfc. Charles A. Fernandez of HHC, 96th CAB (A), 95th BDE, Fort Bragg, N.C.; Sgt. Mark Hunter of Charlie Company, 3rd Psychological Operations Battalion (Airborne), Fort Bragg, N.C.; Spc. Kevin Weiss of C Co., 3rd POB (A), Fort Bragg, N.C.; Sgt. First Class Jean-Claude J. Leblanc of the Noncommissioned Office Academy, U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, Fort Bragg, N.C.; Pfc. Daniel Saenz Jr. of HHC, U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, Fort Bragg, N.C.; Spc. Joshua A. Bean of Headquarters Service Company, 2nd Bn., 3rd SFG (A), Fort Bragg, N.C.; Sgt. Lisa Hurtado of C. Co., 112th Signal Battalion, Fort Bragg, N.C.; Spc. John W. Hammes of C. Co., 112th Signal Battalion, Fort Bragg, N.C.

The USASOC NCO and Soldier of the Year will represent all quiet professionals at the Army-level competition in September.

In depth look at this year's competition....

-usasoc-

[Dan]

RELEASE NUMBER: 060720-02
DATE POSTED: JULY 20, 2006

USASOC NCO, Soldier of the Year Competition
By Paul D. Prince
U.S. Army Special Operations Command

FORT BRAGG, N.C. (USASOC News Service, July 20, 2006) - The U.S. Army Special Operations Command conducted a week of grueling, competitive events to determine USASOC’s NCO and Soldier of the Year who will represent USASOC at the Army-level competitions in September.

Staff Sgt. Douglas W. Norman of Headquarters, Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion 75th Ranger Regiment, Hunter Army Airfield, Savannah, Ga., was named the NCO of Year, and Spc. Edward A. Hull of Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), Fort Campbell, Ky., was named the Soldier of Year for this year’s competition.

The physical fitness test kicked off the competition Monday morning. The PT test consisted of push-ups, sit-ups and a 2-mile run, all of which Soldiers are accustomed to. Even though training to be physically fit is a part of their daily routine, Command Sgt. Maj. Michael Hall said Soldiers still have butterflies when competing.

“It’s something about a PT test. Even after being an army officer for 30 years...you’re always a little bit nervous about it.,” said Hall. “I don’t know why...you just are.”

Hall explained the 2-mile run is a big factor in the fitness portion of the competition from his perspective. He said Soldiers who have never run competitively do not know how to pace themselves and usually are disappointed when they do not finish as well as they hoped.

When asked to compare competitive PT to her daily PT routine, Sgt. Lisa Hurtado said, “I feel it was a lot better, because your adrenalin is going and you’re competing against other people...” Hurtado is assigned to the Sustainment Brigade (Special Operations) (Airborne) (Provisional), here.

At the completion of the PT test, the 14 competitors ventured to the ranges of Fort Bragg to execute weapons live-fire and test their land navigation skills. During the weapons live-fire assessment, the Soldiers were to zero and qualify their weapons in order to win the maximum amount of points allotted for that event. The land navigation portion tested the Soldiers’ navigation skills on a pre-plotted course. The Soldiers were only allowed to use the coordinates, map, protractor and compass provided to find their way.

“This is a major event. Normally, this is where you begin to separate the winners from the group,” said Master Sgt. Lenwood Thomas, NCOIC for the land navigation course.

“During the last three years I’ve been running it, if the Soldier or NCO doesn’t get all the points here, they usually don’t win.”

Each competitor who finished the course within the time limit and had collected all points available received a total of 200 points. If anyone got lost or did not complete the course within the allotted time, those Soldiers were only credited with points gathered during the exercise.

“We make sure that we keep the competition on the same line, tasking, and standard as the regular conventional army, because this is what they are dealing with when they leave here to go to the Army Soldier of the Year competition,” said Thomas. In addition, he explained that one difference in the structure of how USASOC conducts the competition compared to the Army-level competition is that USASOC condenses the event into four days. The Army has a seven-day structured competition.

On Tuesday morning, the Soldiers marched into the next phase of the USASOC contest, a general army subject written exam. Following lunch, each Soldier was required to write an essay on a given Army related topic.

After spending most of the day in intellectual challenges, the soldiers performed a series of hands-on tests based on, “Common Task Testing.” Thomas explained that the CTT was an interactive exam that challenged the Soldiers knowledge of important skills and procedures in which all Soldiers should be proficient. These skills include knowledge of first-aid, weapons and Intelligence, to name a few.

“Physically, we fair pretty well when we go to the Department of Army...” said Thomas proudly. “The way I see it from experience, they (other Soldiers competing at the DA level) have a bit more preparation for admin and time sitting around studying than our guys. Our Soldiers have to spend a bit more time deploying…because we are such condensed, Special Operations units.”

“I’ll do as much preparation as I can while in support of Operation Enduring Freedom,” said Hull, in regards to preparing for the Army-level competition. “My unit will make sure that I’m studying and of course, taking care of mission priorities as well.”

The final event of the competition consisted of the Soldiers participating in an oral board. This is the phase of the competition where the 14 competitors had to answers questions about general Army topics. After the boards, all the Soldiers, dressed in civilian apparel, had dinner with the command sergeant major.

“It’s an incredible honor to represent the regiment. The Ranger Regiment has a very proud tradition of leading from the front,” said Norman.

On July 20, two of fourteen soldiers stand out as USASOC’s top NCO and Soldier. They have won the unit and command level competitions, and are en route to the Army-level competition representing all “quiet professionals.”

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