FORT BLISS, Texas -- Halfway through a ruck, Spc. Davis Karran thought to himself, "if you're going through hell, keep going." The words of Winston Churchill would get him through to the finish.
Sgt. John Lockwood took a simpler approach, "Put your head down, suck it up and drive on."
Mantras, Karran, a medic with Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 4th Battalion, 27th Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Armored Artillery, 1st Armored Division and Lockwood, a fire support specialist with Battery A, 2nd Bn., 29th FA, DIVARTY, 1st AD, used to push themselves to win the DIVARTY's Soldier and Noncommissioned Officer of Quarter competition, respectively, at Fort Bliss, Texas, Jan. 28-29, 2015.
The competition took candidates across the post and tested them on the complete Soldier concept. They would conduct inventories, ruck marches, stress shoots, warrior task and battles drills, as well physical fitness tests and a board in front of the unit's leadership.
A concept Karran took to heart.
"A good Soldier has to be good at everything, you're expected to be an expert at your job and a know a heck of a lot outside of your job," said Karran.
Sometimes a complete Soldier requires them to execute the mission with a short notice, like Lockwood did when he found he was competing just two days prior.
"I came in with 48 hours notice, I just put my head down, sucked it up and drove on," said Lockwood.
The first event tested the attention to detail of the Soldiers, a meticulous layout of equipment a Soldier may need in the field.
Next came the ruck march and stress shoot a combined event, according to Karran challenged the mental as well as the physical aspects of being a Soldier.
"During the stress shoot moving from the full on physicality of the forward push of the ruck to the sudden shift into delicate operations of firing a rifle on multiple small targets tested all the senses," said Karran.
After the stress shoot the Soldiers completed various warrior tasks from combat life saving to operating a radio.
The second day Karran and Lockwood began to separate from the pack, Lockwood in the PT test, Karran at the board.
"My feet were killing me, my blisters ripped open and bled, then I saw the finish line, put my head down and finished first," said Lockwood.
Karran came out of the board with a high score he attributed to studying at least 15-30 minutes a day the past few weeks.
Moments after they finished the board, DIVARTY named them the winners, Karran, the Soldier of the Quarter, Lockwood the NCO of the Quarter.
Both Karran and Lockwood gave one final word of advice for Soldiers who want to represent as their unit's best.
"Put your head down, suck it up and study."
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