In the early morning of Oct. 23, four platoon sergeants, dressed in their Class As, stood quietly, waiting outside a conference room. They looked each other over, corrected any uniform malfunctions and spoke about the previous day's events. They laughed, nervously, as they discussed possible questions which might be fired at them. The door to the conference room opened. It was the first platoon sergeant's turn to go inside and face the board of sergeants major. The other three men wished him "good luck" as he prepared to enter the room. Little did they know, everything they had been working so hard for, every part of their week's worth of competition, would be decided right here, right now.

Fast forward. It's 4 p.m. and all four platoon sergeants, now dressed in ACUs, are standing in front of a large crowd of onlookers. The two in the middle, Sgt. 1st Class Terance Hill of Charlie Company, 73rd Ordnance Battalion, and Staff Sgt. Ricardo Resto of Charlie Company, 832nd Ordnance Battalion, are the leaders of the competition. The difference between them is only five points. The winner of the first 59th Ordnance Brigade Platoon Sergeant of the Year is announced, and a small, yet humble, smile slowly creeps over Hill's face.

Hill and Resto placed first and second in the competition which saw them competing in a multitude of events, ranging from a simulated rifle range, land navigation course and formal board in front of 59th Ordnance Brigade's most respected group of sergeants major. The competition ran from Oct. 20-23, and featured platoon sergeants from Redstone and Fort Gordon, Ga. Though Hill came out the winner, the competition was close the entire way.

"I'm at a loss for words, really," Hill said, laughing. "I'm on cloud nine right now, I'm feeling great. It was a great competition. It was really close. I was down 30 points before the board and was able to pull it out. I'm ecstatic, to be honest."

"It was a good competition," Resto said. "Everyone did amazingly. It was close and tough, but good."

Preparation for the events began months in advance for the two.

"The preparation was important and it took a lot of time," Resto said. "The biggest thing for me was trying to balance training Soldiers on a daily basis, still finding the time to study and prepare, and handling personal things like going to college."

The visible preparation also helped the trainee Soldiers who fall under Resto to see what it takes to succeed in the Army.

"When our Soldiers see us preparing to compete and then actually competing in this competition, they see us, their platoon sergeants, leading from the front," he said. "It's the best form of training, leading from the front."

After Hill had completed his preparation, he found an even harder task to overcome.

"For me, the hardest thing about this competition was getting to sleep," Hill quipped. "I guess it was the fear of the unknown, being nervous or just being excited about what was coming. It was just really hard to fall asleep."

Going into the final event of the competition, Hill trailed Resto by 30 points. The final event was the formal board, and Hill knew he had to step it up.

"You know, I didn't really know what was going to be asked in that board, so I just studied everything I could study," Hill said. "I just didn't stop. Overall, this whole competition was a great experience. Being in the first Platoon Sergeant of the Year competition in TRADOC and the entire Army, it's amazing. It's like being a part of history. I can now say that, not only did I win the competition, but I was the first in history. So now, I'm going to be getting ready for the next competition and there's a good chance I might be calling on (Staff) Sgt. Resto for some extra guidance and support," he said, laughing and shaking Resto's shoulder.

"One of the things I enjoyed the most about this competition was seeing NCOs helping NCOs," Resto said. "We are leaders of Soldiers and we are the best (platoon sergeants), so anytime you get the chance to learn from the best, you take it. And that's what happened. We all learned so much from teaching each other."

Sgt. Maj. Stanley Parker, 59th's S-3 sergeant major, was organizer of the competition.

"Overall, the Soldiers competing performed at a level that showed great leadership and the ability to lead and train Soldiers," Parker said. "They did an amazing job."