The competitors and their sponsors await the announcement to find out who won the Combined Arms Support Command Best Warrior Competition after the warriors completed the board appearance at the Sustainment Center of Excellence building May 29. Photo ...

Sgt. Lauren Aldaco, 217th Military Police Detachment, representing the U.S. Army Garrison, Fort Lee, completes the two-miler during the Army Physical Fitness Test. Both competitors, stationed at Fort Lee, earned the titles of Combined Arms Support C...

Staff Sgt. William Smith, Quartermaster Center and School (TOP), holds a commanding position over Staff Sgt. Charles Gossett, U.S. Army Aviation Logistics School, during the CASCOM Best Warrior Competition held May 28 at Clark Fitness Center. Smith ...

Staff Sgt. William Smith, from Company C, 262nd Quartermaster Battalion, 23rd QM Brigade, representing the Quartermaster Center and School, performs first aid on a casualty during the urban warfare orienteering/warrior tasks and battle drills portion...

FORT LEE, Va. (June 4, 2009) -- Fort Lee is no stranger to Best Warrior, having hosted the Department of the Army event for the past several years. But last week, seven warriors took the challenge, and two Fort Lee competitors sustained victory in the Combined Arms Support Command's version of Best Warrior.

Soldiers representing the Quartermaster, Ordnance and Transportation Corps, as well as the Soldier Support Institute and Fort Lee Garrison, competed May 26-29 for the title of CASCOM's Soldier of the Year and Noncommissioned Officer of the Year.

The competitors gathered at the Lee Club for a social on May 27, where Command Sgt. Maj. C.C. Jenkins, CASCOM and Fort Lee command sergeant major, talked about providing the Soldiers with a competition that would prepare them for the road ahead.

"I wanted to give everyone a fair chance," said Jenkins, "so that you will be a viable, relevant and rigorous competitor when you compete against the Training and Doctrine Command Soldiers."

His words of advice to the competitors: "Don't take shortcuts."

"Do your best and don't take shortcuts," said Jenkins. "Shortcuts won't get you anywhere but on the bad side of town."

The competition heated up with an Army Physical Fitness Test and then became even more physical with urban warfare orienteering. Competitors were tasked with finding checkpoints around the installation and completing warrior tasks and battle drills such as reporting a 9-line medical evacuation report and evaluating a casualty. The group then met at Clark Fitness Center for combatives.

The competition concluded May 29 with the board appearance as each competitor faced a table of command sergeants major from the Quartermaster, Transportation and Ordnance Corps.

Afterward, Jenkins announced the winners of the competition, both stationed at Fort Lee. Sgt. Lauren Aldaco, 217th Military Police Detachment, earned CASCOM Soldier of the Year honors, and Staff Sgt. William Smith, Company C, 262nd QM Battalion, 23rd QM Brigade, earned the NCO of the Year title. These warriors will go on to compete at the TRADOC level competition later this summer.

Also competing were: Spc. Curtis Hawkins, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 61st Ordnance Bde., Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md.; Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Patterson, Co. B, 832nd Ordnance Bn., Redstone Arsenal, Ala.; Staff Sgt. Charles Gossett, 1st Staff and Faculty Co., U.S. Army Aviation Logistics School, Fort Eustis; Spc. Bobby Bonner, HHC, Tactical Support Battalion, Fort Jackson, S.C.; and Staff Sgt. Racquel Johnson, NCO Academy, Fort Jackson, S.C.