FORT SILL, Okla. June 12, 2014 -- A Basic Combat Training Soldier here hit a trifecta when he was selected as his unit's distinguished honor graduate, leadership award winner and scored highest in basic rifle marksmanship.
Spc. Elliott Berg, E Battery, 1st Battalion, 40th Field Artillery, will graduate June 13, along with the rest of the battery's 158 Soldiers. The only award he did not win was the high physical training score.
"It's a shock, it's a surprise and it's a huge honor," said Berg, age 30, of Tucson, Ariz. "I feel very honored to be among what I consider to be America's greatest heroes: my drill sergeants and the cadre of the 434th . It's been an amazing experience."
Berg is an Arizona Army National Guard Soldier who will be interviewing for officer candidate school. He will maintain his National Guard status, drill with an Arizona unit, and he plans to become a combat engineer. He works as a general manager for a fire sprinkler contractor in his civilian job.
Drill Sergeant (Staff Sgt.) Cliffton Flucas, E/1-40th FA, was one of a dozen drill sergeants who worked with the battery. He said it is rare for a trainee to win three awards, but "some Soldiers come here and they are just in a mindset and you can tell they want this really bad." Flucas who has been a drill sergeant for 1? years said he has seen it happen only once before.
Berg, who grew up as a Marine family member and graduated from DoD Kubasaki High School in Okinawa, said he first thought about enlisting when he was 21. But he was about to get married and put the enlistment off.
"We started having kids right away, and I considered it (enlistment) to be a lost dream," he said.
Meanwhile Berg earned an undergraduate degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering from the University of Arizona in 2005, and an MBA from the University of Phoenix.
It was about one year ago that his wife, Daisy convinced him that he should revisit his military dreams despite having four children at home, he said.
In BCT, one of the first things trainees do is write out their training goals, Berg said.
"I put my goal as being an honor graduate. In my mind I wanted to be distinguished honor graduate, but I didn't want to put that on my paper for all my peers to see," he said. "I wanted to shoot expert with my rifle and I wanted to hone my leadership skills. But my biggest goal was to stay healthy and graduate."
What was it like for him going through basic with 17- and 18-year-old trainees?
"I prepared myself mentally as if I was going back to high school," he said.
Of course the young Soldiers gave him nicknames like dad and old man.
"One Soldier always told people that I was 55-years-old," Berg said.
Still many of the younger Soldiers looked up to him because of his age and life experiences.
Flucas said it took a lot of dedication to duty for Berg to garnish three awards.
"He definitely stood out among his peers," Flucas said. "As soon as he got here I could see he was one of the Soliders I knew I would rely on at the end of the training cycle."
"Berg is a good guy, and he will do well in the Army," Flucas added.
To be a distinguished honor graduate a Soldier must possess a variety of Army knowledge, exhibit outstanding military bearing and character and be physically fit, Flucas said. The DHG selection is made by a board. A Soldier's leadership skills are evaluated throughout the nine weeks of BCT.
One of the leadership roles Berg filled was platoon guide, who act in place of the drill sergeant in their absence.
As a National Guard officer, Berg will drill one weekend a month and perform two weeks of active-duty training a year. He said some day he might consider going full-time active duty in the regular Army.
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