First Team troopers compete for top title

By Sgt. Angel TurnerApril 27, 2015

First Team troopers compete for top title
1 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Soldiers assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division and 3rd Cavalry Regiment complete the two-mile run portion of the Army Physical Fitness Test during the 2015 1st Cav. Div. Noncommissioned officer/Soldier of the Year Board. The winners of the competition... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
First Team troopers compete for top title
2 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Soldiers assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division and 3rd Cavalry Regiment complete the two-mile run portion of the Army Physical Fitness Test during the 2015 1st Cav. Div. Noncommissioned officer/Soldier of the Year Board. The winners of the competition... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
First Team troopers compete for top title
3 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – For Pfc. Armando Espitia, a rifleman assigned to Troop F, 2nd Squadron, 3rd Cavalry Regiment disassembles a M240B during the 1st Cavalry Division noncommissioned officer/Soldier of the year competition at Fort Hood, Texas, April 14 to 17. "What I lea... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT HOOD, Texas - "Competition is always important," said Command Sgt. Maj. Andrew Barteky, 1st Cavalry Division command sergeant major.

"It stimulates a human need to demonstrate your abilities as compared to those to your left and right. It encourages Soldiers to be the best that they can be," he added.

Ten Soldiers from across the division competed for the title: 1st Cavalry Division noncommissioned officer/Soldier of the Year April 14-17 at Fort Hood, Texas.

Soldiers and NCOs of the year from the divisions' brigades represented their unit at the division level.

The competition consisted of a board and 10 categories to include: an Army Physical Fitness Test; a written exam, an essay, hands-on warrior tasks and battle drills, M4 and M9 weapons qualification, day and night land navigation course; chemical, biological, radioactive and nuclear training; and call for fire.

Having made it to the division level, the group of Soldier felt they had indeed accomplished something.

"I did it for my unit- to represent them," said Staff Sgt. Ejaye Battle, a battery operations NCO assigned to Battery B, 2-20 Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Cav. Div. Artillery.

A native of Miami, Florida, Battle said he wanted to show people what his unit was about.

Showcasing his unit did not come easy. It took studying, studying and more studying.

"I found someone knowledgeable in each of the tested categories and worked with them," Battle said.

Halfway through the competition, Battle said the division-

level competition was very challenging.

"Not only do you have others you're competing against to show that you're the best but you have a variety of tasks that you have to do," he said. "It shows as a whole that you're the top Soldier."

As Soldiers completed the various tasks, a sigh of relief came over their faces.

Panting after the PT test, some Soldiers managed to high five one another.

During the warrior tasks and drills, Soldiers raced against time to complete the five different stations.

For Pfc. Armando Espitia, a rifleman assigned to Troop F, 2nd Squadron, 3rd CR, late night studying and proving himself to be the best would go far beyond the competition.

"The experience and knowledge from the competition will help make me a well rounded Soldier," Espitia said.

This was Espitia's first Soldier of the year competition and he admitted the land navigation portion was the hardest for him but he pushed through it.

"What I learn from this, I can take it back to my unit, to the people under me and teach them to pursue the Soldier of the Year or maybe something better," said Espitia, a native of Crescent City, California.

The winners of the competition will receive an Army Accommodation Medal as well as other gifts from within the community. In addition to the other gifts, the NCO of the year will also receive a pistol.

"Above all the tangible things, it's the recognition and self satisfaction that they have been measured against their peers and found to be among the best," Batreky said.

"Every Soldier out here is a winner."

The NCO and Soldier of the year winner will be announced during the 1st Cav. Div. Ball in May.