MCoE names 'best of the best'

By Noelle WieheJune 23, 2015

usa image
Command Sgt. Maj. Timothy Metheny, left, stands with the Maneuver Center of Excellence NCO, AIT Platoon Sergeant, Drill Sergeant and Soldier of the Year competitors as they line the stage in Derby Auditorium June 22 after four days of physical and me... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT BENNING, Ga., (June 24, 2015) -- The Maneuver Center of Excellence recognized its top Soldiers during a ceremony June 22 in Derby Auditorium following a four-day competition.

The winners included Staff Sgt. Derrick Gosney, A Company, 5th Squadron, 15th Cavalry Regiment, 194th Armored Brigade, as Drill Sergeant of the Year; Sgt. 1st Class Heidi Hartman, E Co. 1st Battalion, 81st Armor Regiment, 194th Armored Brigade, as Advanced Individual Training Platoon Sergeant of the Year; Staff Sgt. Christopher Thompson, 18th Airborne Corps, Fort Bragg NCO Academy, NCO of the Year; and Spc. MarioFrancois, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 4th Ranger Training Battalion, Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade, as Soldier of Year.

"When Maj. Gen. Scott Miller arrived here about a year ago, his guidance was really two words: 'Be excellent,'" said Command Sgt. Maj. Timothy Metheny, command sergeant major of the MCoE. "Sir, what you see on the stage before you today is the epitome of smart, fast, lethal and precise."

The winners received the Army Commendation Medal as well as several sponsored prizes and awards. Fort Benning Soldiers were part of internal competitions within their units to determine who would go on to compete in the MCoE-level competition.

Soldiers demonstrated knowledge, skills and abilities, which earned them their respective titles.

The competition measured competitors on physical fitness, rifle marksmanship, first-aid, land navigation, modern Army combatives and a multitude of tasks from the Soldier's Manual of Common Tasks. Soldiers also completed a written essay and were judged in board appearances.

"It feels good to be able to represent my unit, and to compete against some of the best NCOs and Soldiers that Fort Benning has to offer," Gosney said.

The winning Drill Sergeant and AIT Platoon Sergeant of the Year will go to Fort Jackson, South Carolina, to compete for the Army's Drill Sergeant and AIT Platoon Sergeant of the Year titles. The winning NCO and Soldier will compete in the Army Training and Doctrine Command competition at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, and then go on to the Army's NCO and Soldier of the Year competition.

In preparing for the competition, Gosney said he would run 6.1 miles in to work from his home where he would then conduct PT and occasionally ruck home to get used to the heat.

His advice to future competitors is to go to boards - Soldier of the Month, Soldier of the Quarter, NCO of the Quarter boards - and train physically and mentally prior to the competition.

The runner-ups each received an Army Achievement Medal. The runner-up Drill Sergeant of the Year was Staff Sgt. Jeremy Kozak, the runner-up Soldier of the Year was Spc. Jimmie Guy; and the runner-up NCO of the Year was Staff Sgt. Jacob Prueitt.

Each competitor received a Department of the Army Certificate of Appreciation.

Metheny spoke of each competitor as he quoted Theodore Roosevelt: "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

Metheny commended the Soldiers on representing their battalions and their brigade and for "going above and beyond what the expected standard is in order to be excellent."