DAEGU, South Korea-- United States Eighth Army recognized Staff Sgt. Canteen of the 19th Expeditionary Sustainment Command as the Chaplain Assistant, Non-Commissioned Officer and Soldier of the Year at Camp Hovey, 14 Jan.
"I may have put in the time and effort, but it would not have been possible without my team," Canteen said. "I want to thank my team for all the encouragement and support -- Lt. Col. Martinez, Maj. Chang, Master Sgt. Blalock, and Cpl. Lee."
Staff Sgt. Canteen rose above the rest of the competition and represented the 19th ESC flawlessly with his hard work and dedication to better himself as an NCO and chaplain assistant.
"Preparation was the biggest reason I was able to succeed in the competition. It's about investing yourself and knowing what you want to achieve," said Staff Sgt. Canteen.
Canteen was one of 10 chaplain assistants in the Republic of Korea selected to compete for the Eighth Army NCO and Soldier of the Year Competition.
Although there are a total of 45 chaplain assistant non-commissioned officers serving on the peninsula, only 10 were nominated to participate in the competition which consisted of timed tasks and a formal board.
Canteen says that he heard that he would be participating in the competition at the beginning of September.
"Once I had heard that I would be a competitor, I did my best to be as prepared as possible. I studied everyday -- the army study guide, and I also prepared myself physically," said Staff Sgt. Canteen.
The 19th ESC chaplain assistant ranked first in the competition, which automatically made him the best chaplain assistant of the year on the Korean Peninsula.
Cpl. Lee, who also works in the Chaplain Office of the 19th ESC, has known Staff Sgt. Canteen since April. "Staff Sgt. Canteen has been very motivated to do well at the competition," Cpl. Lee said. "Being the active guy he is, we [the Chaplain Office] knew the amount of effort Staff Sgt. Canteen put in and thought he would do well. In fact, we anticipated he would win."
Competitors had to perform multiple tasks over a two-day span at Camp Hovey.
The participants were evaluated on skills required of a soldier and of a chaplain assistant. Weapons proficiency on multiple weapons were evaluated as well as land navigation and physical endurance.
The contestants also had to perform MOS specific critical tasks such as providing religious support to wounded or dying Soldiers, advising Soldiers on process for accommodation of religious practices, and extracting pertinent information from OPLANs or OPORDs.
The competitors underwent a formal board in which the board panel asked scenario questions to each chaplain assistant. The 10 nominees were not allowed to use study guides in preparation of the scenarios.
Staff Sgt. Canteen will go on to represent Eighth Army and compete at the USARPAC 56M NCO and Soldier of the Year competition in Hawaii on March 25 against the winners from Japan, Alaska, and Hawaii.
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