JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas -- (April 4, 2017) A Soldier from the 419th Contracting Support Brigade is the Mission and Installation Contracting Command NCO of the Quarter for the second quarter of fiscal 2017.
Staff Sgt. Dorian Wiley bested one other Soldier following four days of competition at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas. She is a contracting NCO assigned to the 900th Contracting Battalion at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
"I'm very proud of both of the NCOs who truly made this a competition down to the last event," said Command Sgt. Maj. Tomeka O'Neal, the MICC command sergeant major. "Only eight points separated the two NCOs after a fierce week of challenges intended to test them mentally and physically before meeting a board of senior enlisted leaders."
Wiley is a contract specialist with the 900th CBN's 609th Contracting Team. The Milwaukee native enlisted in the Army in 2005 and completed advanced training as a meteorologist for field artillery before joining Army acquisitions in 2014.
Competing against Wiley was Staff Sgt. Gus Wessels, a warranted contracting officer with the 918th CBN at Fort Carson, Colorado. The eight-year Army veteran previously served as a contract specialist as well as an alternate program coordinator for the Government Purchase Card Program. The Sparta, Wisconsin, native holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Kansas State University.
Wessels credits training in Colorado's higher altitudes for helping him excel in the mystery obstacle course event and ruck march. He said dusting off tactical skills throughout the week can prove helpful in developing leadership.
"Leadership is a well-rounded aspect whether it's helping people march, teaching them the (paperless contract file) or moving a squad," he said. "When you're back at your home station, an old skill can help you teach that new skill."
The MICC command sergeant major said this competition is demanding and an excellent opportunity for NCOs across the command to demonstrate the critical significance of sustaining both the tactical and technical skills necessary in order to provide operational contract support during deployment.
Wiley agreed, "You don't know what you're capable of or how strong you are until you try it and overcome it. Physical readiness should always be a Soldier's first priority even if they have to be overwhelmingly technical in their job. We always need to be prepared and brush up on warrior skills so that it's not like you're starting all over again."
Despite the technical demands of the contracting military occupational specialty, Wiley said she was attracted to the career field because of its foundation of transferable skills. Her 11-year career includes deployments to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Kuwait in support of Operation Inherent Resolve.
The competition included the Army Physical Fitness Test, a 10-mile ruck march, weapons familiarization, warrior tasks, day and night land navigation and a written exam. On the final day of competition, Soldiers met a board comprised of senior enlisted leaders from throughout the command. Chairing the board was the MICC command sergeant major. She was joined by Command Sgt. Maj. Jerry Charles, 412th CSB command sergeant major; Sgt. Maj. Barrett Taylor, 904th CBN sergeant major; Sgt. Maj. Sol Nevarezberrios, 918th CBN sergeant major; and Sgt. Maj. Luzmila George, MICC operations directorate sergeant major.
The MICC is made up of about 1,500 military and civilian members who are responsible for contracting good and services in support of Soldiers as well as readying trained contracting units for the operating force and contingency environment when called upon. Headquartered at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, MICC contracts are vital in feeding Soldiers every day, providing many of the daily base operations support services at installations, preparing conventional force members, training almost a half million students each year, and maintaining government lands and structures across the United States and Puerto Rico.
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Mission and Installation Contracting Command
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