FORT RUCKER, Ala. – Soldiers from across Army Materiel Command visited Fort Rucker Aug. 22 to train together for the Army’s upcoming best squad competition.
AMC’s best squad was announced Aug. 18 at Redstone Arsenal. AMC will be one of 12 teams competing in September at the Army-level competition at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
AMC Soldiers trained on squad operations with a UH-60 Black Hawk, and then went to a different training area to practice working together, pulling security, identifying targets, and solving problems at the Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT) and leadership reaction courses, explained Master Sgt. Elmar Tomas, AMC Best Warrior Competition NCO in charge.
“I hope that they learn more about each other and find out their strengths and weaknesses as they prepare to go forward to the Army-level competition, so they can be successful there,” Tomas said.
He added that these AMC Soldiers’ strengths are not in their similarities, but in their differences.
“The team is coming from all over, we have Soldiers from Benelux, Hawaii, Fort Bragg, Alaska and West Point,” said Tomas. “Although these AMC Soldiers are from different bases around the world and do different jobs, they are using basic Soldier skills and, more importantly, bringing their specialized skills to the team to help accomplish their mission.”
The ability to bring this squad together, according to Tomas, was a team effort from across the command.
“AMC is a large organization – we are located all around the world,” said Tomas. “To be able to bring this team together from all around, to train these Soldiers and to be a successful squad is a testament to the planning, organization, and leadership involvement in these units. We are all AMC Soldiers.”
Sgt. Maj. Samara Pitre, AMC G-3 sergeant major, believes that bringing the team together from different locations will give them an edge.
“Because they are coming from different units in AMC, they have to pay that extra attention, they are still getting to know each other and have not become complacent,” said Pitre. “They are all intent on getting to understand each other and learning each other’s strengths and weaknesses to become a better team.”
This competition is not only about showing what unit or Soldier is the best, according to Pitre, it is also about improving the skills of the AMC Soldiers participating in the competition.
“We have three Soldiers on this squad that have been serving for three years or less, two others have been in a little longer and the squad leader has been in for quite some time. They all do different jobs, not necessarily practicing the skills they are using today, and come from different locations,” said Pitre. “This competition is a great experience and a great way for them to challenge themselves.”
Pitre said she’s confident the AMC squad will do well in the upcoming Army-wide competition.
“They did fantastic,” said Pitre of their training. “We just brought them together a few days ago, and they executed very well today.”
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