After four days of competition, Army Cyber Command (ARCYBER) selected its top squad for 2023 in the command’s second-ever Best Squad Competition (BSC), at Fort Gordon, Ga., Aug. 25, 2023.
Two five-Soldier teams from ARCYBER major subordinate units – the Army Cyber Protection Brigade (CPB) and the U.S. Army Signal Activity - Kaiserslautern (USASA-K) -- took on the BSC challenge.
To earn the Best Squad title took stamina and determination, with team members continually challenged individually and collectively to prove their Army knowledge, tactical and technical proficiency, and physical endurance. Over the four days they took on tests of Soldier skills and tasks such as tactical maneuver, land navigation, weapons proficiency, and uniform wear; completed an Army Combat Fitness Test and tactical foot march; and faced a formal board that assessed them on a wide range of Soldier and leader knowledge.
When the challenge ended and the smoke cleared, the CPB team of Staff Sgt. Andrew Rona, Sgt. Jack Ryan Schuyler, Sgt. Toby Jones, Sgt. Everett Bettencourt and Spc. Caden McCandless had earned top honors, along with the BSC trophy and Army Commendation Medals.
At the concluding awards ceremony, ARCYBER Command Sgt. Maj. Jack Nichols applauded the CPB team and praised the dedication, leadership and camaraderie of all the competitors.
“What these (teams) have is something I want to see in all Soldiers – grit. They have the determination to practice, push, and if they fail, not give up. They get back up, brush off, and try again. That’s what it takes to win,” Nichols said.
“But more importantly,” he added, “is the kind of teams that they build, the bonds that they make.”
ARCYBER Chief of Staff Col. Reginald Harris agreed, saying that to successfully tackle tough challenges such as the BSC takes building strong,
unified teams whose members unfailingly trust each other.
“Not only did you have to trust in yourself and your abilities,” he said, “but your teammates had to trust in you, so that you did what you were supposed to do and what you were called to do.”
“Each and every one of you was able to come together and build the cohesive teams that you have collectively built here. And as you continue your military careers, I trust in you. I trust that every day you will rely on your values, you will rely on your morals, you will rely on the things that have allowed you to come to where you are today and trust them.”
Every Soldier on the winning CPB squad said he came to the BSC to take on a real challenge. Before the competition began, Bettencourt said the team “has a lot of motivation to succeed” and McCandless predicted that they would “represent the Cyber Corps well.”
Rona said the competition was surprisingly tough. But his teammates remarks proved true in the end, and the CPB squad earned one other prize – the right to represent ARCYBER at the U.S. Army 2023 Best Squad Competition from Sept. 24-Oct. 4 at Fort Stewart, Ga.
The runner-up USASA-K team included Staff Sgt. Zachary Hunkele, Sgt. Jason Greene, Sgt. Dorian Young, Cpl. Seth Reopelle and Spc. Kody Sundholm.
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ABOUT US: United States Army Cyber Command directs and conducts integrated electronic warfare, information and cyberspace operations as authorized, or directed, to ensure freedom of action in and through cyberspace and the information environment, and to deny the same to our adversaries.
Interested in the challenge of joining the Army Cyber team? Check out military and civilian cyber career and employment opportunities by clicking on the "Careers" tab at www.arcyber.army.mil
ARCYBER on the web: https://www.arcyber.army.mil
ARCYBER on Twitter: https://twitter.com/arcyber
ARCYBER on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/us-army-cyber-command
Army.mil cyber page: https://www.army.mil/armycyber
Interested in the challenge of joining the Army Cyber team? Check out military and civilian cyber career and employment opportunities by clicking on the "Careers" tab at www.arcyber.army.mil
Members of the Army Reserve and Army National Guard in the Signal, Cyber, Military Intelligence, Information Operations, Electronic Warfare, Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations fields interested in tours with Army Cyber Command can get more information at https://www.arcyber.army.mil/Careers/Reserve-Component-Tours-with-Army-Cyber/
The Army Cyber Direct Commissioning Program allows qualified service members and civilians with cyber-related qualifications and/or experience to join the Army’s Cyber Corps with a direct appointment as a commissioned officer? To learn more, check out our fact sheet at https://go.usa.gov/xJwXx
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