FORT EISENHOWER, Ga. - A team of Soldiers from Army Cyber Command’s 11th Cyber Battalion were saluted here June 3, 2024 for winning this year’s ARCYBER Best Squad Competition at Fort Huachuca, Ariz.
The five-man team from the “Leviathan” battalion -- Staff Sgt. Andre Hobson, an Electromagnetic Warfare Specialist (Military Occupational Specialty 17E); Sgt. Spencer Buckwalter, a Cyber Operations Specialist (MOS 17C); Spc. Josiah Davis (MOS17C); Spc. Elias Brooks, a Signals Intelligence Analyst (MOS 35E); and Spc. Alexander Rivera Santiago (MOS 17C) -- endured four days of physical and mental challenges at Fort Huachuca May 20-24.
The team began getting ready for the competition with only a month’s notice to prepare, though it seemed that the Soldiers were already physically ready and needed only to zero in on their training for it.
“We had a good feeling day one of the event, after seeing our time in the Expert Physical Fitness Assessment (EFPA), said Davis. “We were very happy with our time.”
In addition to the EFPA, the team was evaluated on several Soldier skills, and in the Arizona heat at an elevation of more than 4,600 feet above sea level. Those included weapons tasks; drill and ceremony performance; an Army Combat Fitness Test; a 12-mile rucksack march; an evaluation board; a swim event; M17 and M4 qualification ranges; Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear operations; night land navigation; a grenade assault course; and several Soldier tasks, including small unit movement, movement under direct fire, reacting to a possible Improvised Explosive Device, employment of progressive levels of individual force; evaluating a casualty; operating a tactical radio; Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear operations; and searching a detainee.
“We received positive feedback from the cadre early on during our assessments that we were performing well compared to the other teams,” said Hobson. “I know that the reason for that was we were focusing on the right tasks and training before we left (for the competition).”
With this qualifying win, the Leviathans will compete against other teams who have won competitions at their respective commands in the Armywide Best Squad Competition in October.
Command Sgt. Maj. Jack Nichols, ARCYBER command sergeant major, said the Soldiers of the Leviathan team stand out because they have proven that they had the guts to try, to make the effort to take on a tough competition, and that determination will serve them well when they represent not only themselves, but all 16,500 members of ARCYBER, in the Army competition.
The team has three months to prepare for that challenge and according to Hobson, they have “a lot more training lined up for that competition.”
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