256th Brigade Names Year's Top NCO, Soldier

Courtesy Photo | Staff Sgt. Daniel Slone from New Iberia, La., with B Company, 2nd Battalion, 156th Infantry Regiment, attached to C Company, 1st Battalion, 156th Armor Regiment, 256th Brigade Combat Team, monitors the radio in his Bradley Fighting Vehicle June 1 during a cordon-and-search mission.  

BAGHDAD, IRAQ

08.18.2005

Courtesy Story

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Spc. Erin Robicheaux
256th Brigade Combat Team PAO

CAMP TIGERLAND, Iraq " Senior noncommissioned officers from the 256th Brigade Combat Team recently met to select the top Soldier and NCO of the Year.

Spc. Jon Vandebogert, a previous Soldier of the Quarter winner and the eventual Soldier of the Year, said the process of the annual competition was the same, but since it was on a larger level the questions were more difficult.

"Some of the current-events questions threw me off. They asked about a tropical storm that I didn't know much about," said Vandebogert, and serving with B Battery, 126th Field Artillery, attached to 1st Battalion, 141st Field Artillery Regiment, 256th Brigade Combat Team.

Hurricanes aside, Vandebogert won the first Soldier of the Quarter competition in March, and even had the chance to meet Secretary of the Army Francis Harvey.

"He was very interested in my civilian life and asked me a lot of questions," said Vandebogert, of Milwaukee, Wis.

Though he felt pretty confident during the competition, he was still surprised he won. He got a couple of questions wrong, and said one in particular he knew the answer to, but went blank when he was asked.

"What made me mad was that I remembered it right after I walked out of the room."

The contest, no different from the Soldier and NCO of the Quarter competitions, consisted of questions in topics like first aid, drill and ceremony procedures, and uniform appearance. The leadership provided Soldiers with a study guide with all possible questions, though the majority knew the answers from performing their everyday jobs.

Each Soldier stood before a panel of senior NCOs from all battalions of the 256th BCT, with the brigade command sergeant major serving as the chairman of the board.

Staff Sgt. Daniel Slone from New Iberia, La., with B Company, 2nd Battalion, 156th Infantry Regiment, attached to C Company, 1st Battalion, 156th Armor Regiment, who won the most recent NCO of the Quarter competition, beat out all others for the title of NCO of the Year.

"I had the advantage of doing both competitions the same day, so it's not like the criteria wasn't fresh," he said. The Soldier/NCO of the Year competition occurred only a few hours after the last quarter's contest ended.

Even before the 256th arrived in Baghdad, Slone took care of his Soldiers" needs, subscribing to the Army ideal, "Mission first, Soldiers always."

"We were getting all of our paperwork in order, and I can specifically remember talking to one Soldier about his will," he said.

The Soldier did not want to consider it, but after probing from his NCO, finally decided to fill out the paperwork. "It's not like saving his life on the battlefield," said Slone, "but things like that need to be dealt with."

Both Vandebogert and Slone said the contest made them better Soldiers.

"I learned a lot about the Army, and I now have a greater general knowledge than I would, had I not been involved in this," Vandebogert said.

Slone feels one of the goals of competitions like this are to enhance the individual Soldier's field of vision.

"They could ask us questions about things we do every day, but if we didn't have to learn from the study guide, we wouldn't learn anything new, and that's what being a good Soldier and NCO is all about," he said.

• Date Taken: 08.18.2005
• Date Posted: 08.18.2005 17:53
• Story ID: 2781
• Location: BAGHDAD, IQ