Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Charles Crail | Sgt. Nicholas Dentremont, representing the 16th Military Police Brigade, emplaces an...... read more read more
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FORT BRAGG, N.C. - Staff Sgt. David Payton, 101st Airborne Division, was named XVIII Airborne Corps Noncommissioned Officer of the Year 2015 and Sgt. Nicholas Dentremont, 16th Military Police Brigade, was named XVIII Abn. Corps Soldier of the Year 2015. Both will go on to represent the Corps later this summer at the U.S. Army Forces Command competition.
“Wait, is this a test too?” answered Sgt. Duron Berry to a reporter’s questions, a mixed expression of excitement and suspicion on his face.
Berry, the 82nd Sustainment Brigade Soldier of the Year, was one of 22 competitors kept guessing as they moved between events at the XVIII Airborne Corps Soldier of the Year and Noncommissioned Officer of the Year Competition 2015, held at Fort Bragg, June 8-11.
The reporter was a real reporter, but after spending the last two days continually running from event to event, Berry and many of the other competitors had no idea what to they might be evaluated on next.
“As soon as we are done with one event, we are told what the next event is,” said Staff Sgt. Elizabeth Kleimola, the 44th Medical Brigade noncommissioned officer of the year, “So everything is kind of a surprise.”
Keeping the competitors guessing served to help distinguish the best from amongst a field of highly capable competitors.
“It’s a hard competition,” said Kleimola. “The competitors are good competitors. The Soldiers and the NCOs are obviously the best of the best.”
The guessing about who was in the lead continued until Staff Sgt. David Payton, 101st Airborne Division, was named Noncommissioned Officer of the Year 2015 and Sgt. Nicholas Dentremont, 16th Military Police Brigade, was named Soldier of the Year 2015.
“Up until Sgt. Maj. Jacobs announced the winners in a short formation,” said Payton. “Every single one of us was still confused. There were three or four of us right there at the top thinking, ‘it could be you, could be me’.”
“I feel very humbled,” Payton continued. “And very proud to be representing the XIII Abn. Corps at FORSCOM.”
The full list of competitors hailed from such storied units as the 101st Abn. Div., 82nd Airborne Division, 3rd Infantry Division, 10th Mountain Division, 16th MP Bde., 7th Transportation Brigade (Expeditionary), 82nd Sustainment Brigade, 44th Med. Bde., 525th Military Intelligence Brigade, 18th Field Artillery Brigade and the 20th Engineer Brigade.
"The XVIII Abn. Corps Soldier and NCO of the Year competition provides individuals the chance to showcase their mastery of every aspect of being a Soldier,” said Command Sgt. Major Isaia Vimoto, senior enlisted advisor to the Corps and host of this year’s competition.
“The competition is not about doing any single task great, or even any job specific subset of tasks,” Vimoto said. “This competition is about displaying the ability to perform every Soldier task to standard every time. Not every Soldier is capable of performing at that level on demand, so to get to this level of the competition in and of itself is a great accomplishment.”
For many, the climb to compete at this level has been nearly a year in the making with initial boards beginning as early as September of last year, said Spc. Terry Bluebird, 82nd Abn. Div. Soldier of the Year.
“Starting with the Soldier of the month board, then it carried on to brigade, division twice,” recalled Bluebird. “I didn’t even expect to make it this far, it has been a complete blessing.”
Sgt. Zachary Cline, 3rd Inf. Div. Noncommissioned Officer of the Year expressed his feelings of accomplishment as a two-fold benefit.
“One, is to represent your unit well. To do your best in all situations,” said Cline. “Two is to meet some other outstanding NCOs from the Army. Already I have had that experience, meeting my competitors has been the best part of this so far.“
This year’s champions will go on to compete at the next level of the U.S. Army Forces Command competition later this summer.
Title or not, competitors will walk away from this year’s competition “with the pride knowing they are the best of the best in the XVIII Abn. Corps,” said Vimoto.
| Date Taken: | 06.10.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 06.12.2015 07:32 |
| Story ID: | 166410 |
| Location: | FORT BRAGG, NC, US |
| Web Views: | 112 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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