Photo By Staff Sgt. Christopher McCullough | Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, U.S. Army Pacific commander (far left), and Command Sgt. Maj....... read more read more
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SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, Hawaii – Two Hawaii-based engineers swept the U.S. Army Pacific’s Best Warrior Challenge, held June 8-12, earning the titles USARPAC 2015 Noncommissioned Officer and Soldier of the Year.
The winners – Sgt. Michael Hooks, a horizontal engineer, and Spc. Jonathan Renteria, a geospatial engineer, both with the 8th Theater Sustainment Command’s 130th Engineer Brigade – were announced during USARPAC’s Army Birthday Commemoration Ball, June 12.
“It was really shocking,” Hooks said. “When they called my name, it was utter shock. I couldn’t believe it.”
Renteria said, “I was hoping I placed within the top three, but I didn’t think that I’d won because everyone there was really on point.”
Hooks said the competition was extremely challenging as the two engineers were competing with 17 other Soldiers who represent the best from throughout the Asia-Pacific.
The weeklong challenge tested the warriors on various basic Soldiers skills such as drill and ceremony, media interviews, medical tasks, night/day land navigation, team building, and weapons qualification, constantly assessing their ability to be adaptive and agile leaders in unpredictable situations.
Both Hooks and Renteria credit their battle buddies and NCOs from the 130th and 8th TSC for their achievements.
“This is not one of those things that just happen,” Hooks said. “It’s because the 8th TSC empowers its brigades and demands its NCOs to train to standard and follow the 11 steps of the training principles. I believe these are the kinds of results you get when you have a unit and leadership that enforce standards and uplift their Soldiers.”
Gen. Vincent K. Brook, the commanding general of the U.S Army Pacific, said, “When you win this, it will be because of what you discovered about yourself in this ultimate competition. If you could only take one more step, if you could help your teammate one more time when you don’t think you have anything left, then you are the best warrior we can give because that is what being the best warrior is about.”
The engineers agreed that win or lose, the competition was an incredible experience that helped them discover areas they can sustain and improve on while preparing for the next level.
Renteria said, “Because our fellow competitors were the best, we were learning alongside and from the best. It was people competing against each other with mutual respect.”
Hooks said, “Yes, this is a competition but as a group we are learning from each other. I picked up different tools for my tool bag that I can take back to my unit and our Soldiers so that I can set them up for success in the future.”
The Sappers will spend the next six weeks preparing for the Army-level competition scheduled to be held at Fort Lee, Virginia, in October.
| Date Taken: | 06.12.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 06.15.2015 22:37 |
| Story ID: | 166750 |
| Location: | SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, HI, US |
| Web Views: | 46 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Sappers sweep Pacific’s Best Warrior Competition, by SGT Jon Heinrich, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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