Photo By Staff Sgt. Gene Arnold | (U.K.) Brig. Gen. Tim Lai (left), deputy commanding general for support, III Corps and...... read more read more
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FORT HOOD, Texas – An M1A2 Abrams Main Battle Tank crewman and Missoula, Montana, native took home the crown as the Fort Hood Soldier of the Year June 26 and took second place as the III Corps and Fort Hood Best Warrior Competition Soldier of the Year.
Spc. Austin Edwards, Company C, 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, took the top spot on post after competing with four other standout Soldiers from Fort Hood in five days of trials that included an Army Physical Fitness Test, various weapons qualifications, performing medical care under fire, night and day land navigation, battle drills, written exams and essays and a formal military board.
“Spc. Edwards has been in the Army for less than two years,” said Sgt. Maj. Rafael Machado, operations sergeant major, 1st ABCT. “In that short time, he has accomplished what takes some Soldiers years of training. His ability to adapt, comprehend the task and make adjustments as necessary are amazing, and are traits of more seasoned Soldiers and NCO's. He won the 1st Cavalry Division Soldier of the Year and qualified his tank with top scores in his first attempt.”
The toughest part of the competition, Edwards said, is keeping your head in the game.
“Staying positive, mentally positive, when you don’t do as well as you would have liked to - that’s the hardest part,” said Edwards. “Just know your 10-level [operator-level] tasks, your warrior tasks and drills and you got to be confident with it and want to do it.”
Besides earning the Fort Head Soldier of the Year, Edwards got second place as the III Corps and Fort Hood Best Warrior Competition Soldier of the Year, standing out in a field of 11 Soldiers from Fort Bliss, Texas; Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Fort Carson, Colorado; Fort Hood, Texas; and Fort Riley, Kansas.
“Since his first days in the company, he has continuously motivated and inspired Soldiers to exceed the standard, pushing his platoon to win the coveted Hammer Platoon merit award and top tank streamers for our company, as well as being the top tank gunner in the battalion,” said Staff Sgt. Scott Colson, platoon sergeant, Company C, 2-12 Cav.
But most importantly, Edwards puts the mission and his fellow Soldiers first, said Colson.
“He is a man of simple virtues and confident convictions,” said Colson. “He is the type of Soldier to work late in the barracks squaring away a new Soldier’s ruck, or one of the few Soldiers you can see who doesn’t just stroll over a piece of trash, but stops to pick it up. He’ll make uniform corrections on-the-spot regardless of rank, but always with a strict adherence to customs and courtesies.”
Edwards, who worked as a fishing guide on the South Fork of the Flathead River in Montana before joining the Army in July 2013, said the Army was a natural choice.
“Most of my family was in the military, and I wanted to get out of Montana,” said Edwards. He has three uncles currently serving: Lt. Col. John Wade, Lt. Col. Jeff Wade and Lt. Col. Andrew Wade.
Edwards said he plans to get a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and to work towards becoming a master gunner and someday, a first sergeant.
| Date Taken: | 06.26.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 07.14.2015 18:15 |
| Story ID: | 170019 |
| Location: | FORT HOOD, TX, US |
| Hometown: | MISSOULA, MT, US |
| Web Views: | 121 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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