Photo By Brittany Trumbull | Soldiers of the 164th Theater Airfield Operations Group, who competed as a squad and...... read more read more
Fort Rucker, Ala.--After three days of grueling competition, the Soldiers who rose to the top during the 2026 Aviation Center of Excellence Best Squad Competition were honored in a ceremony at Fort Rucker, Ala., April 2.
The winning squad, 164th Theater Airfield Operations Group, was comprised of Staff Sgt. Derrick O. Alvarez, Cpl. Calvin L Coley III, Spc. Logan B. Kilpatrick, Pfc. Aaron R. Quevedo and Pfc. Ladrew T. Davis.
They competed against three other squads representing 110th Aviation Brigade, 1st Aviation Brigade and Lyster Army Health Clinic, in the annual competition that is designed to test Soldiers’ physical and mental mettle, evaluate basic Soldier tasks and skills, and promote esprit de corps.
Following the chaplain’s invocation and the playing of the National Anthem, ceremony host Maj. Gen. Clair A. Gill, Aviation Center of Excellence and Fort Rucker commanding general, welcomed attendees.
“Every time I hear the National Anthem, and I’m standing at attention, I’m always thinking, somebody wearing the uniform is doing the business of our nation right now. While we might just be in a conference room today, there’s somebody in the woods doing what you were doing earlier this week, somebody is carrying a litter, somebody’s rucking, somebody’s flying, somebody’s fixing something. Somewhere right now in the world there’s an Army aviator, one of our MOS’s, somebody doing the tasks that we train them to do in a live environment,” said Gill.
By show of hands, many competitors took their first flight in an Army aviation aircraft during the competition, when they strapped into a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter for transport to their ruck march location on Day 1.
“That’s the least we can do to sort of fire you up for the task of taking on this competition,” Gill said.
Gill commended the competitors who, with little sleep, went “all out, sacrificing their wellbeing, just getting after it all week long.”
“I just want to tell you how proud I am of all of you for doing this, and for your leadership for setting them up for success,” Gill said.
“It’s so important to me that we’re training folks and demonstrating our warrior ethos and our warrior tasks through what you guys just did this week. You just went out there and did it, demonstrating your proficiency, and the training that you’ve done since you joined the Army,” Gill said.
Gill said he is proud of the culture at AVCOE and the tenant units.
"What you’re doing right now sets the foundation for what you’re going to go do when you get to your next assignment,” he said. “There’s probably a future sergeant major of the branch, potentially of the Army, sitting right here.”
Three days of back-to-back squad-based events included the Expert Physical Fitness Assessment, obstacle course, day and night land navigation, Leaders Reaction Course, tactical combat casualty event, a CBRN event, grenade range, weapons qualification, weapons familiarization/disassembly, six-mile foot march, a six-mile ruck march carrying a 150 lb. litter, radio communication test and two bivouac nights.
The squads also appeared before a board of senior leaders for inspection and a verbal test of their knowledge, and they completed a U.S. Army Aviation Museum and Training Support Facility tour and test of their knowledge of aviation history.
The Soldiers pointed to different events as the most challenging part of the competition. While some said it was the ruck march, others said it was the challenge of quickly coming together as a team, or the fact that the obstacle course immediately followed the physical fitness test.
Kilpatrick, who serves as a 91C Utilities Equipment Repairer with the 164th TAOG, said the hardest event for him was the second six-mile ruck march.
“The ruck with the extra sandbags was the hardest. Other than that, it was more getting the team to do it, but we got it done. We all made it through. We started with five and we ended with five,” Kilpatrick said.
The part he felt he excelled at the most was the weapons portion.
“Just disassemble, reassemble and function check,” he said, of four different weapons. “At my last unit, my NCO was a 91F (small arms/towed artillery repairer) and that’s all they do is weapons, so I had to learn, and I taught him my job too.”
Now with almost four years of service under his belt, he said he joined the Army for a fresh career because he didn’t want to go back to school. Prior to the competition he knew only two of his teammates who are in the same company with him. “Working with other people is always fun,” he said.
The winners received a Best Squad commemorative medal, the Army Commendation Medal, and tokens of appreciation.
Following the ceremony, the competitors were treated to a brunch at The Landing with sergeants major.
| Date Taken: | 04.02.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 04.02.2026 15:20 |
| Story ID: | 561859 |
| Location: | ALABAMA, US |
| Web Views: | 15 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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