XVIII AIRBORNE CORPS ASSOCIATION SKY DRAGONS Spring 2012 ------82ND DOMINATES XVIII ABN CORPS NCO and SOLDIER of YEAR COMPETITION
XVIII AIRBORNE CORPS ASSOCIATION SKY DRAGONS Spring 2012 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 82ND DOMINATES XVIII ABN CORPS NCO AND SOLDIER OF YEAR COMPETITION Left to Right – CSM (Ret) Ted Gaweda, Pfc. Jeremy Shivick, Sgt. Jason Thomas, Alan Yeater On 5 April in a ceremony conducted at Sports USA, a huge sports bar at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, two paratroopers of the XVIII Airborne Corps' 82nd Airborne Division were selected as the XVIII Airborne Corps' 2012 NCO and Soldier of the Year. They were Sgt. Jason T. Thomas, 26, and Pfc. Jeremy Shivick, 21. Both Soldiers are assigned to the 1st Platoon, C Company, 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, which is part of the division's 3rd Brigade Combat Team (BCT). This is 2 the first time that both winners were from the same unit. The competition was held from 2 to 4 April, and the winners were announced during the ceremony which was presided over by the Ft. Bragg Garrison Command Sergeant Major (CSM) Samuel Campbell and the command sergeant major of XVIII Abn Corps' NCO Academy, CSM Nicolino Parisi. These were four days of grueling, early morning and late night events which included basic Soldier skills, the Army physical fitness test, a written exam, urban map orienteering, M4 rifle qualification, a weapons event, and an interview board. The competition certainly challenged the confidence and motivation of the Soldiers. Twenty-one Soldiers competed, representing each subordinate unit of the XVIII Abn Corps. Spc. Michael C. Lauritzen, from Jackson, Michigan, assigned to the 716th MP Battalion, 16th MP Brigade, Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, was quoted saying, “I'm grateful for being here, glad that my leadership had the confidence in me to compete at this level.
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