From the 95th Training Division (IET) Commander

Soldiers from the 95th, 98th, and 104th Training Division are demonstrating teamwork during the 108th Training Command 2015 Drill Sergeant of the Year and Best Warrior Competition. Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Brian Hamilton, 108th Training Command (IET), Public Affairs

By Sgt. 1st Class Brian Hamilton

108th Training Command (IET) Public Affairs

FORT HUACHUCA, Ariz.

— The 104th Training Division (LT) played host to the 2015 108th Training Command (IET) combined Best Warrior and Drill Sergeant of the Year competition held at Fort Huachuca, Arizona 2428 March, 2015.

At the annual event, candidates from across the command were pushed to their limits in a grueling 4-day competition that tested them both physically and mentally. Events included an obstacle course, small arms qualification and a grueling 12-mile ruck march through the hot Arizona dessert.

Soldiers were also tested on their abilities to perform numerous Army Warrior Tasks at each station in a round-robin format. In addition, Drill Sergeant of the Year candidates were graded on their ability to pitch training modules, at times after completing an exhausting physical challenge.

Army Reserve Drill Sergeant, Staff Sergeant Russell Vidler, 98th Training Division (IET), competing for Drill Sergeant of the Year, has been a drill sergeant since 2010 and has only one goal for the competition.

“I want to be the best,” Vidler said. Vidler, who also works as a fire fighter in Ithaca, New York, was nothing short of confident and excelled at the competition. He took first place from the 98th Training Division (IET) and will move on to the TRADOC Drill Sergeant of the Year competition at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, later this summer.

“I will win,” Vidler exclaimed as he sat at the medic station with a bloodied thumb and a body covered in mud after completing the challenging obstacle course event.

Others at the competition weren’t as successful as Vidler, but it was definitely not for lack of trying.