Photo By Brian Hill | Maj. Gen. Christopher Beck, Maneuver Support Center of Excellence and Fort Leonard...... read more read more
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. — After a week of demonstrating physical fitness, Soldiering skills and drill sergeant prowess, Maneuver Support Center of Excellence leaders named Staff Sgt. Samuel Matlock, with Company A, 795th Military Police Battalion, the 2024 MSCoE Drill Sergeant of the Year, during a July 12 ceremony in Lincoln Hall Auditorium.
At the ceremony, MSCoE and Fort Leonard Wood Command Sgt. Maj. Jorge Arzabala said the competition is designed to find Fort Leonard Wood’s most disciplined, fit and effective instructor.
“Our whole point here is to increase lethality in all we do, and we exist for one purpose only, and that is to fight and win our nation’s wars,” Arzabala said. “We are warfighters, and that’s what this competition is all about.”
It was noted during the ceremony that the four-day competition consisted of many of the same tasks taught in basic combat training. Some of the skills the nine competitors were tested on included: marksmanship, physical readiness training, first aid, day infiltration course, land navigation, methods of instruction and a formal selection board.
According to Sgt. 1st Class John Marquis, the 2023 Drill Sergeant of the Year and one of this year’s event organizers, competition produces better Soldiers.
“I am a firm believer that competition breeds excellence and winning matters,” Marquis said. “Any time you’re in a competition with others, you strive to push yourself harder, which helps you learn more about yourself.”
For Marquis, that meant helping identify his weaknesses and strengths as a drill sergeant and a Soldier.
“I really zoned in on where I could improve, and then, what things I was the best at,” Marquis said.
Matlock, who primarily trains the Army’s future MPs through one station unit training, said being a drill sergeant is a “challenging and very rewarding experience.”
“It’s been really rewarding to give back to the (U.S. Army) Military Police Regiment by training our next generation,” he said.
Having served nearly 12 years in the Army, Matlock – who hails from Palmer, Alaska, said he has, “loved every second of it.”
“I wanted to be in the Army ever since I was a little kid,” he said. “I have had a lot of family in the military, and I always saw the benefits of being in the military – the discipline, the physical fitness – and that was something I wanted to chase.”
About 18 months into his drill sergeant experience, Matlock said his primary motivation for winning the competition was his fellow drill sergeants at Fort Leonard Wood.
“It’s incredible,” he said. “I think the biggest thing that really made me want to apply myself and compete was the opportunity to essentially give back to the drill sergeants of Fort Leonard Wood, to be able to be an advocate for them. I feel like I’ve been here long enough; I see how things are, and I feel this is a really good platform for me to help affect change in ways that will positively impact the drill sergeants here.”
The most challenging part of the competition, he said, was memorizing the drill and ceremony marches.
“We had 22 of them and most of them were a full page,” he said.
The most fun part? Getting to know the other competitors, who came to the competition from all three of Fort Leonard Wood’s training brigades.
“It’s been a friendly competition,” he said. “We’ve been motivating each other, helping each other out.”
Matlock will next go on to compete for the title of U.S. Army Drill Sergeant of the Year, with that competition scheduled to be held on Fort Jackson, South Carolina, in September.
| Date Taken: | 07.12.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 07.19.2024 08:29 |
| Story ID: | 476591 |
| Location: | FORT LEONARD WOOD, MISSOURI, US |
| Hometown: | PALMER, ALASKA, US |
| Web Views: | 19 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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