FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (May 11, 2018) — The Maneuver Support Center of Excellence and Fort Leonard Wood wrapped up the 2018 Best Warrior Competition with an awards ceremony on Gammon Field Thursday.

The three-day competition, held May 8-10, identified the command’s Drill Sergeant of the Year, Noncommissioned Officer of the Year, Soldier of the Year, Joint Service NCO of the Year and Joint Service Junior Enlisted Service Member of the Year.

The service members selected to represent MSCoE and Fort Leonard Wood in the coming year are:

Staff Sgt. Peter Stull, 1st Engineer Brigade, Maneuver Support Center of Excellence and Fort Leonard Wood 2018 Drill Sergeant of the Year;

Staff Sgt. Joseph Hansen, 14th Military Police Brigade, Maneuver Support Center of Excellence and Fort Leonard Wood 2018 Noncommissioned Officer of the Year;

Pfc. David Cox, 1st Engineer Brigade, Maneuver Support Center of Excellence and Fort Leonard Wood 2018 Soldier of the Year;

Lance Cpl. Hercules Knight, Marine Corps Detachment, Maneuver Support Center of Excellence and Fort Leonard Wood 2018 Joint Service Junior Enlisted Service Member of the Year; and

Sgt. 1st Class Johnathon Balcom, 14th Military Police Brigade, Maneuver Support Center of Excellence and Fort Leonard Wood 2018 Joint Service Noncommissioned Officer of the Year.

The Noncommissioned Officer of the Year and Soldier of the Year will represent MSCoE and Fort Leonard Wood at the Training and Doctrine Command’s Best Warrior Competition, which is slated to take place July 15-20 at Fort Gordon, Georgia. The Drill Sergeant of the Year will represent Fort Leonard Wood at the TRADOC competition to be held in September.

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About Fort Leonard Wood
Fort Leonard Wood is a thriving and prosperous installation that has evolved from a small basic training post more than 75 years ago to a premier Army Center of Excellence that trains about 80,000 military and civilians each year.

Home to the Maneuver Support Center of Excellence, Fort Leonard Wood now trains and educates service members and develops doctrine and capabilities for the Training and Doctrine Command’s U.S. Army Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear School, U.S. Army Engineer School, and U.S. Army Military Police School, three gender integrated Initial Military Training brigades, and the Army’s largest Noncommissioned Officers Academy. 

Over the past several years, Fort Leonard Wood has received numerous additional responsibilities to include supporting a colonel-commanded Marine Corps Detachment and an Air Force Detachment, which are both the largest on any Army installation, a large Navy Seabee Detachment and elements of the Coast Guard train here as well.