Authorized newspaper of Fort Lewis, Washington
ATLANTA — A Fort Lewis Soldier was selected as the noncommissioned officer of the year for the Army command supporting all operations in the Middle East.
Staff Sgt. James Garlitz, 9th Financial Management Company-Forward, was named the Army Central Command NCO of the Year for 2008.
Garlitz bested four other Soldiers in a grueling, weeklong competition held June 23 to 27 at Fort McPherson, Ga. The ARCENT competition consisted of a variety of events that tested both mental and physical Soldier skills. The first event was an Army physical fitness test, in which Garlitz achieved an overall score of 292 out of 300 points. Immediately following the APFT, all contestants participated in an M4 Rifle qualification range.
Garlitz’s assigned weapon is an M16. He had never fired an M4 prior to the event. But he managed a score of 34 out of 40 hits. Competitors participated in a competition in which five Warrior Tasks and battle drills tested skills ranging from MOPP gear exchange to calling in a nine-line medical evacuation request.
The following days were filled with a 50-question written test, followed by a day and night land navigation courses through the dense woods at Fort Gillem, Ga. Garlitz achieved perfect scores on both day and night courses, finding five out of five points during the day and four out of four points at night.
The final competition was appearance before an official military board that grilled the competitiors on their knowledge of a wide variety of military subjects.
ARCENT announced the winner at an awards ceremony hosted by Command Sgt. Maj. John D. Fourhman, the ARCENT command sergeant major, with Lt. Gen. James J. Lovelace, the ARCENT commanding general, participating via video teleconference from Camp Arifjan, Kuwait.
Garlitz next competes for Forces Command NCO of the Year honors at Fort Hood, Texas, July 27 to 31. He is assigned to Headquarters Detachment, 9th Financial Management Company and has been deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom since October 2007.
Print
E-Mail