Camp Point Soldier Named 108th Sustainment Brigade's Soldier of the Year

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Spc. Michael Quigley of Camp Point was named the108th Sustainment Brigade's Soldier the Year following a two-day competition Aug. 11 and 12 at Camp Lincoln in Springfield.

SPRINGFIELD, IL (08/13/2012)(readMedia)-- Out of roughly 2,100 Soldiers in the 108th Sustainment Brigade in Chicago, Spc. Michael Quigley of Camp Point with Detachment 1, 1844th Transportation Company in Beardstown, was named the 108th's brigade Soldier the Year following a two-day competition Aug. 11 and 12 at Camp Lincoln in Springfield.

"It feels good," said Quigley. "I feel like I've made people proud."

Quigley said he has been studying and training for the Soldier of the Year competition during the last few months. He is now preparing for the state level competition in September.

"It's pressure to keep studying and win state as well," said Quigley.

Quigley won against three other top Soldiers from the 108th Special Troops Battalion in Chicago, 108th Multifunction's Medical Battalion in Chicago and the 232nd Combat Sustainment Support Battalion in Springfield.

"The purpose of the Soldier of the Year competition is to find a Soldier who embodies the 'be, know, do, lead by example' type Soldier in our brigade," said Command Sgt. Maj. John Burns of Benld, senior enlisted adviser of the 108th.

Burns said the enlisted Soldiers and noncommissioned officers (NCOs) are the key component for the Illinois National Guard to be successful. The competition indentifies those enlisted Soldiers who excel and display key leadership and military traits

Companies select a Soldier and NCO who stand out among their peers to go on to compete representing their unit through the battalion and brigade level competitions, said Burns. Tested in areas of Soldier knowledge and physical readiness, the brigade Soldier and NCO of the Year will go on to the state-level competition to face off against other top brigade Soldiers and NCOs of the roughly 10,000 Soldiers of the Illinois Army National Guard.

"When you get to the state-level competition it's a tough four-day competition, physically and mentally. Soldiers will be tested on their knowledge of military customs and courtesies, current events,

and the knowledge expected of leaders; and pushed to their physical limits in the Army Physical Fitness Test, combatives, road marching and weapons skills," he said.

Burns said Soldiers study and train with the aid of their sponsors, typically senior NCOs who mentor and develop candidates.

Burn said the success of the brigade competition was due to the aid of the 108th's support staff in the personnel and the training and operations sections.

Quigley and Sgt. Anthony Dowling of St. Charles, the 108th's NCO of the Year, will go on to represent the brigade against the Soldiers and NCOs of the Year from three other Illinois Army National Guard brigades at the state-level competition in September. The winners of the state competition will go on to represent Illinois in the regional competition against states in the region.

U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Michael Camacho, 108th Sustainment Brigade Public Affairs/

Out of roughly 2,100 Soldiers in the 108th Sustainment Brigade in Chicago, Spc. Michael Quigley of Camp Point with Detachment 1, 1844th Transportation Company in Beardstown, was named the 108th's brigade Soldier the Year following a two-day competition Aug. 11 and 12 at Camp Lincoln in Springfield.