Army names USASOC team as Best Squad, NCO and Soldier of the Year winners
WASHINGTON — The Army announced its 2026 Soldier of the Year, Noncommissioned Officer of the Year and Best Squad during a ceremony at the Association of the U.S. Army Annual Meeting and Exposition, Oct. 12.
Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael R. Weimer presented the awards for all honors to the squad of warfighters representing the U.S. Army Special Operations Command.
USASOC’s five-Soldier squad from the 75th Ranger Regiment earned the 2026 Best Squad title with the squad’s Cpl. Michael Shield achieving the Soldier of the Year and Staff Sgt. Colin Doyle earning the NCO of the Year honors. Their achievements are based on their squad and individual performances through the intense events held at Fort Benning, Ga., Sept. 11-19.
During the Fort Benning competition, 11 squads representing their respective major Army commands demonstrated their technical and tactical proficiency as well as their ability to operate as disciplined and cohesive teams. The events ranged from a formal board, fitness assessments, weapons qualification and familiarization lanes to an 18.6-mile-night foot march and obstacle courses.
They also had a few unique opportunities to experience the “First 100 Yards” evolution that drill sergeants lead our Army’s newest trainees through during basic combat training, completing the combat water survival assessment course at Victory Pond and load and fire an M1A2 Abrams.
The competition concluded with the squads competing in a fitness challenge at the Fort Benning Community Day hosted by the National Infantry Museum.
Through the physically and mentally challenging events, the 2026 competing squads epitomized standards, discipline, grit and lethality together.
Following the tactical phase at Fort Benning, all squads traveled to the National Capital Region where they paid their respects at Arlington National Cemetery, ran in the annual Army Ten-Miler race and shared a celebratory gathering with each other and the Sergeant Major of the Army before AUSA events began.
Doyle, the NCO of the Year and squad leader, said just as iron sharpens iron, one person strengthens another, and that’s what these competitions do for Soldiers and squads. They make every single person better through teamwork. He said the squad’s success rests on their commitment to doing the right things together every day.
“The 75th Ranger Regiment is a one-of-a-kind unit,” he said. “We simply show up to work every day focused on marksmanship, small unit tactics, medical training and mobility.”
Shield, the Soldier of the Year, said the competition offered an opportunity to showcase what the regiment represents across the force.
He added that the competition serves as a key indicator of combat readiness.
"The Army Best Squad Competition is important because it shows where the readiness of the different commands is at across the entire Army," Shield said. "And on top of that, competition is a huge part of the Army. And who doesn't want to be first?"
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