Fort Huachuca hosts TRADOC's 'Best Squad' competition for soldiers from across the country

FORT HUACHUCA, Ariz. (KGUN) — Soldiers from around the country are in Cochise County for the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command's (TRADOC) 'Best Squad' competition.

Ten teams, including one from Fort Huachuca, are competing in the two-week competition. Fort Huachuca's team represents the Intelligence Center of Excellence. SSG Austin Simms is the team leader for the Intelligence Center of Excellence and is excited to have the opportunity to represent the installation at which he is stationed.

“It means a lot, mainly because we want to represent the intel community as a whole," Simms said. "We’re happy to be here and happy to represent.”

Tuesday's events consisted of swimming and completing the obstacle course, while holding a "secret item."

“I’m very proud of each and every one of my squad members," Simms said. "They are giving it their all and nothing less—and I’m very proud of them for that.”

TRADOC spokesperson Jason Stadel said the tasks are designed to simulate warfare-like actions.

“It’s been physically exhausting and mentally exhausting for the last eight to nine days,” he said. “They are going to go through 30 graded tasks...they are very relevant to the modern war fighter. And they’re relevant to the future of war-fighting functions.”

The squads consists of five soldiers from each of the 10 TRADOC schools and gives soldiers war-like scenarios.

“They actually get to come out here and do cool army things that they may not get to do on a daily basis," Stadel said. "'Cause these people here are instructing the next generation of soldiers. So they’re instructing at AIT [Advanced Individual Training], we have drill sergeants out here, so maybe they’re not doing these tasks with soldiers all the time.”

The winner of the competition will be announced Wednesday. The team with the highest score will represent TRADOC at the Army's competition next month.