Though Pfc. Aurelio Hernandez of Hollister has been in the Army
Reserve for a little more than a year, he beat out 14 other
competitors to earn the title of
”
Best Warrior
”
in a Soldier competition administered by the 412th Theater
Engineer Command at Camp Smith N.Y. April 24 to 29.
The annual contest is designed to identify the best competitors
from among the 12,000 Soldiers within the command.
Though Pfc. Aurelio Hernandez of Hollister has been in the Army Reserve for a little more than a year, he beat out 14 other competitors to earn the title of “Best Warrior ” in a Soldier competition administered by the 412th Theater Engineer Command at Camp Smith N.Y. April 24 to 29.
The annual contest is designed to identify the best competitors from among the 12,000 Soldiers within the command.
The 412th TEC is a division level headquarters responsible for all the Army Reserve engineer and engineer support units east of the Mississippi River. Hernandez outperformed five other members of the 926th Engineer Battalion, a 412th TEC subordinate unit, to qualify for the division level competition.
The contest tested Hernandez’s physical fitness, essay writing ability, proficiency at basic Soldier tasks, day and night marksmanship skills, day and night land navigation ability using a map and compass, and his ability to conduct battle drills relevant to operation in a combat environment. Hernandez also went before a selection board comprised of five sergeants major who evaluated his appearance, military bearing and knowledge of critical Army topics.
Hernandez will now represent the 412th TEC in the United States Army Reserve Command’s 2011 Best Warrior Competition. If he wins the USARC event, he will then represent the entire Army Reserve in the Army’s Best Warrior competition.
The San Benito High-school graduate currently trains to be a marathoner in his spare time.
The 412th TEC is made up of one headquarters company and three Brigades totaling 12,000 Soldiers. The command implements policy, and provides guidance and resources to all of its subordinate Army Reserve units east of the Mississippi River.
The 412th Theater Engineer Command traces its history from July 1923 with the activation of the 372d Engineers, First Corps, Organized Reserves. During WW II, the unit saw active duty as the 372d Engineer General Service Regiment, earning the Meritorious Unit Commendation for action in the European Theater.
After the war, the Headquarters and Headquarters Service Company was assigned to Missoula, Mont. as part of the Organized Reserve.
In May 1949, the unit was re-designed as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 412th Engineer Brigade and assigned to Vicksburg, Miss., under Third U.S. Army. Its ranks were largely filled by members of the 366th Engineer Construction Group, a successor to the 338th Engineer Regiment, the first post-war Engineer Reserve unit established in Vicksburg.
In January 1968, the Brigade was re-designed as the 412th Engineer Command and was assigned to the United States Army Reserve Command; its mission was executing engineer operations in the Korean, European, and Pacific Theaters and in the United States.
The 412th Engineer Command has deployed numerous detachments since the beginning of the Global War on Terrorism. In 2003, a detachment deployed as an Engineer Section to support the Headquarters, U.S. Army Europe. In 2004, a section from Command Group supported the Multi-National Force in Baghdad, Iraq. In 2005, the 412th Engineer Command deployed a design management section to support the 130th Engineer Brigade in Iraq. In 2006 and 2008, the 412th Engineer Command deployed two task forces to augment the Gulf Region Division of the Corps of Engineers in Iraq. In 2008 as well, the 412th TEC deployed the 926th Engineer Brigade to support the 4th Infantry Division in Baghdad, Iraq.
On March 23, 2009, the 412th Engineer Command received permanent orders to transform into a Theater Engineer Command. Those orders reorganized and re-designated the 412th Engineer Command as the 412th Theater Engineer Command effective Oct. 1 2009.
