 a wonderful audience we're going to close our program today with a song by singer-songwriter Lee Greenwood. We had the pleasure to sing this song with Mr. Greenwood for the 2015 NHL Winter Classic as well as recently for 2023 USO Awards banquet. We leave you today with God bless the USA. The world-renowned United States Army Course. Let's give him one more background of applause. Thank you Army Course. You are an inspiration to all of us and we greatly appreciate with you being with us today you make every ceremony special. Ladies and gentlemen we're getting near that time but we're not there yet. At this time I would like to introduce our Sergeant Major of the United States Army SMA Michael R. Weimer. I know you're dying to know. I know I can feel the tension. I can feel it. I remember SMA Grinston last year dragging this out. I remember it but that's not what we're doing right now. What we're getting ready to do something pretty special and then we're going to get to that. So what we're going to do right now is we're getting ready to talk about something that truly I didn't fully understand the breadth and depth and scope of the significance of this but we're getting ready to announce the honorary Sergeant Major of the Army and I wanted a couple data points for folks to understand what this means how it came about because SMA Daily was part of this. As a matter of fact it started on his watch in 2015 and this is no small feat to be named the honorary Sergeant Major of the Army. This is decided by all the former Sergeant Majors of the Army. You remember that group we took the time to introduce in the beginning. Yeah that's a that is a pretty pretty ruthless bunch of folks with standards like their standards and then their standards and I'm here to tell you this individual it was unanimous unanimous right and I was worried or unanimous I was worried with the shutdown that we were going to miss the opportunity to truly celebrate this and so I'm here to tell you I'm excited to see this room filled because the individual that we decided upon is here and he has his family with him and I want to mention a few things about this individual real quick he's a native of Mobile Alabama no SMA Grinstin didn't have anything to do with it but yeah Alabama he enlisted in the army in December 1961 he served 32 years in the army and retired in 1993 and and you weren't paying attention I was paying attention it wasn't your job to but I'm pretty sure he stood up four times I think it was four times when we were singing singing those division songs right there and then there's a few other formations he was in that just don't have division songs uh he's a command sergeant major served in multiple organizations include the second infantry division and us army operations command special operations command in 68 he completed special forces training and other courses to include infantry advance jump master scuba jungle operate I'm I'm not sure there isn't anything he hasn't accomplished over the years he's been inducted into the ranger hall of fame he's inducted into the us army sergeant major academy hall of fame and the special operations mountain man old and bold 2015 is my honor he's oh by the way he's accompanied with his awesome family here today I know you're gonna take a moment to to highlight them Jimmy so I'm not gonna steal that from you but it's my honor today to introduce the 2023 honorary sergeant major of the armor army jimmy spencer I always wanted a standing ovation but unfortunately it was before I spoke so I guess but I'm gonna count that that was a wonderful introduction sma and in fact it was so good I can't wait to hear what I have to say this whole process started for me about about three weeks ago I was sitting at home just trying to be the kind of person my dog thinks I am and the phone rang and it's the sma telling me that I've been selected as the next honorary sergeant major of the army and just to let you know that what I experienced at that moment was something that the social scientist would refer to as a significant emotional event and I really don't think that thank you is a strong enough word to convey how grateful I am for this great honor my my journey started over half a century ago when I joined a team of teams I walked into a recruiting station and from that point on in my life I've never been alone I've always had someone to my left someone to my right and shoulder to shoulder we faced whatever the future had in store for us there's always been somebody behind me and that person was willing and able to come to my rescue should I should I falter there's always been somebody in front of me to show me the way that's part of being a team of teams and when I left the army for the last time took off my uniform I joined another team team a USA at both the local chapter and the national level and our mission in life is to take care of soldiers and their family members to make sure that our young people who come into our army join our formations have the best training have the best equipment have the best leadership that just the nation is capable of producing so the only thing I'd really like for you to know about me is I was a soldier I am a soldier and I'll always be a soldier and I'm very grateful and thankful for this this opportunity and my sincere wish for everyone in this room is that you may be safely in heaven 30 minutes before the devil knows you're dead thank you very much thank you for listening to me thank you for this great honor and come on up here Jimmy where'd you go there you go I was like what are you doing get back up here so he didn't he didn't mention who accompanied him come on up here um Julie escrowed her up here please for me so this is his wife Susan who's been with you how many years now uh 50 something 50 something yeah so everything we talked about this is who's been along that journey with him he also has his daughter here and his youngest granddaughter correct that's right yeah so so pretty awesome um and by the way uh Jimmy's got a massive golf tournament I know there's a bunch of golfers out there he's always looking to raise money and I don't golf so he's he's looking for talent so you got to take full advanced full advantage of that so I got I got to give the the uh the choir another shout out I know uh that that that gets me stirred up every single time so this next individual that I'm going to introduce um pretty special a lot of us have the you know we have the luxury of working with him every day in the e-ring um and I've been getting to know him I've been getting to know him pretty well here since about two May um but but what really inspired me uh just his latest thing that inspired me was the 10 miler and so he came across he ran the 10 miler and finished with his beautiful bride holding hands across that 10 miler I got to tell you sir I won't go any further with it because it'll get me all choked up but uh that's the leader you are you've been a servant leader this whole time I'm honored to have you here to do this with us today with this group of people so let me introduce to you the the director of the army staff lieutenant general piet that's one way of putting it finishing the army 10 miler yesterday my wife who's much faster than me has run her 31st marathon just last week in uh Finger Lakes was really pulling me across I think is what it really was SMA but I like your version better I'm gonna I'm gonna hang on to that one that's how it really happened that's how it really happened uh look at afternoon everyone what what an honor it is our major dailies our major weimer our new sir major of the army and all the former sir major of the army wow it's just a real honor to be in the presence of so many national treasures and so many of our soldiers my name is is well pied I'm the director of the army staff they call me the Das I know I'm doing good if they keep the d on it sir major weimer's kept that on I want to show you a picture of me when I was a private to sir major daily found out that I was former enlisted and said you must get a picture of you when you were a squad leader and I couldn't find one but you know when a sir major tells you to do something you try to do it you come through so this is the best I can do private piet 1979 basic training one of the hardest things I ever did in my life was get the good conduct medal and I became a squad leader because my squad leader didn't get the good conduct medal and it was a proud job that I was a squad leader in alpha company second battalion 503rd infantry then at Fort Campbell Kentucky 101st Airborne one of the things and I don't have to tell you this but one of the things that makes our army so successful as the people people like you people who are tough and go far beyond the normal to achieve success and should any of us fall in battle any one of us is expected to fill that gap to lead that way to bring up the rear this is natural and it's expected it's kind of why you got me today because there is no vice chief of staff of the army right now and as the DAS I get the honor of fulfilling his roles and he's got a really hard job but this gig is pretty cool so I'm kind of glad that we don't have a vice today because I probably wouldn't be up there talking so thank you senator from Alabama um I did tell the secretary of the army I said yesterday I said I can thank the senator because I got to run one more army 10 mile or while still on active duty she said you can run it when you're retired too general pilot and I said oh yes ma'am okay got my orders but in combat many of many of you have experienced this it can often be horrific and demand the most from all of us and I want to tell you about a story about a young man that answered that call corporal Timothy Ahern when he was fighting in France in 1918 Timothy Ahern was born on December 15 1998 in New Haven Connecticut son of Irish immigrants and at the age of 18 after graduating from st. Francis Catholic school he enlisted in the 26th regiment as an infantry man with the intent of fighting against Pancho Villa in our southwest border after his service in the Mexican expedition in November 1916 his unit mustered out of service but he was remobilized in February of the next year after the United States declared war on Germany and he redesignated as the Connecticut National Guards 102nd Infantry Regiment and the 102nd rose to quick fame when on April 20th 1918 and engaged in the United States first major infantry battle of World War I in France despite heavy bombardments and the eventual capture of the town by the enemy forces the soldiers of the 102nd never gave up and initiated a counterattack that regained the lost American trenches this was America's first encounter with horrors of trench and chemical warfare climbing out of the protection of the trenches and into enemy fire in the area that became known as no man's land left many soldiers very fearful however according to a local newspaper Corporal Ahern's coolness and courage under fire left others surprised and motivated to follow his lead the article continued to state that Ahern was always the first when the boys went over the top he seemed to bear a charmed life and although the boys dropped on all sides the gallon corporal he pressed on what a remarkable leader where it was difficult he was present where it was dangerous he was first his ability to lead those around him would become instrumental in the days following this battle on October 27th 1918 enemy attack killed or encas or encasperated every officer and sergeant in his company with only 17 abled soldiers still standing Ahern did what no corporal probably ever expects to do while in combat he took command of his company under his leadership the shattered remnants of the unit successfully held the line for the remainder of the battle and once the bullets and shells stopped firing Ahern sent a message to his regimental commander without any paper to write on he used a letter that he received from his mother and he wrote on the back the message was to inform the regimental commander that he had taken command of the company he stated I've made two skeleton platoons of four squads a piece he went on to write that private Kenny is made acting first sergeant then he stated in his letter sir what are your orders he made clear that he was ready for any duty that he could be called upon to perform he also said I'm ready to receive replacements and he signed it Ahern corporal commanding company see think about this the presence of mine to form a company out of a shattered remains of his unit they were devastated and no one would have blamed them for being combat ineffective we would do it today this company would be p4 and c4 not ready for combat the number of people in the company would have rendered the battalion and the entire regiment not just this company not ready for combat yet they were more than ready they were combat ready tough and unyielding corporal Ahern did what few could do when faced with an impossible task he developed a solution he made his readiness about what he had not about what he didn't have this is something you will all have to do as well anyone can lead when conditions are perfect but you have demonstrated in this competition that you can lead and outperform most when under the harshest conditions your future assignments will require you to do more like corporal Ahern you will never have enough never have all your people all your equipment but you must ensure what you do have is ready our nation is not going to ask if we are ready they will expect it as did corporal Ahern that day in addition to keeping his soldiers focused on keeping the line he also made at least one trip in no man's land and while under heavy machine gun fire successfully retrieved a wounded soldier from imminent death for his gallantry on that fateful day he was awarded the distinguished service cross like so many other young warriors who fought in world war one when Ahern returned home he suffered from the side effects of exposure to chemical weapons just three days after his actions in Verdun he fell victim to an enemy gas attack during the argon offensive and he had to spend time in army hospital in France although he survived the war his body and his mind continued to suffer upon his discharge from the army he moved back into his family home with his parents and two of his younger siblings and found work as a stenographer in a local office his mother brother and sister moved to new york after his father died he decided this was a perfect opportunity to set out on another adventure and for the next five years Ahern wondered the country from coast to coast trying to make a living as a migrant worker and on january 25th 1925 timothy Francis Ahern passed away in san francisco from respiratory complications of his exposure to mustard gas he was 25 in 1937 the new haven chapter of the yankee division veterans association dedicated a statue of Ahern at the west river memorial park where his memory and his story continue to live on you have shown all of you have shown that you can do hard things like corpway her and as it did on corpway her and this profession takes its toll on all of us and we all need to take care of one another as hard as we fight in combat or in competition we should fight for each other daily building cohesive teams that have each other's back recognizing when others are suffering or at risk and intervening to help our fellow soldier lead with strength but also lead with compassion is what makes our army strong we are a value-based organization built on trust and respect and do not let these values ever weaken many are calling our military weak we are far far from it we are strong intelligent lethal compassionate and empathetic for those who say we are weak and no longer tough i remind them of this william francis butler quote and i quote him now the nation that will insist upon drawing a broad line of demarcation between the fighting person and the thinking person is liable to find its fighting done by fools and its thinking done by cowards unquote being strong means being smart so do more than just be the best squad be the best you and bring everyone with you anyone who thinks this nation is weak and the world is without threat look at current events that today in israel where any nation or any adversary to freedom can build a lethal army on very low tech equipment and can kill kill without without discretion it takes a warrior to respond it takes a warrior to apply lethality and to kill the enemies of our nation but we must also remember it is our duty to protect the innocent and as a soldier all of us we've all deployed all over the world and face new cultures face new religions many tried to kill us because we were different or because we were in their land i served in afghanistan and iraq and i've seen up close the strength of a u.s soldier i witnessed many stand in the face of sheer terror and yet still found the strength to move forward no no matter how bad the situation we kept moving forward we lost friends and for a time our nation lost hope yet we kept moving forward i learned not to judge but to accept the differences of others to meet them where they are as my brothers and my sisters i learned to listen without judgment to speak without shouting to live without hatred these are the values of honor the values of a soldier so that one day we can all live as one not to force others to the same ideas but embracing the diversity of human thought i learned to be better and not to be afraid of what is different but rather to seek new perspectives without fear many people thank us for our service when we are out in public and awkwardly i always say with humility you are welcome but what sergeant major of the army grinstin told me and taught me to say was to look them back in the eye and shake their hand and say you are worth it thank you sergeant major try this the next time someone comes up to you and you don't know what to say look them in the eye when they say thank you for your service say you are worth it they're probably going to cry but they are worth it this nation is worth it it's why we do what we do i've learned a lot from sma grinstin one of our best warriors this nation has ever seen but i will always keep that one dear to me thank you sma you're all worth the pain and sacrifice that we service members experience our civilians our nation need to be reminded of what we do in your future there will be challenges and uncertainty and possible situations that you will have no idea how to handle remember corporal a her who faced the impossible and yet never gave up as long as you have some soldiers with you never give up so in the words of the 10th mountain division no matter what keep moving and we'll all meet at the top i'm so very proud to serve with all of you for you are all all worth it this will defend thank you very much now you can ask any army individual that works in the pentagon and i mean any of them to include the secretary and the chief what's the hardest job in the pentagon and the hardest job is the director of the army staff because when i was with general milley he said that's the guy that gets to do everything i don't want to do so there's one thing to have the hardest job it's another thing to be the best at it and do it for the longest that anybody has ever done sir thank you for your incredible service and sacrifice to this great nation and all you do for our army thank you so you know what time it is it's time for me to read a bunch of stuff so we can stall this a little longer that's right this year's best warrior competition actually dates back to 2002 when the chief of staff of the army then general eric k shinseki and then the sergeant of the army i don't even want to say it out loud but i have to jack tilley made the decision to culminate all the nco and soldier of the year competitions across the army at the department of the army level in 2009 as part of the year of the non-commissioned officer celebrations the chief of staff of the army george w k c jr and the sma decided to formally name the trophy presented to the nco and soldier of the year as a way to honor the legacy of sma jack tilley and what this competition does for our army to enhance self-development and self-study and to set training standards for our force then in 2021 under the leadership of sma grintston the army announced the creation of united states army's annual best squad competition to recognize the best squad from across our army along with the announcement of the best warriors this year we will announce the results of the united states army's best squad competition now are you ready to figure out who that is it's not time we have to watch a video first as a prelude to the big announcement please watch the short video of the 2023 best squad competition so it just shows that we're working to be a cohesive unit we got the top teams in the country here we're here to compete we're here to have some way to defend the title of the best squad mine is just like keeping simple um go to one event at a time it was a tough assessment but the team pulled through and did well it's definitely a mental game for me it's definitely challenging but it's very motivating to see everybody out here running trying their best i've never done land nap here before and it's a lot different nice different challenge you got trust just what your training is and just keep going hey you this is me over today we're doing the eib training off the mount huge part of what we do is over especially as infantrymen as rangers one day you might be put in that situation where you have to save somebody's life we train for this non-stop you do nothing but train for this so this morning we started off with a 12 mile ruck i would say overall um the ruck it comes out to an individual event but since it is a squad event i would say taking care of my soldiers is always the first thing in my mind two minutes is plenty time shoot 30 rounds definitely was just the camaraderie that's almost a year of just competing with each other and training with each other so we know each other in and out let's put this long and grueling event together uh for soldiers like us to really see where we are and really test who we are as our our characters in our in our fighting spirit answer to the question you've all which squad is the best squad and who is the non-commissioned officer and soldier of the year for america's army for 2023 i don't know the only person in the room in the whole army for a matter of fact that can answer that question is the executive officer of the sardine major of the army ladies and gentlemen please welcome sardine major christie brady trying to see where as the okay you want to say something oh all right can you everybody hear me okay all right um okay very well actually i will say hey all of that squad stand up the only thing i want to remind you and it really is for all of us is that we exist to fight and win that's it and you represent what it means to be ready for when we say this we will defend and i couldn't be more proud of every single team that participate in this event well done now let's find out who won all right let me first by saying lieutenant general piet thank you so much for being here today the words that you've shared with us the wisdom that you've parted are ones that we will remember always and share um for for centuries and years to come so thank you sir so much i'm so glad that many in the room here today got to hear him speak because i have got to hear him speak over the last year being on the staff and it's sure surely is you know a great honor and very monument awards sir so thank you so good afternoon everybody um as you know sardine major brady the best xo right us immigrants um no but i am extremely proud to be the executive officer to the 17th star major of the army and as all of you have just heard i'm here to announce who the winner who the winners of the best squad competition the nco and the soldier of 2023 will be but to help me with this announcement today i thought i would do it just a little bit differently break the mold just a little bit and bring my battle buddy with me star major as valdo martinez but first but first what a turnout um i don't know if any of you had an opportunity to be here last year um but aside from the fact um from last year this year we were able to bring all 12 squads to compete at the board and to come to a usa so that's that's pretty awesome but i think the real reason for the full crowd today and for standing room only is because you all heard how awesome i am and how extremely funny and charismatic i am right team sma right somebody thinks i am all right okay so today we have 12 commands from across the army who have competed under the most challenging conditions 12 squads 60 soldiers from all over the world 24 states and even an island country of jamaica where you at somewhere out there i know i looked i looked at all your records you got some quiet out there nobody wants okay well star major ready thank you for allowing me to be here with you today and share in the recognition of these outstanding soldiers over the last 11 days these soldiers good job i appreciate it over the last 11 days these soldiers have worked extremely hard with the tenacity and grit and most with a smile as a matter of fact there's one who couldn't take the smile off and that's uh starting first-class kaleb richardson where you at from medcom stand up stand up please and also the the soldier that you saw on the screen specialist posso all right right always smiling so thank you so to acknowledge all that they have done and to get right to the point i want to call out each of the commands and recognition and we ask that you represent each one of these commands as we call them out with your motto and appreciation so get pretty wild get crazy get excited let's everybody let's everybody who's out there wonder what the heck's going on in here so we're going to call each one of the commands and you follow with your model so for example if i say force com you say freedoms guardian cool all right thank you all right here we go team one force com team two trade-off team three afc team four amc team five army national guard team six united states army reserves team seven usara team eight united states army pacific team nine usasak team 10 united states army cyber team 11 medcom and team 12 the military district of washington all right well i gotta tell you so i'm ready i am excited to find out who the winner is and i will tell you i've been for the last couple of days trying to find out and so somebody ready wouldn't share and so i said okay let me come up with some incentive so i offered to pick up the coffee for the office for the next two weeks she said no i said all right i offered to ensure that the office had enough hair gel for the sma for the next four years and as you can imagine it would be a lot of hair gel she said no she said no and then lastly i threw it all out there and i said sir major what if i give you my jalapeno cheese bread for my next mre and she still said no so she has been dedicated to ensuring that the winner remains on the locking key until now so sergeant major you're right sergeant major i was saving an announcement for the exact moment lieutenant general piet would you please join me and the sma all right ladies and gentlemen i'm going to go ahead and get started but i'm going to start with the third and second place team i would like for that those teams to stand up to be recognized and then the number one team will have you come to the stage okay so it was my extreme pleasure and honor to announce the best squad for third place is usurpak the second best squad of 2023 is medcom and finally what you've all been waiting for the best squad of 2023 is united special army united special army united use a sock there you go the members of the squad are staff sergeant ewing sergeant philips specialist maguire specialist monsharka and specialist moon okay the next thing is yes who said that the best xo that's right that's right the best soldier of 2023 is specialist maguire and the best non-commissioned officer of 2023 is sergeant philips i don't know how you follow that i'm a little speechless but let's give those warriors one more big round of applause now normally normally that would be the end of the show but you know what sma he told me we're going to do things bigger and better and we're going to be all you can be i said all right sma i don't know what else i could do he said i want i want more sergeant major i want more so at this time we are proud to present the all-american chorus based out of fort liberty north carolina and led by sarb first class megal davis the all-american chorus embodies the hearts and souls of the paratroopers past and present for the 82nd airborne division compiled from paratroopers across the division the chorus performs traditional cadences americana and select vocal arrangements of popular tunes to uphold the tradition of the airborne legacy as the face of america guard of honor fresh off their america's got talent tour please join me in welcoming the now world famous 82nd airborne all-american chorus ladies and gentlemen what you are about to experience are some of the live actions and commands given inside of a c-130 or c-17 high performance aircraft just before your 82nd airborne division jumps into the darkness of the night off we're going to check tough and tough to the sun to the sun no sweat no sweat not yet mess all on my knees down in the mess hall on my knees i got nothing to eat but a can of beans nothing to eat but a can of beans bread was molded and the meat was bad the bread was molded and the meat was bad well that you can't eat that hey no darn well that you can't eat that here we been tough rough and tough for the way all the way when i was younger always wanted to be in the 82nd airborne my knees in the breeze but now that i'm here i'm going to do it right i'm going to jump from a aircraft while in flight when i picked up my parachute and boarded the plane jump master said one minute to go with a chilling glow and gentlemen we are the 82nd airborne division all-american chorus we hail from the great fort liberty of north carolina which is home of the airborne and the 82nd airborne division is america's guard of honor on behalf of our commanding general major general christopher leneve and our division command sergeant major command sergeant major randolph de la penia we would like to let you know there he is we would like to let you know what an honor and a privilege it is to be singing for you here today but before we begin i must remind you that these individuals standing behind me are not just talented singers they are first and foremost paratroopers for life we have soldiers from the infantry service and support aviation artillery and the core of engineers now the all-american chorus was formed in 1964 and that very same year the temptations released their hit song my girl for 50 years the chorus has been singing this wonderful song and recently we performed it for our initial audition on america's god talent please enjoy this performance i know what you're thinking i should have paid money to come here well there's still a chance no i'm just kidding let's give the 82nd airborne all american chorus another big round of applause you truly do inspire all of us and you made us all proud as you showed the world whose soldiers were on that great american talent show thank you oh well i got nothing left sar major can i close this thing out all right cool thank you sar major and ladies and gentlemen thank you for joining the best certified by the chief of staff of the army event here at the annual meeting a usa what i'd like at this time is if the best squad would please come back forward and as we leave the senior leaders can shake their hands i would ask also that the sponsors that came here today to recognize our best squad remain here so they can give them their accolades for what they've done and to have an opportunity to take pictures ladies and gentlemen thank you for joining us today and we wish you all well and enjoy the rest of the 2023 a usa annual meeting