First annual Redleg Competition begins at Fort Sill

For over 200 years, the U.S. Army’s Field Artillery has had a history of being the most lethal of all the combat arms and branches, earning it the nickname, “King of Battle.”

Now there’s a competition to see which Field Artillery soldier is the best.

Fort Sill held it’s opening ceremonies for its 1st annual Best Redleg Competition Thursday. The actual competition begins today and goes through May 14.

Like winning an award for your accomplishments, the 1st annual Best Redleg Competition searches for the Best Field Artillery soldier in the world. Redleg meaning a soldier wearing red on their bodies, identifying them as an artillery soldier.

Brigadier General Rory Crooks said the competition was in honor of General Raymond T. Odierno, who was the former Chief of Staff of the Army and a great Redleg.

“This is in his honor to show the best of the best throughout the U.S. Army,” Crooks said.

Crooks said the competition was in the works for a long time.

“We finally got the right support, the right decisions made and the things put in place to make all this come together,” Crooks said.

Crooks said there’s no other logical place to have the competition other than Fort Sill.

“Based on where the Center of Excellence is, this is the home of the subject matter expertise of [field artillery],” Crooks said. “Everybody cycles through Fort Sill at some point in time for their training, so to have everybody come back here on a common playing field, it made the most sense.”

Crooks said the competition will be grueling.

“They’re going to be physically challenged, their testing is going to test their skills,” Crooks said. “They’re going to show those skills in comparison with their field artillery brethren across the Army, day and night.”

Crooks said there are 15 organizations who are competing in the competition who are dispersed throughout the world.

“It’s really a big commitment of time and energy,” Crooks said. “All of these organizations are missing these soldiers, but they know it’s important enough for them to demonstrate what they have and to represent their units well in this competition.”

Crooks said the soldiers competing proved they’re the best of the best in their units.

“Every home station, every organization has their own criteria that they had to meet,” Crooks said. “These individuals were screened by each one of those organizations, whether it was widespread competitions or if it was an assessment.”

“Just watching these dedicated soldiers that came here from across the world to be here and watch them march into formation just makes the hair on your arms stand up,” Crooks said.