Army cancels Best Squad Competition due to shutdown

The Army has cancelled its annual Best Squad Competition this month due to the federal government-wide shutdown, officials said. The competition was planned to get underway this weekend at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, with the winners announced at the annual Association of the U.S. Army conference in Washington D.C. later this month.

Army officials said Friday they were looking into rescheduling the event but did not specify a date.

The annual competition was scheduled for Oct. 2-13, with field events at Fort Bragg, North Carolina and formal interviews in Washington D.C. The competition pits a roughly a dozen five-soldier teams that have won qualifying events within their major Army command. Over the course of several days at Fort Bragg, the teams were to face tests in a wide range of field and combat skills, including timed ruck marches and land navigations, marksmanship and expertise across a wide range of infantry weapons, and formal interview boards.

A squad from Army Pacific won the 2024 competition, dethroning the 75th Ranger Regiment, whose squads had won the previous two years. The competitors include squads from traditional combat and maneuver units, like Special Operations Command, Army Forces Command and Army Pacific, but also teams from support-focused units like the medical and intelligence corps.

The event also selects the Army’s Soldier of the Year from among junior soldiers in the competition and NCO of the Year from team leaders.

Squads from traditional infantry units generally dominate the event’s over scoreboard each year, but individual soldiers from support units often win individual awards.

The competition has grown in prominence across the service in recent years with more units participating in local and command-level qualifying events. Army leaders have taken to using the spotlight of the winner’s announcement at AUSA to launch force-wide changes or new programs. Senior officials used the announcement of the winners in 2022 to announced revamped fitness standards and an overhaul of wellness.