FALLS CHURCH, Va.: An Army Medicine Soldier was named the U.S. Army's Best Shooter for 2022. Spc. Paulo DaSilva, Jr., a 68W combat medic, excelled in the Army's recent Best Squad Competition to receive the honor. Da Silva is assigned to the Medical Readiness Command West's Reynolds Army Health Clinic at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
The Army's Inaugural Best Squad Competition, replacing the Best Warrior Competition, was held at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and Washington, D.C., from Sept. 29-Oct. 7. The Army's Soldier and NCO of the Year were also named. The NCO of the Year was also an Army Medicine Soldier — Sgt. Garrett Paulson.
DaSilva said the Best Squad firing range was the most challenging one he'd ever seen.
“It was at an upward angle. There was lots of greenery that made it hard to see the targets because they blend into the surroundings.” It was also an overcast day, he said.
“I was confident in my shots. Although I excelled against my peers in the train up, I didn't expect to win. I was pretty stoked to learn I'd won against such high-caliber competitors as the Special Forces and the Infantry,” he said.
DaSilva shared that the Army Medicine squad was highly motivated, went into the competition to win, and worked hard in their training to improve.
“It really started within for all of us. We all had a drive. We spent our training time focusing on the areas in which we needed more help. I focused on shooting movement and land navigation. Shooting the M4 clicked with me and became an area I excelled in. We had good training and resources. I was in awe of the caliber of people who were training us,” he said.
Spc. Paulo DaSilva has only been in the Army for two years and is currently doing his first permanent party assignment. He ended up in the competition because one of his leaders saw his potential as a good competitor. DaSilva said he was “volun-told” to compete. The rigorous training leading up to the competition included early morning physical training, high-intensity workouts, weightlifting, ruck marching, obstacle courses, and land navigation.
“We showed up as Army Medicine Soldiers,” he said. “Everything got thrown at us, not just medical. We had a lot of determination to show that MEDCOM is not to be taken lightly in this competition.”
Before joining the Army, DaSilva had been a painter, a maintenance man, a casino supervisor, a CNC machine operator, and even did body piercings. He said he chose an Army medical career because of his religious background.
“I didn't want to be striking anybody,” he said. “I didn't want to be Infantry. Being a [68] Whiskey helped me save some Soldiers instead of taking people out. I wanted to help some Soldiers and become one,” said DaSilva.
The 30-year-old Californian has been married for two years, and he and his wife are expecting their first child in the coming weeks.
DaSilva said if he had a choice of future assignments, he would love to go to Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington State or to the 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii.
Story and photo by Stephanie Abdullah
Additional photo by PFC Hans Williams
Awesome
What are they doing to the rest of the troops if the conscientious objector is shooting better than them? In most cases, he probably wouldn’t even be called upon to shoot at the enemy, and would he if he had to? Like an episode of The Deputy where the lowly shop keeper can outdraw and outshoot the gun slingers who routinely happen by Silver City. I commend him for his marksmanship but his CO’s might need to work on bringing the rest of the “team” up to his level of performance before they turn them loose on China or Russia. Maybe they don’t really have any plans to defend the country any more. Seems like their moron in chief has given up on the southern border and telling Europe where they can stick their new world order, WEF, or environmental activism. Biden has done everything but brag about his capitulation of the US to the commies, international banking, Klaus Schwab, and the EU. But he will before too long. He can’t help himself.