In this page, we recognize and celebrate the achievements that former Sun Devil Battalion Cadets have accomplished with hard work and dedication throughout their Military careers.
42nd Best Ranger Competition
10-12 April (Fort Benning, GA)
For an Army Ranger to earn his spot in the Best Ranger Competition is something that is not easily achieved. This past April, Army ROTC Alumni CPT Giovanni Barragan Chavez earned the opportunity to participate in one of the most grueling Army competitions in the world.
Held annually at Fort Benning, the Best Ranger Competition is a three-day intense series of events that test the participants' physical and mental limits. In order to be selected to this elite event, the participants have to be graduates of the U.S. Army Ranger School and hold the Ranger tab. Many of the participating commands conduct preliminary competitions to select the teams that will represent them on Fort Benning each year, resulting in only the best Ranger-qualified Soldiers competing.
According to the Army.mil website, it was in July 1981 when the Ranger department was asked to design and conduct a Ranger Olympics to identify the best two-man buddy team.
From its conception, the objective was clear: the competition should place extreme demands on each buddy teams' physical, mental, technical and tactical skills as Rangers. The standards of performance were to test the mettle of those Ranger-qualified Soldiers who dared to compete. The Best Ranger Competition was named in honor of Lt. Gen. David E. Grange Jr., former Ranger instructor and Ranger department director, and who, at one time, commanded Fort Benning, Ga., the 2nd Infantry Division, and the U.S. Sixth Army.
The very first Best Ranger Competition took place in 1982 where buddy teams from each of the three Ranger department divisions competed against each other. The competition expanded when teams from the Ranger battalions and special operation units through the Army were able to participate.
In 1985, the competition was further expanded to include light infantry units, and by 1987, the increased interest in the competition resulted in an Army-wide invitation to all units with Ranger-coded positions.
In 2025, the competition welcomed its first female competitor, 1st Lt. Gabrielle White, who placed 14th with her teammate, Capt. Seth Deltenre.
This year’s 42nd Annual competition hosted 61 teams from different units around the Country. CPT Barragan Chavez (right on the above picture) represented the Honor Guard Unit alongside SFC Alexander Jackson. CPT Barragan commissioned from the Sun Devil Battalion in Spring of 2020 and graduated from ASU with a Bachelor of Science in Criminology and Criminal Justice.
Congratulation CPT Barragan Chavez for being part of such a prestigious competition!
As part of his training as an officer of the US Armed Forces, ASU Army ROTC Alumni 1LT Hayden Shedd recently graduated from the SAPPER Leadership Development Course.
1LT Shedd explains that SAPPER is a demanding 28 day leadership development course for combat engineers that trains in troop leading procedures, demolitions, mountaineering operations, and culminates with an intense field exercise. The course took place at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri from November to December of 2025. He indicates that it was more difficult than expected, but nonetheless he learned a lot about himself and how he has the grit to see it all the way through. He adds that most importantly, this is not an individual school: one earns the right to wear the tab because other ones help to earn it, thus is important to be a leader and pay it forward to those to your left and right.
1LT Shedd commissioned from ASU on 8 May of 2024 as a Distinguished Military Graduate and branched with the Corps of Engineer. During his time as a Sun Devil Battalion Cadet, he served as the Company Commander for the Charlie Company during his senior year. During his 3 years with the Battalion, he accumulated several memories, but the ones that stand out were being part of the Veterans Parades and the Waste Management Open (WMO) as a volunteer. 1TL Shedd opines that those events really helped the Sun Devil Battalion get close to the community but also with each other.
Almost two years into being sworn an Officer of the United States Army, 1LT Shedd indicates that the aspect he enjoys the most about being an Officer of the Army is his role as Platoon Leader. “Getting to be with Soldiers every day, developing junior Soldiers, and going through tough training together really makes life as an officer that much more fun and rewarding. Got to deploy to the Southern Border where I took over my platoon last August and since then, I have the utmost pride in being their PL, “ he concludes.