Over the course of two days, four career counselors from across the U.S. Army Military District of Washington (USAMDW) competed in a series of challenges in order to earn a spot in the Secretary of the Army Career Counselor of the Year competition that will take place at the Pentagon in April.

Participants of this year’s competition included Sgt. 1st Class Stephen Hughes of Fort Meade, Sgt. 1st Class Terry Turner of 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard), Sgt. 1st Class Michael Borchardt and Staff Sgt. Donavan Glasgow, both of Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall.

This competition highlights the vital role career counselors play in Army readiness as they continuously guide Soldiers in making key career decisions.

Sgt. 1st Class Hughes was announced the overall winner Thursday morning and will continue on to the next competition in April. But this wasn’t Hughes’s first time winning the competition at USAMDW.

“Well, I won last year as well,” he said explaining that he was not able to compete at the Secretary of the Army competition in 2024 due to a scheduling conflict for a Senior Leaders Course. “So, this whole past year I was just on a ‘study, study, study — I’m coming back and I’m going to win because I want to go to the Pentagon,’ like I was supposed to.”

The competition included an Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT), a 50-question timed exam, a mystery event to test participants’ abilities to adapt under pressure, and lastly, a question-and-answer session in front of a formal board of five Senior Noncommissioned Officers, including USAMDW Command Sgt. Maj. Vern Daley.

Board members asked the participants a series of regulation and situational-based questions. The final decision was made based on the participant’s uniform, appearance, oral communication, confidence, composure, and military customs and courtesies.

“I’m not, personally, a fan of military boards,” Hughes said. “It’s like you’re in front of these people and they’re all just staring at you. It’s a very stressful environment, but there’s value in doing something hard simply because it’s hard, especially when it gives you all this return on investment of your time and efforts.”

And now the members of that board will be able to help Hughes study for the competition in April. He plans to study about an hour a day and adjust his ACFT training plan for maximum benefits.

“I learned a lot studying for last year, and I learned quite a bit more studying for this year, just new things constantly,” Hughes said. “I’m always learning something new from just studying, talking to my peers, talking to my mentors. So, I would say that any career counselor should at least compete once in a Career Counselor of the Year board at whatever level.”

Winning the competition at the Pentagon would be an honor, but Hughes is simply excited to compete at the highest level.

Hughes joined the Army in 2009. For the first ten years of his career, Hughes worked as a 91W Metal Worker. Hughes decided to stay in the Army because of leadership that valued his strengths and invested in him.

He eventually become an NCO and a career counselor after a counselor at his unit suggested he look into it.

Throughout the years, Hughes has learned many lessons from situations and leaders, both positive and negative. But there has always been one piece of advice a command sergeant major told him early on in his career.

“The most important thing you do as a noncommissioned officer is take care of your Soldiers,” he said, stating that sentiment has stayed with him over the years. “I really enjoy encouraging people to make good choices for themselves and their family.”