Local soldier competes for Warrior Soldier of the Year

A local soldier recently competed in the U.S. Army’s “Best of the Best” Warrior Soldier of the Year competition. Pfc. Nicholas Hanson has really made a name for himself in his short military career. It was just a little more than a year ago, that he was roaming the halls of Idaho Falls High School. Eyewitness News anchor Todd Kunz had the chance to talk with the young man through a satellite link. Kunz asked him how he prepared for this and also had a little surprise for Hanson.

“I decided to join the military to be able to push myself in every aspect and the Army offered me the best opportunity to do that,” said Hanson.

“Tell us here in Eastern Idaho, back here at home, what goes into that competition?” said Kunz.

“Over the past few months, I have been training very hard physically, like I said, both in running and ruck marching, building the endurance that’s needed, as well as studying different Army policy to be ready for the board,” said Hanson.

“We’ve got a little surprise here for you if that’s OK? I’m going to turn it over to somebody you might know,” said Kunz.

“That’s fine, sir,” said Hanson.

“Hey Nick, this is dad,” said Scott Hanson, who had been sitting off camera with his wife, Margaret.

“Hey dad, how’s it going?” said Nicholas.

“It’s going great. How’s it going with you?” said Scott.

“Oh it’s going pretty good. Working hard,” said Nicholas.

“It’s been really great to see you live on camera and hear your responses to the interview. And it’s just thrilling to see your success,” said Margaret.

“Thank you very much,” said Nicholas.

“We’ll let you go here. Anything you would like to say here to mom and dad while we’ve got them on the line?” asked Kunz.

“I would just like to thank them for raising me how they did, instilling the discipline that they did at the proper age and raising me to be able to compete in the Best Warrior Competition,” said Nicholas.

“Good luck, Nick,” said Scott. “Take care of business, son.”

“Thank you,” said Nicholas.

“He looked really good,” said Kunz to the parents after the interview was over.

“He did look good,” said Margaret.

“He looked really good. And what were your thoughts as you saw him and got to listen to the interview without him knowing that you were here? What were you thinking?” asked Kunz.

“We’ve just been very excited. We never see him during the competition, so this has been a special treat,” said Margaret.

“What a tribute to mom and dad and how you raised him. Your thoughts?” said Kunz, directing his question to Scott.

“Oh, I don’t know. He turned out pretty good, but hopefully we had something to do with that. Yeah, we’re very proud of him,” said Scott.

“You should be. And I would say that you probably did have a lot to do with that. Glad you could come in and take part in this. It was special. It was a short time, but we got to see him,” said Kunz.

“Thank you so much for the invitation,” said Margaret.

“Thanks a lot,” said Scott.

Pfc. Hanson did not win the title, but he has already won the U.S. Army’s Best Warrior Soldier of the Year in Europe. Pfc. Hanson is assigned to Germany, Airborne Field Artillery.