1-116th NCO named top enlisted graduate at Ranger School
After months of grueling effort, Staff Sgt. Matthew Dawson, a sniper team leader in the Virginia Army National Guard, completed Ranger School, earned the coveted Ranger Tab and was named the enlisted honor graduate for his Ranger School course.
Dawson started Ranger School with 328 other Soldiers, graduated as one of 71 to avoid a recycle and was one of only three National Guard Soldiers to graduate with his class of 125 total graduates. Dawson’s father, who earned his own tab in 1990, was there to congratulate his son and pin his tab Jan. 27, 2023, at Fort Benning, Georgia.
“My father is my hero and now to share and be a part of this great brotherhood with him has me lost for words,” Dawson said. His father, Dawson explained, served as an infantry officer for 33 years and completed nine deployments over the course of his career and retired as a lieutenant colonel.
For much of 2022, Dawson was deployed to the Horn of Africa with Task Force Red Dragon. That, he said, set him up for success. Dawson traveled to Fort Benning immediately following his deployment.