Horvath tabbed Nevada Army Guard NCO of Year

Dick Benoit

Thursday, Feb. 13, 2003 | 9:03 a.m.

Army Sgt. Tamas Horvath of Las Vegas has been named the top non-commissioned officer in the Nevada Army National Guard for 2002.

Horvath works for C Troop, 1st/221st Cavalry based in Las Vegas. He received the award from Brig. Gen. Randall Sayre, commander of the Nevada Guard; Lt. Col. Steven Spitze, the 1st/221st Cavalry commander; and Command Sgt. Maj. Steve Sitton, the senior enlisted soldier in the Nevada Guard.

Horvath, 25, has spent four of his seven years in the National Guard with Nevada's 1st/221st and is set to become a master gunner, which means he has attained the highest level of gunnery expertise in C troop.

Horvath, who moved to Pennsylvania from Hungary as a teenager, graduated from Tunkhannock High School in 1996 and spent three years in the Pennsylvania National Guard to begin his military career. In 2002 Horvath earned a commendation award for his performance during Basic Non-commissioned Officer Course at Camp Williams, Utah.

Horvath went through a lengthy selection process to earn his accolade. He excelled at both a squadron board and a statewide final board that included a series of military questions concerning leadership, Army values, strength maintenance and the welfare and care of soldiers. Finalists were also evaluated on appearance, military bearing, self-confidence oral and conversational skills.

New commander

The command of the nearly 2,000 soldiers in the Nevada Army National Guard changed hands Feb. 1 when Brig. Gen. Randall Sayre replaced retiring Brig. Gen. Robert Hayes. As commander, Sayre also now serves as assistant adjutant general for Nevada.

A Carson City resident, he became the highest- ranking officer in the Nevada Army National Guard after serving as deputy commander since 1997. Sayre's previous assignments include stints as battalion commander, detachment commander, operations officer and section leader.

Sayre is a 1975 graduate of the University of Nevada, Reno, and earned a master's degree from Golden Gate University in 1980. The longtime citizen soldier works full time as the chief of investigations for the Nevada Gaming Commission and state Gaming Control Board.

In brief

All four of the new Marines began their training at 5 a.m. daily by running three miles and performing calisthenics. In addition to the physical conditioning program, they spent numerous hours in classroom and field assignments that included learning first aid, uniform regulations, combat water survival, marksmanship, hand-to-hand combat and assorted weapons training.