Sion Owens, a 2019 graduate of Tahoma High School, recently completed basic training and Advanced Infantry Training in the Army National Guard at Fort Benning, Georgia.
Owens enlisted in October 2018, just after the beginning of his senior year. He participated in drills one weekend each month thereafter in preparation for basic training. His hard work paid off. Leaving for Fort Benning this past July 15 and only ten days after his eighteenth birthday, Owens graduated at the top of his class.
He was one of five recruits singled out by the captain and lieutenant colonel in earning the prestigious Excellence In Armor Award and he held, for the final two weeks of basic training, the coveted position of Platoon Guide. The award inscription reads that Owens exhibited an “outstanding display of professionalism, motivation, performance, and potential.” He demonstrated “the ability to learn tasks designed for Soldiers higher than [his] grade level” while doing so with “technical and tactical proficiency, and discipline.”
On a visit home for Thanksgiving, Owens commented that his experience in the Army has “exceeded his expectations, allowing him to prove to himself that he could meet and overcome the greatest of challenges”—that he “could do it and even more.” The 19 Delta Cavalry Scout is currently awaiting assignment. He is the son of Aisha Owens of Maple Valley and Marc Owens of California. .
