This Navy Cross recipient just won an award named for one of the baddest Marines ever

The Marines' top general selected Chief Warrant Officer 3 Anthony Viggiani as the next Hulbert Trophy recipient a decade after the gunner's leadership on the battlefield earned him the nation's second-highest valor award.

Viggiani will be receive the Gunner Henry Lewis Hulbert Trophy for Outstanding Leadership for his contributions at Advanced Infantry Training Battalion, School of Infantry – West, where he trains Marines responsible for creating the next generation of infantrymen. The annual accolade is presented to the infantry weapons officer who "most exemplifies outstanding leadership, courage and technical, tactical and doctrinal expertise within the Marine gunner community," according to the award criteria.
The Hulbert Trophy is named for Capt. Henry Lewis Hulbert, a prior-enlisted Medal of Honor recipient who served in Samoa and World War I and is considered the Marine Corps’ first gunner. He was killed in action during the famed battle of Blanc Mont Ridge, France, on Oct. 4, 1918. Hulbert was 51 when he died, and was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for actions in Chateau-Thierry, France, on June 6, 1918, when he "constantly" braved enemy fire "without regard for personal danger, thereby assuring the delivery of supplies."

Viggiani has earned top praise from staff noncommissioned officers and officers at SOI-West after he enhanced two dozen programs of instruction at Advanced Infantry Training Battalion.

Despite his hesitancy to talk about himself, Viggiani’s passion for his profession is evident when he talks of training the Corps' next infantrymen. His advice is direct: Know your craft, and learn from your leaders.

“There is no one thing that outweighs the other, especially when dealing with the techniques, tactics and procedures,” Viggiani told Marine Corps Times. “Amateurs train until they get it right; professionals train until they can’t get it wrong. Never stop learning your craft. This is a profession, not a job.”
While many warrant officers go by the title “gunner,” the term is technically reserved for a handful of infantry weapons experts who bear the bursting bomb on their left collar. Though Viggiani stands among their venerated ranks, he used few words and much humility when speaking of himself. The career infantryman couched his actions as “just doing his job” and “doing what every other gunner would do.”
Viggiani earned the Navy Cross charging an enemy force well entrenched inside a cave in Afghanistan's Zabol province in 2004. A sergeant at the time, Viggiani moved across exposed ground under a hail of machine gun fire to attack a team that had pinned down his squad and wounded two of his Marines. He took out three fighters, which allowed his company to continue their advance up to the rugged ridgeline.
Though shot in the leg, Viggiani continued to lead his Marines in the subsequent attack, which ultimately silenced 14 enemy fighters.

In 2011, Viggiani was also awarded the Mustang Spirit Award when he graduated from The Basic School. The award is presented to the prior-enlisted Marine who best displays leadership and esprit de corps.

Viggiani said serving as a squad leader, platoon sergeant and company gunny helped him hone his tactical skills and informed the leadership skills he now instills in others. He credits winning the Hulbert Trophy to Marines who've influenced his career along the way.

“I would not be here without the support of my family, as well as the staff NCOs and officers at SOI and throughout my career,” said Viggiani, who has deployed to Afghanistan three times, served at the presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland, and on the drill field at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina. He has also served as a gunner in one infantry and two training battalions, and now has orders to Infantry Officer Course at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia. He found out on April 13 that he had won the Hulbert Trophy while waiting for movers to arrive at his house.

“As expected, the competition was exceptionally keen,” Commandant Gen. Robert Neller said in his comments accompanying the official announcement. “All nominees had exemplary records which indicated noteworthy leadership, courage and technical and tactical expertise.”