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 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.

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 speaks 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.”