TRADOC recognizes 2014 Instructors of the Year

FORT EUSTIS, Va. -- U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command leaders recognized the command's best instructors in a not-so-traditional way during a ceremony here May 12.

The 2014 TRADOC Instructors of the Year received their awards in person, and their congratulations via video teleconference during a ceremony broadcast from the headquarters' Morelli Auditorium.

After each awardee received an engraved plaque, four-star note, coin and certificate of achievement, TRADOC's commanding general congratulated them and explained the importance of their role in the Army.

"Our greatest asset in TRADOC, the institutional Army, is our instructors," said Gen. David G. Perkins, TRADOC commanding general. "We talk about the essential characteristics of the profession and the stewardship of the profession -- that's what instructors do."

From the thousands of instructors throughout TRADOC, the pool was narrowed down to 70 candidates who teach at centers of excellence and Army schools throughout the command, National Guard and Army Reserve. Of the 70, seven were selected for demonstrating exceptional technical knowledge, communication skills and classroom management techniques.

"We're recognizing you, personally, as excellent. We're also recognizing your particular function in Training and Doctrine Command, which is regenerating the Army day in and day out … You are producing the envy of the world," he said.

Perkins commended the award winners for setting the standard not only for the students, but for other instructors as well.

"This is what right looks like," he said. "If you can be what this instructor is, then you can be a professional Soldier."

The 2014 TRADOC Instructors of the Year are:

Educator of the Year: Dr. Phillip G. Pattee, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

Officer Instructor of the Year: Chaplain (Maj.) Thomas J. Faichney, Army Logistics University, Fort Lee, Virginia

Warrant Officer Instructor of the Year: Chief Warrant Officer 3 Luis O. Martinez, U.S. Army Field Artillery School, Fort Sill, Oklahoma

Noncommissioned Officer Instructor of the Year: Staff Sgt. Jo D. Schaus, U.S. Army Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear School, 3rd Chemical Brigade, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri

Civilian Instructor of the Year: Barbara E. Srimoungchanh, Adjutant General School, Soldier Support Institute, Fort Jackson, South Carolina

Army National Guard Instructor of the Year: Staff Sgt. Ashley B. Porter, Mississippi Army National Guard, 3rd Noncommissioned Officer Academy, 154th Regiment (Regional Training Institute), Camp Shelby, Mississippi

U.S. Army Reserve Instructor of the Year: Sgt. 1st Class Raymundo Soto, Headquarters, 80th Training Command (The Army School System), Col. Ernest H. Dervishian U.S. Army Reserve Center, North Chesterfield, Virginia

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