Winners of the 2024 Inspector General of the Year Competition stand with Army Inspector General senior leaders during an awards ceremony at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, April 25, 2024. From left are William E. Jenkins, Principal Director to The Inspector General for Inspections; Lt. Gen. Donna W. Martin, The Inspector General; Justin Meissner, civilian category winner; Maj. Corey Langhammer, officer category winner; Sgt. 1st Class Carmen Robinson, noncommissioned officer category winner; Brig. Gen. James Dooghan, Deputy, The Inspector General; and Sgt. Maj. Delia Quintero, the Inspector General sergeant major. (U.S. Army photo by Thomas Ruyle)
FORT BELVOIR, Virginia – The 2024 Inspector General of the Year (IGOY) Competition was held from 23-25 April at The Army Inspector General School (TIGS). More than 30 civilian, officer, and NCO Inspectors General from around the globe and representing all Army Components participated in the competition.
The winners were Justin Meissner, U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, civilian category; Maj. Corey Langhammer, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kansas, officer category; and Sgt. 1st Class Carmen Robinson, XVIII Airborne Corps, Fort Liberty, North Carolina, noncommissioned officer category.
Justin Meissner, an inspector general with the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, won the civilian category of the 2024 Inspector General of the Year competition at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, April 25, 2024. (U.S. Army photo by Thomas Ruyle)
U.S. Army Maj. Corey Langhammer, an inspector general assigned to the 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kansas, won the officer category of the 2024 Inspector General of the Year Competition at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, April 25, 2024. (U.S. Army photo by Thomas Ruyle)
U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Carmen Robinson, an inspector general assigned to XVIII Airborne Corps, Fort Liberty, North Carolina, won the noncommissioned officer category of the 2024 Inspector General of the Year Competition at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, April 25, 2024. (U.S. Army photo by Thomas Ruyle)
The three winners will be honored at the Worldwide IG Conference in Little Rock, Arkansas, planned for July.
Sgt. Maj. Delia Quintero, the Inspector General sergeant major, said the biggest change from previous IGOY competitions was relocating to TIGS. “This is where it all started for Inspectors General and our competitors,” she said. All Army IGs complete a three-week basic course at TIGS before moving on to an IG assignment.
Before the competition, the participants toured the National Museum of the U.S. Army and had an informal social to get to know each other.
Competitors were tested on their skills in the four IG functions of Assistance, Investigations, Inspections, and Teaching and Training. An additional ‘Mystery Event,’ a timed data-call scenario, further tested their IG acumen.
From left, U.S. Army Inspector General of the Year (IGOY) competitors Kevin Holt, assigned to First Army; Sgt. 1st Class Victoria Ward, assigned to the U.S. Army Reserve Command; and Maj. Kiana Jones, assigned to Army Contracting Command, complete a skill test April 24, 2024, at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. More than 30 IGs from around the Army competed for the IGOY title in the civilian, officer, and noncommissioned officer categories. (U.S. Army photo by Thomas Ruyle)
Six competitors in each category were selected to appear before a board on Day 2 to determine the overall winners. Board members grilled each contestant on IG expertise, their Army background, and how they approach certain situations that arise in IG work.
Langhammer noted the board event presented a new challenge for him. “While I knew I was doing well, appearing before a board is something officers don’t do regularly. It gave me a glimpse of what our enlisted Soldiers experience,” he said.
“(The board) was the area where experience mattered most,” said Meissner, who retired from the Army as a colonel in 2023 and continued his IG service as a civilian. “The grading rubric likely had ‘book answers,’ but this was where you could show how your experience shapes your response beyond the checklists to account for the wide variety of matters presented to the IG.”
U.S. Army Brig. Gen. James Dooghan, left, Deputy, The Inspector General, returns a salute from Maj. Gregory Wardwell, right, the Command Inspector General of the 7th Army Training Command, during the Inspector General of the Year (IGOY) competition at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, April 25, 2024. Wardwell, one of 30 competitors, was reporting to a panel of senior IG officers for the board portion of the event. (U.S. Army photo by Thomas Ruyle)
Albert LaBella, an IG with the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, served as a panel member on the civilian board for a second consecutive year. He remarked on the tight competition.
“The level of competition for the panel should always be close as it has been the past two years. There was no clear-cut winner this year, so every aspect of the panel process counted,” LaBella said.
Robinson said she was in ‘disbelief’ when she was announced as a winner.
“The competition I faced at the IGOY was formidable and it was really anyone’s competition. Most importantly, I walked away with stronger tech channels (IG network) after spending the week with my fellow competitors from across the IG enterprise,” she said.
She said the IGOY strengthens the IG profession. “My advice to an IG considering participation in the IGOY is to just do it. Everyone who competed is better for it and left the competition a better IG.”
Quintero issued a challenge to IGs considering competing in 2025: “If you are a subject matter expert in your craft, I challenge you to enter the IGOY, test yourself against your peers and shine!
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