WEST POINT, N.Y. - U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) presented the inaugural Army Warfighting Challenges Award (AWFC) for West Point Projects Day 2016 Thursday during the Department of Systems Engineering Spring Awards Ceremony at Mahan Hall.
Maj. Gen. Rex A. Spitler, Deputy Chief of Staff for TRADOC, presented the award to Cadets Henry Etchberger, Cody Guerry, Matt Loza and David Williams, and their advisor Maj. Paul Santamaria, for their project, the Multi Mission Launcher Magazine Manager Algorithm.
Spitler, along with other senior officers from TRADOC and Centers of Excellence, traveled to West Point April 28 for Projects Day 2016. Their goal was to find the project that would best address Army War Fighting Challenges.
"One of the things that the Army, TRADOC specifically, is developing is the doctrine for the Army future," Spitler said. "But we're also responsible for making sure we provide the recommended equipment, we identify the right kind of equipment for the Army to utilize in the field, not only for today, but for the future, and the cadets today were given opportunities to provide projects to address certain Army Warfighting Challenges."
There are 20 Army Warfighting Challenges that the Army has identified and over 350 cadet projects that offered solutions to those challenges. With the help of U.S. Military Academy faculty, they were able to narrow down the selection pool to ten outstanding projects, eventually picking one.
"We identified the number one project that we think will be able to help us meet our requirements of the Army today and of the future, as well as to really recognize excellence here at the Academy," Spitler said. "I got to tell you, I am really excited about the projects recognized today."
During the ceremony, Spitler recognized the winning project with a plaque that will be displayed at the U.S. Military Academy Jefferson Hall Library. He also presented certificates and coins to the Honorable Mention projects.
Col. Denton Knapp, TRADOC Liaison Officer to the U.S. Military Academy noted that the collaboration between the Academy, TRADOC and Centers of Excellence can help to solve Army problems and this award helps to highlight that connection. In addition, the end result helps both the Army and the Academy's cadets.
"What we are able to do with these, now, is expand on the cadets' research and as they go out into the Army, hopefully continue that passion they have to help the Army's solutions," Knapp said. "So it's not just for today, but also for the future Army."
The advisor for the Multi Mission Launcher, Maj. Paul Santamaria, is thrilled about the award and the work that his team put forth.
"I think we've been doing a great job here in our department, reaching out, not just to the Academy, but to the broader perspective in the Army and showing them that we can provide them with great engineering products and at the same time, our students can learn," Santamaria said. "The future of this award and the future of this relationship between the academy and TRADOC is just really exciting."
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