USAICoE Announces 2017 Distinguished Instructor of the Year

Fort Huachuca, Arizona -- The United States Army Intelligence Center of Excellence (USAICoE) announced the winner of the 2017 Distinguished Instructor of the Year during a ceremony held at the Military Intelligence Soldier's Heritage Learning Center on Oct. 27.

Maj. Gen. Robert Walters, Commander of USAICoE and Fort Huachuca, presided over the ceremony.

"USAICoE trains and educates over 9,000 service members a year at Fort Huachuca," said Maj. Gen. Walters. "This responsibility falls upon the hundreds of instructors that come to work early and go home late in order to ensure their students are properly educated. These instructors are integral to Military Intelligence, shaping the development of young Soldiers, Warrant Officers and Officers prior to going out to the deployable force."

The Distinguished Instructor of the Year competition highlights those outstanding instructors who produce highly skilled, intelligence ready professionals for the force. Instructors who compete are selected by their Brigade or the Noncommissioned Officers Academy, who are then evaluated by seasoned and certified USAICoE evaluators, using the USAICoE Instructor Performance Evaluation Rubric. Based on those scores and an overall evaluation, the winner is determined.

Chief Warrant Officer Byron Morales, from the 304th Military Intelligence Battalion, was recognized as this year's USAICoE Distinguished Instructor of the Year. His award citation states Morales "excelled at engaging students, questioning for understanding, and using the tenets of the Army Learning Model to provide superior instruction in a learner-centric environment."

"Teaching W2s (Warrant Officer 2) and W3s (Warrant Officer 3) is challenging, but it is also rewarding," said Morales. "This job is not really about ourselves, it is about the students and ensuring the MI Brand is sent out to the force ready and able to assist his or her commander with the best intelligence available."

Morales will be accompanied by Capt. Tyler Schauer and Staff Sgt. Kevin Cuiksa in representing USAICoE at the FY17 TRADOC Instructor of the Year completion, at the Active Duty Commissioned Officer, Active Duty Warrant Officer, and Active Duty Noncommissioned Officer Instructor of the Year categories, later this year. This is the first time USAICoE will be competing in three separate categories.