USAACE honors Instructors of the Year for FY2019

The U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence recognized its Instructors of the Year for Fiscal Year 2019 in a ceremony at the U.S. Army Aviation Museum here Dec. 19.

Each quarter, supervisors nominate academic instructors, instructor pilots and noncommissioned officer flight instructors from around the USAACE community, including the Warrant Officer Career College, School of Army Aviation Medicine, USAACE Noncommissioned Officer Academy - Fort Rucker, USAACE Noncommissioned Officer Academy - Fort Eustis, and U.S. Army Combat Readiness/ Safety Center, for the honor of competing for Instructor of the Quarter.

The Instructors of the Year are determined from the quarterly winners. They are evaluated on quality of instruction, quality of materials developed and used, and quality of their presentation.

The FY 2019 winners are:

• The Officer Academic Instructor of the Year is Capt. Kimberly A. Smith, D Company, 1st Battalion, 145th Aviation Regiment, 1st Aviation Brigade.

• The Officer Flight Instructor of the Year is Chief Warrant Officer Three Aaron J. Moss, A Company 1st Battalion, 14th Aviation Regiment, 110th Aviation Brigade.

• The Warrant Officer Academic Instructor of the Year is Chief Warrant Officer Two Cody S. Dodge, B Company, 1st Battalion, 145th Aviation Regiment, 1st Aviation Brigade.

• The Noncommissioned Officer Flight Instructor of the Year is Sgt. 1st Class Roberto Landa, A Company, 1st Battalion, 223rd Aviation Regiment, 110th Aviation Brigade.

• The Noncommissioned Officer Academic Instructor of the Year is Staff Sgt. Ben Adams, C Company 2nd Battalion, 13th Aviation Regiment, 1st Aviation Brigade.

• The Civilian Academic Instructor of

the Year is Rodney A. Dippel, Enroute Care Branch, School of Army Aviation Medicine.

• The Civilian Instructor Pilot of the Year is Fred Polidore, D Company 1st Battalion, 14th Aviation Regiment, 110th Aviation Brigade.

Maj. Gen. David J. Francis, USAACE and Fort Rucker commanding general, hosted the ceremony and presented the awards.

"We always say, we are not going to put somebody in front of Soldiers to train them that isn't highly qualified, and today what we're going to get to see are the very best of those," Francis said in his remarks.

Francis commended the winners as "inspiring leaders that are training the future of Army Aviation here every day. They epitomize the type of instructor that we need as we continue to endure periods of fiscal uncertainty that impact our Army, and as we transition our force from largely counter insurgency operations to large scale ground combat operations."

"That is a critical piece of where we are today. So, what an exciting time to be part of this branch, what an exciting time to be an instructor in our branch, and we're going to recognize the very best of those here today," he said.

Francis emphasized the importance of resourcing not only the technically and tactically proficient instructors, but leaders in their respective fields, because their example and efforts ensure the organization is able to train professional Aviation warriors who are mentally, spiritually and physically fit.

Francis noted the individual strength of character of the instructors.

"You simply can't fake the passion, the understanding and the sheer drive that those represented up here today demonstrate. We can only be as successful as our instructors and leaders by taking a genuine and personal interest in their success," he said.

Every combat aviation leader passes through Fort Rucker's gates, including the Army's current Chief of Staff Gen. James. C. McConville, who formerly sat in the same seats as Fort Rucker students sit in today.

"His instructors inspired him. You are inspiring the future leaders of the Aviation branch and our Army, and for that we applaud you," Francis said.

Each of the winners received a USAACE Certificate of Achievement for excellence in training that cited the professionalism, dedication to duty and technical expertise of the instructors. They also received gifts and professional journals from sponsoring organizations.

Also recognized during the ceremony was Capt. Abraham J. Johnson, formerly of D Company, 1st Battalion, 145th Aviation Regiment, 1st Aviation Brigade. Johnson represented USAACE and competed at the TRADOC level where he placed 2nd runner up in the TRADOC level Officer Academic Instructor of the Year competition for FY2018.

The USAACE mission is to train, educate and develop combat aviation leaders and integrate indispensable aviation capabilities across the warfighting functions in support of commanders and Soldiers on the ground.