FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. — Maneuver Support Center of Excellence senior leaders recognized four Fort Leonard Wood recipients of the Greater St. Louis Federal Executive Board 2020 Excellence in Government Awards Wednesday in Hoge Hall.
Staff Sgt. Travis Linden, a senior drill sergeant assigned to Company D, 554th Engineer Battalion, won the Individual Community Service Award; Jeffrey Bishop, supervisory training specialist at the U.S. Army Military Police School, won the Junior Leadership Award; David Pape, chief of simulations and digital instruction at the Digital Training Facility, won the Senior Administrative Award; and Air Force Master Sgt. Timothy Brady and James Muncy accepted the Trade Team Award on behalf of the 368th Training Squadron’s Ground Transportation Technical Training School.
The awards were presented by Maj. Gen. James Bonner, MSCoE and Fort Leonard Wood commanding general, and Gregg Thompson, MSCoE deputy to the commanding general.
According to FEB officials, the annual awards honor “the outstanding efforts of federal employees and military personnel.”
Thompson hosted the ceremony, and called the awards “a big deal.”
“These are not Fort Leonard Wood awards,” he said. “These awards are issued by the federal government; the Office of Personnel Management actually approves these awards … It’s a great reflection on Fort Leonard Wood, the team here and the quality of the folks we have.”
Linden, who lives in Plato, Mo., volunteers time in his local community to assist with an after-school robotics program, teaching the mechanics of hydraulic systems. He also teaches lessons on basic problem solving and engineering, and helped students design and build a water cannon during a summer school program. In addition, Linden assisted his local community center by improving and maintaining their baseball diamond and building an outdoor volleyball court.
Bishop is entrusted with the safety of service members and Department of Defense civilians at the Protective Services Training Course, which provides competency in aspects related to protection of DOD executives and key government leaders. Bishop’s initiatives resulted in a 20-percent increase in graduates, which Thompson called “a significant accomplishment” under manpower constraints and other inconveniences.
Pape is the primary lead for the development, scheduling and monitoring of all events occurring at the Digital Training Facility here. His impact has resulted in a steady increase in service members and DOD civilians trained, coinciding with a steady decline in funding and resourcing. Pape’s initiative and interactions with other DOD organizations contributed to the modernization of more than 400 computer stations in the facility — ahead of schedule and within budget.
The Air Force Ground Transportation Technical Training School here has revamped and improved training in line with Department of Transportation and DOD requirements regarding the operation of commercial motor vehicles. Graduating Airmen are taught to the standard of being able to successfully pass the Commercial Driver License test. Key tasks included writing curriculum, designing road routes, setting up basic control skills courses and creating performance objectives.
The Greater St. Louis FEB — which includes a region spanning eastern Missouri, southern Illinois and southwestern Kentucky — was one of the original 10 established by President John F. Kennedy in 1961, for the purpose of unifying the efforts of government agencies and enabling them to increase the effective and efficient delivery of services. Today, 28 FEBs are overseen by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
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