MSCoE names its top military, civilian instructors of the year at awards ceremony

By Brian Hill, Fort Leonard Wood Public Affairs OfficeJune 22, 2023

The Maneuver Support Center of Excellence honored its fiscal year 2022 instructors of the year during a ceremony on Wednesday in Lincoln Hall Auditorium. Brig. Gen. Sarah Albrycht, U.S. Army Military Police School commandant, presented the awards...
The Maneuver Support Center of Excellence honored its fiscal year 2022 instructors of the year during a ceremony on Wednesday in Lincoln Hall Auditorium. Brig. Gen. Sarah Albrycht, U.S. Army Military Police School commandant, presented the awards alongside MSCoE and Fort Leonard Wood Command Sgt. Maj. Jorge Arzabala. Pictured, from left, are Albrycht; Sgt. 1st Class Tucker Powers, MSCoE NCO Academy; Marine Staff Sgt. Willy Rodriguez, Marine Corps Detachment Engineer Equipment Instruction Company; Richard Vengels, U.S. Army Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear School; Chief Warrant Officer 3 Jesse Zbinden-Brassard, USAMPS, who also won U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command Instructor of the Year; Scott Henshaw, USAMPS; Staff Sgt. Danielle Rucker, USACBRNS; Mark Bruce, U.S. Army Engineer School; Staff Sgt. Angela Rutherford, USAMPS; Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jeremy Montgomery, USAES; Capt. Aleksandrs Schuler, USAES; and Arzabala. (Photo Credit: Photo by Brian Hill, Fort Leonard Wood Public Affairs Office) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. — Maneuver Support Center of Excellence leaders recognized the center’s fiscal year 2022 military and civilian instructors of the year during an awards ceremony Wednesday in Lincoln Hall Auditorium.

Brig. Gen. Sarah Albrycht, U.S. Army Military Police School commandant, presented the awards alongside MSCoE and Fort Leonard Wood Command Sgt. Maj. Jorge Arzabala.

Albrycht thanked the command teams, family and friends in attendance for helping in “recognizing these outstanding individuals.”

“I want to say a special thanks to our family members because, like I was just saying to our instructors, it takes a lot of time to do what they do,” Albrycht said. “They don’t just invest the classroom hours; they invest a lot of their personal time to guide and lead…so, to our family members out there — our awardees rely on you, and so, we just want to pass on our thanks to you for supporting them.”

Albrycht noted Fort Leonard Wood trains an average of about 76,000 service members and civilians each year, through more than 200 courses across multiple disciplines, “to instill values, skills, character and confidence.”

“We develop leaders and drive change across the Army,” Albrycht said. “The only way we get after this diverse mission set is with the expertise, leadership and care of our instructors. And the instructors we recognize today have distinguished themselves by going above and beyond to provide the very best training and support to their students. They set the example within their organizations by serving, not only as subject matter experts within their fields, but using their knowledge and expertise to shape the leaders of our Army.”

The awards were divided into four categories — officer, warrant officer, NCO and civilian — with 13 total winners this year.

In the officer category, the winners included Capt. Christopher Heyward, with the USAMPS; Capt. Aleksandrs Schuler, with the U.S. Army Engineer School; and Capt. Ashley Sperry, with the U.S. Army Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear School. Heyward and Sperry were unable to attend the ceremony.

In the warrant officer category, the winners included Chief Warrant Officer 3 Jesse Zbinden-Brassard, with the USAMPS, who also won U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command Instructor of the Year; and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jeremy Montgomery, with the USAES.

In the NCO category, the winners included Sgt. 1st Class Tucker Powers, with the MSCoE NCO Academy; Staff Sgt. Cory Gent, with the USAES; Marine Staff Sgt. Willy Rodriguez, with the Marine Corps Detachment’s Engineer Equipment Instruction Company; Staff Sgt. Danielle Rucker, with the USACBRNS; and Staff Sgt. Angela Rutherford, with the USAMPS. Gent was unable to attend the ceremony.

In the civilian category, the winners included Mark Bruce, with the USAES; Scott Henshaw, with the USAMPS; and Richard Vengels, with the USACBRNS.