Photo By Danielle ODonnell | Staff Sgt. Joshua Engbrecht (center) stands with his family on stage as he is...... read more read more
The NCO Leadership Center of Excellence held a Distinguished Service and Recognition ceremony on June 7 at the Cooper Lecture Hall where friends, family, faculty, students and staff gathered to honor Soldiers, civilians and families who served and supported the United States Army with distinction.
The seven servant leaders, three international instructors and two veterans were recognized for their outstanding service to the United States Army.
Command Sgt. Maj. David Lee Jr., director of the United States Army Sergeants Major Academy hosted the ceremony.
“We have the honor and privilege to once again recognize excellence,” he said. “Today we will honor the courage and sacrifice of seven servant leaders, and their families. We will also recognize the meritorious service of three international partner instructors and we will have the pleasure of recognizing two Distinguished Veterans with us today.”
Lee asked the audience for a moment of silence to honor the memory of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.
After the moment passed, Lee continued, “on June 6th, 75 years ago approximately 156,000 Soldiers from the United States, United Kingdom and Canada landed in Normandy to begin the liberation of France.”
Giving historical context to the shaping of U.S. history Lee congratulated the three international instructors who will finish their tenure with USASMA when Class 69 graduates on June 21.
Chief Warrant Officer 4 Teck Leong Lee from Singapore, Sgt. Maj. Rodrigo Zilves from Brazil and Sgt. Maj. Trudy Casey from Australia were each presented with Meritorious Service Medals from Command Sgt. Maj. Jimmy Sellers, commandant of the NCOL CoE.
“It has been an honor to instruct beside you, learn from you, and watch you continue to grow our future sergeants major,” said Lee.
Next to be recognized for their time in service the seven retirees, who combined, have more than two centuries of service to the United States Army.
Mr. Jeffrey Davis
Davis entered military service in 1981 and became a Department of the Army civilian after he retired in 2008. During his time in uniform, he operated extensively throughout South and Central America and saw combat on several occasions during more than 14 deployments around the globe. Davis has served the U.S. government for 38 years, 10 of which were served as a DA civilian at USASMA and the NCOL CoE.
Command Sgt. Maj. Manuel Atencio
Atencio entered the U.S. Army in 1988 as a human resources specialist. During his 31 years of military service Atencio attended recruiter school, was a two time brigade command sergeant major and a student of cohort one, the first USASMA fellowship program with Penn State University. His recruiting assignments and duty positions include Alamosa Recruiting Station On-Production station commander; La Junta Recruiting Station On-Production station commander; Pueblo Recruiting Station Limited Production station commander; Security Recruiting Station-Limited Production station commander; Big Horn Recruiting Company-first sergeant; Colorado Springs Recruiting Company-first sergeant; Pittsburgh Recruiting Battalion Command Sergeant Major, Denver Recruiting Battalion CSM, US Army Medical Recruiting CSM and served as the 5th Recruiting Brigade CSM.
Command Sgt. Maj. Robert Brown
Brown entered the U.S. Army in 1989 as communicator in wire systems. During his 30 years of military service Brown served as first sergeant of the 3rd Presidential Communications Command, USASMA student, battalion operations sergeant, senior information systems chief, battalion Command Sergeant Major, special troops battalion CSM, brigade CSM, chief intelligence Sergeant Major, G-3 SGM, School of Command Preparation CSM and is currently serving as part of the USASMA as an instructor/facilitator with the Sergeants Major Course department of Distance Learning.
Command Sgt. Maj. Reginald R. Gooden
Gooden entered military service in 1989 as a medical specialist and later reclassified to a paralegal specialist in 1995. During his 30 years of honorable service, Gooden has held leadership positions in the following: Parachute Infantry Company senior line medic, battalion paralegal NCO, brigade senior paralegal NCO, drill sergeant, chief paralegal NCO, first sergeant, command paralegal NCO, instructor, department chair, deputy director, battalion Command Sergeant Major, and garrison CSM.
Sgt. Maj. Shannda Brown
Brown entered military service in 1985 as a light-wheel vehicle mechanic. During her 34 years of military service Brown held positions as the chief Operations sergeant major at the Regional Training Site–Maintenance, USASMA student class 64, mechanical maintenance supervisor, battalion maintenance manager and motor sergeant/platoon sergeant. Earlier in her career she was an administrative specialist, operations NCO, squad leader, and instructor at the 5/80th Ordnance Battalion/2076th U.S. Air Force School. She currently serves as the Senior Enlisted Reserve Components Advisor at the NCOL CoE.
Sgt. Maj. Scot Cates
Cates entered military service in 1990 as an infantryman. During his 29 years of military service he has held positions as team leader, instructor, drill sergeant, Special Reaction Team NCOIC, platoon sergeant, operations NCO, Officer Basic Course Small Group Leader, first sergeant, operations sergeant, installation program manager, brigade S3 Sergeant Major, Division Provost Marshal SGM, and USASMA Fellow and Vice-Chair of the Department of Professional Studies.
Staff Sgt. Joshua Engbrecht
Engbrecht entered military service in 1999 as a quartermaster and later re-classed as an infantryman in 2003. During his 20 years of military service he has held positions as a rifleman, M249 gunner, M240 gunner, fire team leader, squad leader, weapons squad leader, Basic Leader Course Small Group Instructor at Fort Drum, NY NCO Academy; Combat Leaders Course instructor, Air Assault School instructor, and rappel master instructor at the III Corps Phantoms Warrior Academy, Fort Hood, Texas. He was also a battalion operations sergeant at Fort Hood, Texas. Engbrecht currently serves as an instructor/facilitator with the Fort Bliss NCOA.
The ceremony then brought recognition to two distinguished veterans who were in attendance. Retired Master Sgt. Roger Caron and retired Staff Sgt. Floyd Joseph.
Caron was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1960, where he served as an engineer. He retired in 1984, with over 24 years of service. Nine of which were spent in Vietnam throughout his career. Caron then went on to work as a Department of the Army civilian at Fort Bliss for 20 years and then retired again in 2018 after working in Child and Youth Services on Fort Bliss. He has served the U.S. government for more than 50 years.
Joseph joined the Army at 17 years old, in 1970 as a power-generation equipment repairer. Later in his career he became a light-wheel vehicle mechanic. Joseph served honorably until he was medically retired after serving more than 17 years.
Following the awards and presentations to the retirees Lee thanked the service members, the families and the audience.
“Let us remember that a constant in life, is change. As much as this is a retirement it is equal to a graduation and worthy of a celebration.”
| Date Taken: | 06.07.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 06.17.2019 15:03 |
| Story ID: | 327951 |
| Location: | FORT BLISS, TX, US |
| Web Views: | 201 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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