FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. — Maneuver Support Center of Excellence senior leaders held the fiscal year 2025 Commanding General’s MSCoE Retention Recognition Ceremony March 27, 2026, in the Command Briefing Room.
The host of the ceremony, Maj. Gen. Christopher Beck, MSCoE and Fort Leonard Wood commanding general, said he appreciates the amount of dedication and hard work everyone puts into the retention mission.
“This is the third year I’ve done this and this is always a light-hearted ceremony. It’s a light-hearted ceremony because what the reenlistment team does is very serious work,” Beck said. “This is about bringing the right people back. There were some that were near 100% just after we had our targets announced last year.”
Beck, along with MSCoE and Fort Leonard Wood Command Sgt. Maj. Jorge Arzabala, presented three distinct retention awards — Excellence in Retention, Early Bird and Top Production — for units and individuals.
As the title of the award suggests, the unit Excellence in Retention Award is given to the brigades and direct reporting units that completed the assigned retention mission in all categories and demonstrated excellence in their retention program.
This year’s award was presented to representatives from the 1st Engineer Brigade, 3rd Chemical Brigade, the 43rd Adjutant General Battalion (Reception) and the MSCoE NCO Academy.
The Early Bird Retention Award is given to the brigade and battalion that first completed the retention mission in all categories.
This year’s award was presented to representatives from the 3rd Chemical Brigade and 554th Engineer Battalion.
The Top Production Retention Award is given to the brigade and battalion with the highest aggregate on retention mission accomplishments in all categories.
This year’s award was presented to representatives from the 14th Military Police Brigade and 787th Military Police Battalion.
Additionally, the Heavy Hitter Award is presented to the career counselor with the highest number of retention actions during the fiscal year.
This year’s award was presented to Sgt. 1st Class Vonnita Gaines, with 14th Military Police Bde./43rd AG Battalion and MSCoE NCOA.
The Brigade Excellence in Retention NCO Award is presented to retention NCOs who demonstrated excellence in retention by completing the assigned retention mission.
This year’s award was presented to Staff Sgt. Vergil Heger, 14th MP Bde.; Staff Sgt. Jon Myers, with the 3rd Chemical Bde.; and Staff Sgt. Justin Prough, with the 1st Eng. Bde.
In addition to recognizing the work of career counselors and retention NCOs, two individuals, who were called integral to the success of the retention program, were presented with the Excellence in Retention Support Recognition Award.
This year’s award was presented to Michelle O’Neal, a MSCoE military pay technician, and Dion Simmons, IPPS-A action officer for MSCoE G-1.
The overall MSCoE Career Counselor of the Year Award was presented to Sgt. 1st Class James MacDonald, with 3rd Chemical Brigade, who also received an Army Commendation Medal from Beck for his work. He will go on to represent MSCoE at the U.S. Army Transformation and Training Command Career Counselor of the Year Competition.
Lastly, the six-member MSCoE Career Counselor team was highlighted for its dedication and commitment to excellence for FY2025. In addition to Gaines and MacDonald, the team included Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Henderson, senior Retention Operations NCO; David Shono and Christopher York, Reserve Component career counselors; and Sgt. Maj. Claire Wood, MSCoE Command career counselor.
Arzabala said, “even though (it seems like) today was just about giving out some awards, it’s really about how we are stewards of the profession, and everybody here had a hand in making sure that we give our Soldiers the opportunity to better themselves. This is our Army and our profession, so thank you very much, we are grateful for all your hard work.”
Photos from the ceremony are available to view and download on the [Fort Leonard Wood Flickr page](https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCPJiL).
| Date Taken: |
04.01.2026 |
| Date Posted: |
04.02.2026 14:18 |
| Story ID: |
561812 |
| Location: |
FORT LEONARD WOOD, MISSOURI, US |
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15 |
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