Professional Soldiers ® - ARSOF Instructors Honored for Training the Force

RELEASE NUMBER: 060928-01
DATE POSTED: SEPTEMBER 28, 2006

Quote:

ARSOF Instructors Honored for Training the Force
By Kathleen Devine
U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School Public Affairs Office

FORT BRAGG, N.C. (USASOC News Service, Sept. 28, 2006) - The U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School honored five instructors in a ceremony held here Tuesday.

Maj. Thomas Stamp Jr. was recognized as the Officer Instructor of the Year, Chief Warrant Officer Three Patrick Mitchell as the Warrant Officer Instructor of the Year, Sgt. 1st Class Eric Strumski as the Noncommissioned Officer Instructor of the Year and Mr. Andrew Borsz as the Civilian Instructor of the Year for 2006.

Sgt. 1st Class Strumski teaches at the Noncommissioned Officer Academy and says there is a sense of urgency among all the instructors knowing the Soldiers in training today are likely to be deployed soon after leaving SWCS. "It's real easy to keep the material fresh and I try to take their (the Soldiers') experiences and tie it in to the training," he said.

Stamp was a psychological operations instructor when he was nominated for the award and is now a company commander for all entry level psychological operations training. He credits his success as an instructor to his peers, “I try and plug in with current operations and use that information to keep things current.

Mitchell teaches advanced special operations techniques and Borsz teaches negotiation and mediation to all ARSOF Soldiers.

The schoolhouse has over 600 instructors and choosing one in each of the four categories is not an easy task according to Dr. Rebecca Campbell, director of the Department of Education, "Our instructors are some of the best in the business."

That was evident when a special presentation was made to Sgt. 1st Class Keith Gates who was selected as the top Army instructor by TRADOC earlier this year.

Gates was the SWCS 2005 Noncommissioned Officer of the Year and had to compete among thirty other nominees from across the Army to win the top instructor designation.

During the ceremony, Maj. Gen. James W. Parker, the Commander of the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School presented Gates with a Meritorious Service Medal and a plaque and letter from TRADOC.

Gates, who now works in the operations office at the NCO Academy, says it's not about the recognition. "Every one of my instructors that are my peers could be in my place right now," Gates said.

Whether in the classroom or out in the field, civilian and military instructors at SWCS train over 75-hundred students each year.

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