80th Training Command selects 2012 Instructors of the Year
October 14, 2012
By Staff Sgt. Deborah Runkles-Jenkins, 80th Training Command public affairs
Lt. Col. Michael Morris and Sgt. 1st Class Michael Pike won the 80th Training Command Instructor of the Year competition in the officer and enlisted categories, respectively, at Fort Knox, Ky., Oct. 13, 2012.
Morris, an instructor with the 10th Battalion, 80th Regiment, teaches intermediate level education to Army Reserve, National Guard and active duty majors as a gateway for promotion to lieutenant colonel.
Pike, an instructor with 1st Battalion, 31st Regiment, 102nd Division, has taught all levels of the combat engineer career field during his four years in the Army Reserve.
"I love it; it's a lot of fun," said Pike, who beat out seven other competitors. "It's our job to get the students excited enough to not just do the basics, but to advance their knowledge in their MOS and get them excited about it like we are."
Lt. Col. David Pressley, an instructor with the 11th Battalion, 108th Regiment, and Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Landsperger, an instructor with 13 Battalion, 108th Regiment, 94th Division, were the 1st runners-up in the officer and enlisted categories, respectively, and will serve as alternate competitors if the first place winners are unable to compete at the next level.
Morris and Pike will represent the 80th at the U. S. Army Reserve Command Instructor of the Year competition in the officer and enlisted categories. The winners of the USARC event will move on to the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command level.