MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. -- The Marine Corps Communication-Electronics School held its annual enlisted Instructor of the Year board March 26 and 27 at the school house.
Instructors were nominated for the award by their individual companies within MCCES.
The board was divided into two sections; senior and master instructor of the year.
Instructors must complete a certain number of courses and accumulate a certain amount of hours to qualify for nomination. They must complete the Basic Instructors Course, receive a course orientation, receive at least three satisfactory evaluations and accumulate 200 instructional hours before they are considered a basic instructor.
Instructors must then receive seven satisfactory evaluations, complete the Evaluating Other Instructors Course, conduct four evaluations and accumulate 800 instructional hours to request the certification to move on to senior.
The last step in the instructor certification process is master instructor. Senior instructors must receive eight additional satisfactory evaluations, complete the Curriculum Developer Course and accumulate 1600 instructional hours to receive their master instructor certification. Instructors are eligible for the enlisted Marine instructor awards once they achieve either the senior or master instructor level.
The senior instructor nominees submit an application for the award and the master instructor instructor nominees get the chance to send in a video submission.
“Football and lacrosse players submit highlight reels when they are trying to get on a certain team,” said Lt. Col. Dennis Manaco, executive officer, MCCES. “These video submissions are a chance for the instructors to have a highlight reel of all of their best moments. The board members also get a perspective on how these instructors get their students in the learning mood.”
The board had nearly fifteen minutes to look over each individual narration. During this time, the board circles key aspects and negative aspects about the nominees, Manaco said.
The board discusses the negative and positive aspects after the time is up. Votes are casted after the discussion is over and whichever instructor receives the most votes wins the award and receives a Navy Achievement Medal along with a letter of commendation.
The winners of the enlisted Marine instructor awards for the year of 2012 were announced March 27. The runner-up for the noncommissioned officer senior instructor of the year is Sgt. Nathan P. Boan. The winner of the noncommissioned officer senior instructor of the year is Sgt. Anthony S. Nichols. The staff noncommissioned officer, senior instructor of the year winner was Gunnery Sgt. Larry C. Blair. The master instructor of the year is Staff Sgt. Richard E. Near.