PENSACOLA, Fla. – A 2008 Simon A. Sanchez High School graduate and Barrigada, Guam, native was announced as the 2018 Military Instructor of the Year finalist, junior enlisted category, for Naval Education and Training Command (NETC) in Pensacola at a ceremony onboard Naval Air Station Pensacola at the National Naval Aviation Museum Dec. 5.
Electronics Technician 2nd Class Benito I. Cruz serves as AN/GPN-30 Digital Airport Surveillance Radar Course supervisor and instructor. Over this past year, he led seven instructors during eight classes delivering 108 hours of classroom and 422 hours of laboratory instruction to 36 Advanced Electronics “C” school students. He also taught the AN/FSQ-204 Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System Course with 43 hours of classroom and lab instruction to 12 Advanced Electronics “C” school students. In all his classes, his students achieved a 100 percent graduation rate. Representing the top achievers from a pool of more than 8,000 military members, Cruz received a Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal for his accomplishments.
“I had my reservations about how successful I’d be during this instructor tour or if I would even enjoy it,” said Cruz. “I can now say without a shadow of a doubt that this has been my favorite tour thus far. It is extremely rewarding to come in every day to watch my students become proficient at a system they have never seen before. I feel lucky that I have a direct hand in mentoring and educating our future leaders.”
Cruz is part of the team that takes sailors from “street to fleet” by transforming civilians into highly skilled, operational, and combat-ready warfighters, as well as providing the tools and opportunities for continuous learning and development.
NETC Commander Rear Adm. Kyle Cozad congratulated the finalists for their roles in developing the Navy’s future force and for their contributions to the training and education mission.
“Each of you here today represent the best of the very best in our Navy, making the force development mission a success," said Cozad. “We serve in a great Navy - and that greatness is centered on the initiative, leadership and competitive nature of our people. These sailors and officers illustrate everything that is right about our Navy and continue to represent our greatest advantage over any competitor and our most important means to achieving our desired ends. Everything that each of you does on a daily basis sets the highest bar when it comes to building a talented fleet for the Navy the nation needs, and it manifests through your recruiting and training accomplishments.”
Cruz is also qualified as a Master Training Specialist, which is a designation for demonstrating highly effective teaching skills and a comprehensive understanding of schoolhouse management, as well as for taking a leadership role in mentoring, instructing and evaluating instructors and curriculum. As a MTS mentor, he performed nine MTS boards, four MTS mock boards and mentored three Sailors throughout all aspects of the MTS program.
“I am so impressed by the caliber of all of our finalists," said NETC Force Master Chief Karim Cole. "We brought them together at NETC to recognize their tremendous talent and to show them how much we appreciate what they do to train, guide and get our Sailors ready to man the fleet. They all represent a great deal of hard work and sweat that goes into creating a combat credible and lethal Navy and Marine Corps Team."
Cruz is the son of Frances and Benito-Paul Cruz of Barrigada, Guam.
The NETC IOY program recognize sailors throughout the NETC domain who exhibit attributes, such as sustained superior performance, leadership, mentorship, knowledge and teaching of military history and heritage, self-improvement, command and community involvement, and exemplary military bearing.
For additional information on the Naval Education and Training Command, visit the NETC website: https://www.netc.navy.mil or http://www.navy.mil/local/cnet/. Follow us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/netcpao and Twitter @netcpao.