Master Sgt. Benjamin Pingel, senior military instructor for the Department of Military Science, was named the Non-Commissioned Officer of the Year by the 3rd Brigade of the U.S. Army Cadet Command. The 3rd Brigade, with headquarters at Great Lakes Naval Training Center in Illinois, has nearly 40 ROTC programs in nine upper Midwest states plus Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Lt. Col. Richard Smith, commanding officer of ISU’s military science program, said Pingel is one of the reasons the Cyclone Battalion has consistently ranked as one of the top ROTC programs in the 3rd Brigade. “Master Sgt. Pingel has had a tremendous impact on the cadets in the Cyclone Battalion,” Smith said. “His leadership, his experience and his willingness to assume extra tasks and duties are reflected in the outstanding performance of our cadets.”
Before coming to ISU, Pingel has served in Germany and South Korea and was twice deployed to Afghanistan.