Army Space and Missile Defense School earns ‘Institute of Excellence’ from TRADOC

Published Nov. 18, 2016
By Dottie White
USASMDC/ARSTRAT Public Affairs

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- The U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense School recently earned the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command’s highest accreditation rating as an Institute of Excellence.

Earlier this year, a TRADOC accreditation team conducted an assessment visit and evaluated the school against 28 Army Enterprise Accreditation Standards. These standards cover all aspects of training management and execution to include how the school analyzes, designs, develops, implements, and evaluates space and missile defense training and education.

TRADOC accredits Army schools every three years. This is the Space and Missiles Defense School’s third consecutive Institute of Excellence rating. Additionally this year, TRADOC recognized several school-developed initiatives as ‘Army best practices.’

Daryl Breitbach, the director of Training and Doctrine, recognized the training team’s effort in support of this accomplishment.

“Our training mission areas are unique one-of-a-kind missions, critically important to the command, the Army and the nation,” said Breitbach. “It’s pretty cool stuff we get to do every day in training and educating with some of the finest Warfighters in support of our nation. This is a highly trained, highly skilled and highly motivated team of instructors and staff that continually strives for excellence in training and education. This accreditation highlights that excellence and dedication.”

According to Michael Madsen, DOTD chief of institutional training, the Space and Missile Defense School not only supports Army Soldiers in space and missile defense, but also trains Airmen, Sailors, Marines, government civilians and contractors. In fiscal year 2016, approximately 325 personnel were trained in missile defense institutional courses; 1,915 personnel were trained in space institutional courses; and 6,520 personnel were trained in Army space training strategy lessons.

Breitbach, who has worked with DOTD in various capacities since 2005, said the school has grown from just a few courses to more than 20 courses.

“Our team continues to grow to meet the increasing training demand,” Breitbach said. “TRADOC recognized multiple Army best practices developed and implemented in DOTD. Our team operations and training continue to improve with every accreditation, and together we will continue to raise the training standard.”