Iowa Army National Guard Soldier Recognized Nationally as Transportation NCO of the Year

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Sergeant First Class Rebecca Kasuboski of the Iowa Army National Guard has been nationally recognized as the 88M (Motor Transport Operator) Noncommissioned Officer (NCO) of the Year for Component 2 and 3, which encompasses the entire Army National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve. 

The prestigious award was presented by the U.S. Army Chief of Transportation, Colonel Jennifer Karim, alongside Transportation Command Sergeant Major Emanuel T. Stephens and the Chief Warrant Officer of the Transportation Corps. The 88M NCO of the Year award is the highest honor a Motor Transport Operator can receive, representing the pinnacle of logistical and leadership excellence in the Transportation Corps. 

Sergeant First Class Kasuboski, who serves as a Platoon Sergeant based out of Iowa City, was nominated for the award by her commander, Captain Nathan Hoeger of the 1133rd Transportation Company. The 1133rd falls under the 185th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion (CSSB), which is headquartered in Fairfield, Iowa. Captain Hoeger submitted Kasuboski for the national honor in recognition of her unprecedented workload and execution of complex logistics over the past year. 

Over a 10-month period, Kasuboski demonstrated exceptional leadership by planning and managing the largest logistical movement in Iowa’s history. She orchestrated the 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division’s (2/34th IBCT) contiguous mobilization from the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) at Fort Polk, Louisiana, directly to a CENTCOM deployment. 

"Sergeant First Class Kasuboski demonstrated exceptional leadership and unparalleled dedication," her award submission noted. Her strategic foresight and adaptability allowed her to build trust with unfamiliar senior leadership and successfully coordinate with over a dozen states. 

During the mobilization, Kasuboski seamlessly facilitated the transportation of thousands of pieces of equipment, coordinating over 1,000 commercial line hauls and more than 150 military line hauls to Fort Polk. Additionally, she assisted in tracking over $15 million in multi-modal transit assets. Her Officer in Charge (OIC) lauded her precision, stating that her efforts were instrumental to the brigade and its enabler’s 
successful movement. 

By executing this historic mission, Sergeant First Class Kasuboski exemplified the core philosophy of the U.S. Army Transportation Corps: Mobility equals lethality and survivability.

About the U.S. Army Transportation School: 
The U.S. Army Transportation School trains, educates, and develops Transportation professionals for the total force; and drives change through DOTMLPF-P solutions to sustain large-scale combat operations in a multi-domain operations environment. Their vision is to ensure transportation professionals and solutions enable the Army to deploy, fight and win, anytime and anywhere.