Twitter
Facebook
An Army professional with more than 33 years of service received the 2019 Norman H. Marcus Award from Installation Management Command-Europe Director Tommy Mize during a ceremony on Feb. 12.
Ingrid Osewalt, program analyst and acting Family and MWR deputy director, said she was honored and humbled to be recognized because she knows what the award represents.
“I can’t picture any other career for myself than a career in MWR,” she said through tears.
IMCOM-Europe presents the Norman H. Marcus Award to one person each year. Recipients must have made unprecedented contributions leading to significant and lasting enhancements in Family and MWR programs across Europe — exceptional performance alone is not sufficient to merit this award according to the nomination requirements.
“I have always valued the opportunities afforded to me within MWR and the Army — opportunities to be a pioneer, be creative and innovative,” Osewalt said.
Her creativity and innovation are evidenced by her long list of accomplishments.
Osewalt began her MWR career in 1986 with Karlsruhe Army Community Service, where she pioneered the first newcomer orientation program for military families in Europe.
She joined Heidelberg ACS in 1988, where she became one of the Army’s first relocation program managers and developed the Army’s youth sponsorship program.
Osewalt assumed the role of Heidelberg Youth Services director in 1991. She invented programs for children and youth which were later officially recognized by the Department of the Army and implemented at garrisons worldwide — known today as SKIES Unlimited.
In 1999, Osewalt was named Chief for the Center of Expertise for Youth Programs for the Army. Osewalt provided hundreds of training sessions and visits Armywide and became the Army’s national liaison for the Boys and Girls Clubs of America partnership in Europe.
She returned to garrison work as the Plans and Operations chief for Heidelberg Family and MWR from 2011 until 2013 when Heidelberg officially closed. Osewalt organized and led the garrison’s closing festivities and led a team of military historians in the development of a Heidelberg chronicle capturing military history dating back to 1949.
From 2013 to 2018, Osewalt served as the Baumholder Family and MWR manager overseeing 17 front-door operations in the Baumholder Military Community. In 2018, she relocated to Kaiserslautern to serve as a program analyst for USAG RP and is the current Family and MWR deputy director.
“Ms. Osewalt’s exceptional and often pioneering achievements clearly demonstrate she has risen to the pinnacle of professional leadership and dedication to serving Army Soldiers and their families,” said Gary Burton, Family and MWR director.
“I love working for MWR because in no other job do you touch the lives of Soldiers and their families to the extent possible in MWR,” Osewalt said.
Osewalt said her personal experiences helped shape the type of Army Professional she is today.
“I was an Army wife, followed my husband wherever the Army sent us and raised two sons who both graduated from a DODEA [Department of Defense Education Activity] high school. This experience made me sensitive to the needs of Army families which I have been able to address to some extent as an MWR Professional,” she said.
Her efforts were lauded by Mize and USAG RP Commander Col. Jason Edwards during the ceremony.
“Ms. Osewalt’s accomplishments demonstrate her substantial impact, her delivery of high-value results, and her devotion to the Soldiers and families she supports,” Edwards said. “Her 33 years of MWR service and willingness to develop and assist others makes her the go-to MWR professional within U.S. Army Garrison Rheinland-Pfalz.”
