Brice W. Kwiatkowski, an Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps cadet at the University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, received the George C. Marshall Award during an awards ceremony at the U.S. Army Combined Arms Center, Fort Leavenworth, Kan.

The award is named in the honor and legacy of General of the Army George C. Marshall, who served in World War II as the Army Chief of Staff and in the post-war era served as Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense. The award is presented annually to the most outstanding senior cadets in military science studies and leadership values in each battalion at host universities or colleges. Top cadets from each cadet battalion represent the very best of a highly selective organization. This is a national award and the highest award an ROTC cadet can receive.

Kwiatkowski won the award by achieving first place on the Cadet Order of Merit list in the University of Hawaii's Army ROTC program. As a result, he was sent to the US Army's Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas from February 11th-15th to meet with more than 270 other top ranked cadets in the nation and participate in a conference hosted by some of our nation's highest political and military leaders, including Senator Joni Ernst, General David Perkins, Lieutenant General Stephen Twitty, Lieutenant General (Ret.) Patricia Horoho, and MajorGeneral Christopher Hughes, among others.

The cadets participate in focus groups and round table discussions and lectures on the theme of the national security of the U.S. and the Army's security role in the international arena. Cadets receive formal speeches from the highest echelons of the U.S. Army's leadership ranks, scholars and experts in the area of national defense.

Kwiatkowski is the son of Dean A. Kwiatkowski of Loup City, Neb., and Jean L. Kwiatkowski of Pawnee City, Neb.

He graduated in 2009 from Lewiston Consolidated High School, Lewiston, Neb., and earned a bachelor's degree in 2013 from Jacobs University, Germany, N.Y.

1. Cadet Brice Kwiatkowski of the University of Hawaii Army ROTC program (on right) shakes hands with Major General Christopher Hughes, Commander of the US Army Cadet Command while giving a "Shaka"; a gesture used to convey the "Aloha Spirit" in Hawaii. Photo taken at the George C. Marshall Awards and Leadership Conference in Kansas City. 2. Cadet Brice Kwiatkowski outside the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College during the George C. Marshall Awards and Leadership Conference at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.