AwardsRoutine update
CY2025 Visual Information and Excellence in Communication (VIEC) Award Winners
The complete list of first-, second-, and third-place winners across all CY2025 COMMSTRAT VIEC award categories, including photography, videography, graphic design, and communication and print. Marine Forces Reserve personnel appear among the winners.
This is a routine update — a name list, a set of results, or a recurring notice. There is nothing here to translate into plain English, so the official text is reproduced in full below. Read it on marines.mil
Official text
R 291728Z APR 26 MARADMIN 201/26 MSGID/GENADMIN/CMC WASHINGTON DC// SUBJ/ANNOUNCEMENT OF CALENDAR YEAR 2025 VISUAL INFORMATION AND EXCELLENCE IN COMMUNICATION (VIEC) AWARD WINNERS// REF/A/MSGID/CD/22DEC25// NARR/REF A IS MARADMIN 623/25, 2025 MARINE CORPS VISUAL INFORMATION AND EXCELLENCE IN COMMUNICATION AWARDS PROGRAM ANNOUNCEMENT// POC/MCDOLE/KL/MSGT/45XX OCCFLD SUPPORT SNCOIC/CD, HQMC//TEL: (703) 614-1494/EMAIL: KASSIE.MCDOLE@USMC.MIL// GENTEXT/REMARKS/1. Congratulations to the following Marines and commands on their selection as the recipients of the 2025 Communication Strategy and Operations (COMMSTRAT) Visual Information and Excellence in Communication (VIEC) Awards. Your leadership and proficiency in visual information and communication have greatly supported the Commandant of the Marine Corps’ communication objectives and brings great credit to you and your commands. 2. First Place Award Recipients: 2.a. COMMSTRAT of the Year winners: (1) Communication Strategy of the Year: U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Europe and Africa (2) Communication Plan of the Year: MSgt Scott Schmidt, U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Europe and Africa (3) Visual Information Plan of the Year: Marine Corps Air Station Yuma (4) COMMSTRAT Marine of the Year: Sgt Brian Knowles, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (5) COMMSTRAT SNCO of the Year: GySgt Brett Norman, 22d Marine Expeditionary Unit (6) COMMSTRAT Visual Information Officer of the Year: CWO2 John Lamb, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing (7) COMMSTRAT Officer of the Year: 1stLt Madison Walls, 3d Marine Aircraft Wing (8) COMMSTRAT Unit of the Year: 22d Marine Expeditionary Unit 2.b. Graphic Design winners: (1) Marine Corps Graphic Designer of the Year: Sgt Joanna Stauss, Marine Corps Installations Pacific (2) Civilian Graphic Designer of the Year: No Awards (3) Digital Art: 1st Place: LCpl Zainab Sink, 3d Marine Division 2nd Place: Sgt Joanna Stauss, Marine Corps Installations Pacific 3rd Place: LCpl Jeffrey Pruett, 3d Marine Division (4) Identity Design: 1st Place: Sgt Joanna Stauss, Marine Corps Installations Pacific 2nd Place: LCpl Maria Vazquez, 3d Marine Division 3rd Place: Cpl Keegan Jones, 1st Marine Division (5) Layout and Design: 1st Place: Sgt Matthew Krogull, Marine Corps Combat Development and Integration 2nd Place: Cpl Hana Lathrop, Marine Corps Base Quantico 3rd Place: Sgt Noah Masog, U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Europe and Africa (6) Animation: 1st Place: Sgt Joanna Stauss, Marine Corps Installations Pacific 2nd Place: Cpl Brian Knowles, Marine Rotational Force – Southeast Asia 3rd Place: Sgt William Wallace, III MEF Information Group (7) Photo Illustration: 1st Place: Sgt Joanna Stauss, Marine Corps Installations Pacific 2nd Place: LCpl Andrew Whistler, 1st Marine Division 3rd Place: LCpl Yamely Saeteros, Marine Corps Base Quantico 2.c. Photography winners: (1) Marine Corps Photographer of the Year: Sgt Kyle Chan, 1st Marine Division (2) Marine Corps Civilian Photographer of the Year: No Awards (3) Photo Series: 1st Place: LCpl Alyssa DeCrane, Marine Corps Installations East 2nd Place: Sgt Kyle Chan, 1st Marine Division 3rd Place: Cpl Sarah Grawcock, Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego (4) News Photo: 1st Place: Cpl Darien Wright, Marine Corps Base Quantico 2nd Place: Cpl Joaquin Dela Torre, 3d Marine Division 3rd Place: Cpl Joshua Bustamante, Commandant of the Marine Corps (5) Feature Photo: 1st Place: LCpl Victor Gurrola, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit 2nd Place: Sgt Mary Torres, 2nd Marine Logistics Group 3rd Place: Cpl Desiree Ruiz, 1st Marine Logistics Group (6) Portrait: 1st Place: Sgt Patrick King, Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego 2nd Place: LCpl Judith Ann Lazaro, 2d Marine Division 3rd Place: SSgt Scott Jenkins, Marine Corps Forces Reserve (7) Sports Photography: 1st Place: LCpl Harleigh Faulk, Marine Corps Base Quantico 2nd Place: LCpl Zachary Candiani, Marine Corps Combat Service Support Schools 3rd Place: Cpl Zachariah Ferraro, Marine Corps Combat Service Support Schools 2.d. Videography winners: (1) Marine Corps Videographer of the Year: Cpl Jacob Richardson, Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island (2) Marine Corps Civilian Videographer of the Year: No Awards (3) Short-Form Production Video: 1st Place: II Marine Expeditionary Force, “Flamethrower” 2nd Place: Sgt Atticus Martinez, “3rd Bn., 5th Marines overcomes the cold in Bridgeport during MTX 1-25” 3rd Place: Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, “Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego 250th Birthday Ball Message” (4) Long-Form Production Video: 1st Place: Communication Directorate, “The 250th Marine Corps Birthday Message” 2nd Place: 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, “America's Vanguard Force” 3rd Place: Marine Forces Reserve, “250 Years of Marines Represented in a Uniform Pageant” (5) B-Roll Videography: 1st Place: Sgt Trent Henry, 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit 2nd Place: LCpl Brant Cushman, Marine Corps Combat Service Support Schools 3rd Place: Sgt Migel Reynosa, 1st Marine Division (6) Editing: 1st Place: Cpl Francisco Angel, Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego 2nd Place: Sgt Joseph Helms, 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit 3rd Place: LCpl Matthew Morales, Communication Directorate (7) Multimedia Product: 1st Place: Sgt Antonino Mazzamuto, 2d Marine Division 2nd Place: Sgt Alex Fairchild, Marine Corps Combat Service Support Schools 3rd Place: Sgt Noah Masog, U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Europe and Africa (8) Video Story: 1st Place: Cpl Brian Knowles, Marine Rotational Force – Southeast Asia 2nd Place: Sgt Rowdy Vanskike, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing 3rd Place: Sgt Noah Masog, 3d Marine Division (9) Video Spot: 1st Place: LCpl Allison White, II Marine Expeditionary Force 2nd Place: Sgt Joseph Helms, 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit 3rd Place: Cpl Francisco Angel, Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego 2.e. Communication and Print Winners: (1) Marine Corps Communicator of the Year: Cpl Avery Wayland, 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (2) Marine Corps Writer of the Year: Cpl Madisyn Paschal, Marine Corps Installations West (3) Marine Corps Civilian Writer of the Year: No Awards (4) Information Story: 1st Place: Sgt Antonino Mazzamuto, 2d Marine Division 2nd Place: 2ndLt Luke Lindsey, II Marine Expeditionary Force 3rd Place: Cpl Jacqueline Akamelu, Marine Corps Installations West (5) Feature Story: 1st Place: LCpl Alyssa DeCrane, Marine Corps Installations East 2nd Place: LCpl Priscilla Flores, Marine Corps Forces Reserve 3rd Place: LCpl Roger Annoh, U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific (6) Photojournalism: 1st Place: Sgt Mary Torres, 2nd Marine Logistics Group 2nd Place: Sgt Randall Whiteman, Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni 3rd Place: LCpl Matthew Morales, 3d Marine Division 3. Commanders are highly encouraged to recognize those Marines identified in this message with the appropriate impact award(s). 4. All winners content, to include second and third place winners, can be viewed at: https://www.dvidshub.net/awards/dma/2025?branch=marines 5. All winners, including second and third place winners, will be recognized at the annual COMMSTRAT Training and Leadership Development Summit hosted by Communication Directorate and the United States Marine Corps Combat Correspondents Association the week of 3-7 August 2026 in the National Capital Region. Commands are highly encouraged to send their winners TAD to receive their awards. Information about the event will be published via separate correspondence by MARADMIN POC. Award winners who are unable to accept their awards in person will receive them via mail. 6. Award winners and/or their parent commands must notify the MARADMIN POC of the winners’ attendance for the banquet no later than 17 June 2026. 7. Release authorized by Colonel John O. Caldwell, Director, Communication Directorate, Headquarters Marine Corps//
Resources & references
The documents this bulletin points to, with a plain-English note on why each matters. Links marked CAC required need a government login.
- 2025 VIEC Awards Announcement (MARADMIN 623/25)MARADMIN
This is the original message that announced the 2025 Marine Corps Visual Information and Excellence in Communication Awards Program. It established the rules and categories for the competition whose winners are listed in this MARADMIN.
This page on DVIDS was set up to display the 2025 Visual Information Excellence and Creativity Award winners, but the results have not been posted yet. A reservist interested in military photography, videography, or public affairs recognition can bookmark it and check back once the winners are announced.
awardsleadership