Our Warrior-Shepherds
Honored Alumni
Each year we recognize an exemplary alumnus or alumna and honored him or her as a Warrior-Shepherd. Our Warrior-Shepherds embody success through a commitment to local, national, and global communities. Warrior-Shepherds set an example and challenge all who follow. In honoring them we must find our own path as warriors, leaders and shepherds.
2012 Kerry D. Kroger
Kerry joined the ranks of One Shepherd after an impressive stint in the military, and already running his own small business company. A Warrior by anyone’s definition, he stepped forward to volunteer his time and talents simply because he saw a need. Generosity is Kerry’s central character trait.
Born in 1968, Kerry is a Missouri native. He graduated Raytown South High School in 1986 and enrolled in college for a couple of years before deciding to enlist in the US Air Force in 1990. Kerry completed his training as a Combat Controller and served in the USAF Special Operational Forces over the next eight years.
Kerry attained the senior NCO rank of Technical Sergeant. A list of his operational deployments is indeed impressive – Desert Storm and Desert Shield (Saudi Arabia), Restore Hope (Somalia), Restore Democracy (Haiti), Provide Promise (Balkans), Joint Endeavor (Bosnia), Drug Interdiction (Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Columbia, Venezuela), and Deep Freeze (Antarctica). In recognition of his efforts in the Air Force, Kerry was awarded the Aerial Achievement Medal.
After his honorable discharge in 1998, Kerry went on to work in the communications field. He started a small firearms manufacturing company, Missouri Custom Armament in 2005. He ran this company until 2010 when he then created Gun Control Incorporated, a firearm training company that he still operates today in Kansas City.
Kerry also joined One Shepherd in early 2006. He progressed quickly through the program to enter the yearlong cadre development phase. Kerry was awarded the Cadre Instructor “Black Hat” in October 2009, and continued to work with developing young warriors for the next couple of years.
In that time Kerry served as One Shepherd’s S6 Communications Officer while taking on the additional duty as unit armorer. Kerry helped obtain, maintain, and implement all tactical communication systems fielded by One Shepherd. He also maintained and expanded the One Shepherd arms room, and was instrumental in bringing light machineguns to One Shepherd training.
With the demands of his training business and a new position in quality control at the US Army Lake City ammunition plant, Kerry took leave of One Shepherd in late 2010. Yet the five years he spent with One Shepherd proved to be a catalyst for institutional growth of our program.
Through his generous contribution to the One Shepherd community, his work abroad with the US Armed Forces, and his continued work for the US Army here in Missouri we see in Kerry the best traditions of a Warrior and leader. We are honored to count Kerry among the ranks of our Warrior-Shepherds.
2011 Jordon John Webb
Jordon, known to us in One Shepherd as simply “Jay” entered our community in the fall of 1999 and began the warrior path at age sixteen. He graduated Camdenton High School in central Missouri just one year later, and enlisted in the Marine Corps in the summer of 2000.
With the Marines Jay attended the USMC School of the Infantry, Marine Corps Martial Arts Program (MCMAP), the Less Than Lethal weapons course, and the Assault Climbers Course where Jay found peace through the sport of climbing.
As a young non-commissioned officer in the Marines Jay attended the Squad Leaders Course, the Visit Board Search & Seizure (VBSS) Course for maritime security, the Direct Action Raid course, and attended what is colloquially known as the “Black Side” shooting package – a three month program on close quarter marksmanship.
In the months after the September 11, 2001 attacks, Jay served a year tour with the Maritime Special Purpose Force (MSPF) of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit. He deployed to work with the indigenous military forces of Kuwait, Pakistan, Kenya, Singapore and Australian Defense Forces.
Prior to the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, Jay was reassigned to the STA Scout-Sniper Platoon of 1BN, 4BDE Marines in the 1st Regimental Combat Team (RCT). Jay served with 1RCT in the push to Baghdad during Operation Iraqi Freedom, and continued to serve with the Marines until the summer of 2004 when he finished his four-year contract.
He remained in California for the next couple of years working security at high-end clubs, but returned to Missouri in 2006. No sooner had Jay returned home than he contacted One Shepherd and volunteered as a cadre instructor.
Over the next four years Jay poured himself into One Shepherd, mentoring dozens of young men and women, and shaping them as leaders. Jay earned the One Shepherd Black Hat instructor certification in 2008, and assumed the staff position as One Shepherd’s S5 Marketing Officer from 2008 until 2010.
Jay has been inspirational. His faith in One Shepherd is unwavering and he willingly advocates our leadership program to individuals and government agencies alike. He continues to push our training program to new limits, and demands in each warrior a dedication to the leadership arts.
In 2010 Jay took leave from the S5 Public Relations position to start his business in Osage, Missouri. Red Point Industries produces apparel and safety products for climbing and spelunking. Yet Jay remains an invaluable part of the One Shepherd cadre of instructors.
In Jay we see the refinement of the Warrior-Shepherd. He is physically powerful. He is mentally sharp. Yet his heart is kind and generous. Jay has served his nation abroad and his community at home. Most importantly, Jay continues to shape the mind and spirit of young leaders here in Missouri. And for his tireless and inspiring work, we are immensely honored to recognize Jay as a Warrior-Shepherd.
2010 Dr. Ozy Sjahputera
Ozy’s long and unlikely path led him to One Shepherd in the late 1990s and he continued to serve amongst our rank and cadre until 2008 when his research pulled him away.
Born the son of an Indonesian Navy Captain in Jakarta in 1970, Ozy was introduced to the martial life at an early age. He quickly and adeptly picked up the sport of marksmanship and competed in small caliber air rifle throughout his studies in his youth. Ozy graduated Jakarta High School #4 in 1989. He was selected from 15,000 applicants for only 26 scholarship positions to the USA with the Science & Technology Manpower Development Program (STMDP).
Ozy graduated from the University of Missouri in 1994 with a BS in Computer Engineering, in 1996 with an MS in Electrical Engineering, and then returned to Indonesia. However his desire to continue his education brought him back to Missouri and MU in 1998. It was then that his enthusiasm for competition shooting and his insistence on introducing this pastime to fellow students spurred a chance meeting with One Shepherd. Ozy’s interest was ardent.
As a student member in One Shepherd, Ozy was instrumental at recruiting atypical students into One Shepherd’s training program – ethnic minorities, women, and members from various religious backgrounds that might otherwise have shied away from such an opportunity. Ozy quickly acquired a position as the assistant manager of the Columbia, Missouri chapter by 1999, and it was under Ozy’s stewardship that One Shepherd opened up to student members from no less than eight different nationalities across the globe.
Over the years Ozy continued to champion One Shepherd’s student program. He established a basic marksmanship course, regularly taught firearm safety and maintenance, and he was indispensable when it came time to bridge a relationship between One Shepherd and the Army and Marine ROTC programs at MU in 2006.
Even as Ozy’s research work for the US government began to occupy more and more of his time and pulled him away from One Shepherd’s regular training schedule, Ozy continued for two years to offer one-on-one basic marksmanship mentoring for US Army cadets and Marine Corps midshipmen associated with One Shepherd’s Warrior Leader Program.
Ozy completed his PhD in Computer Science & Computer Engineering from MU in 2004. He has served and currently serves on several committees conducting research for the US government and for the Ellis Fischel Cancer Center. Ozy remains an avid NRA master marksman, a certified rifle instructor, and coaches his two young daughters in the sport.
In Ozy we see the best of America – though indeed Ozy is still working toward American citizenship! He deeply appreciates the liberties and opportunities this nation offers, and he’s quick to remind others of that fact. But we also see in Ozy a sincere sense of self-determination and personal accountability. He has overcome seemingly hopeless odds and meets each challenge with a resolve that raises the bar for all others.
For his indomitable spirit, his work within our community, and his research for our nation, it is with great pride that we count Ozy amongst the rank of our Warrior-Shepherds.
2009 Patrick D. Larsen
Patrick joined One Shepherd during its very first year of existence in 1981. As an active participant in simulations, Patrick planned and led patrols at just 16 years of age. He completed his studies at West Platte High School in spring of 1984 and enlisted in the US Army later that fall.
Patrick entered service as an infantryman. He attended Basic Training, Airborne School, and the School of the Infantry at Ft. Benning, Georgia. He was then assigned to the 2nd Battalion 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR), and later the 3rd Battalion 504 PIR, 82nd Airborne Division at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina. He continued training as a mortar crew chief and infantry scout.
Patrick attended a special weapons demolition course, the Winter Warfare School, and the Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape (SERE) Course. Patrick was also awarded the coveted Expert Infantry Badge.
During his three years of service Patrick was promoted as a Non-Commissioned Officer. He deployed twice to Honduras and once to Puerto Rico, and also served in Egypt and Israel as part of the Multinational Peacekeeping Force stationed in the Sinai Peninsula.
Honorably discharged from the Army in 1987, Patrick sought a career as a carpenter and began work in mid-Kansas building highway bridges.
By the mid-1990s Patrick returned to his hometown of Weston, Missouri and worked as a carpenter for a local cabinet shop. By then One Shepherd had reconstituted itself as a training entity. Patrick joined the One Shepherd community once again, maintaining the unit arms room and running OPFOR patrols in simulation scenarios for several years.
In 2007 Patrick volunteered as One Shepherd’s S4 Logistician while our community transitioned to commercial operations. He became intricately involved with the newly dubbed Warrior Leader Program, and accepted assignments as a platform instructor where he continues to serve.
Over the past quarter century, Patrick has served his nation on a global scale and at the community level. His contribution to the development of America’s young leaders is both notable and selfless. For his dedicated service we recognize Patrick as a Warrior Shepherd and welcome him as One Shepherd honored alumni.
2008 Dr. Allan Ensor
Al discovered One Shepherd through a colleague in early 2006. Asked to bolster the numbers of an OPFOR team to train an NROTC Marine detachment at the University of Missouri, Al was immediately hooked.
Born in San Diego to a Navy coxswain after the Second World War, Al is a true Baby Boomer. He attended Carl Junction High School north of Joplin, Missouri, and joined the Navy himself in 1972. He served as signalman on deck, just above the command bridge, earning the rank of petty officer third class on the destroyer USS Henderson and the minesweeper USS Excell.
Al was honorably discharged from the US Navy in 1978, but his love of all things military did not end there.
Al pursued his bachelor degree in psychology from Pittsburg University, Kansas prior to entering the Navy. Afterwards, he continued his studies earning a bachelor degree in sociology and history through Missouri Southern State College. He returned to Pittsburg University for a master degree in clinical psychology. And Al earned a Ph.D. in school psychology at the University of Missouri in 1992 with a dissertation in improving reading fluency in deaf adolescents.
Al’s favorite saying is, “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” Al appeared as a teacher early on. He found his calling as a learning disabilities instructor at Webb High School in Webb City, Missouri. He went on to serve 21 years as a teacher and director at the Missouri School for the Deaf in Fulton, Missouri. Al is now a professor at William Woods University in Fulton. During his impressive teaching career he has served as the state delegate to the National Association of School Psychologist (NASP) and as president of the Missouri Association of School Psychologist (MASP).
However, Al’s love of teaching goes beyond his admirable work with deaf children. Al enlisted in World War II re-enacting with the 2nd Ranger Battalion located in St. Louis and with the 84th Infantry Division in Columbia, Missouri. Through these two living history associations, Al is able to discuss the historical perspective of his father’s generation with younger generations of Americans.
Al’s relationship and experience with these two re-enacting organizations, as well as his participation and instructor status in NRA competition shooting prepared him well for One Shepherd’s Warrior Leader Program.
At an age when most people have long since settled into a more static lifestyle, Al was literally rolling in the mud and shooting back! He was immediately thrust into leadership roles with One Shepherd, commanding an infantry platoon during training weekends and through three-day field exercises in some of Missouri’s most treacherous terrain and arduous weather conditions ranging from humid plus 100 temperatures to freezing, sleeting ice storms.
Additionally, Al has served with One Shepherd as cadre teaching leadership, and marksmanship courses. Al’s insistence on molding, often pulling the best out of younger student members is remarkable.
Al has a lifetime of demonstrated service to his local, state, and national community. He has sought every opportunity to advance himself, and he continues to mentor the same self-determination and accountability in his students. For his selfless service as an educator and demonstrated service as a warrior, we recognize and welcome Al into the ranks of the Warrior-Shepherd.
2007 Michael Kengene McGuire
Kengene first came to One Shepherd prior to his senior year of high school in 1999. Enthusiastic and dedicated to the art of leadership and tactics, Kengene proved to be a natural warrior and leader. He quickly earned the nodding approval of the cadre as a “fast tracker”—showing phenomenal potential.
Kengene remained in the One Shepherd community for only one year before graduating Camdenton High School and enlisting as an infantryman in the US Marine Corps in 2000.
Kengene deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom twice with the 1st Light Armored Recon BN and with Regimental Combat Team 5. He was awarded the Naval Achievement Medal from the Secretary of the Navy for actions in Iraq.
After four years of service to his nation, Kengene decided to remain in the Marine Corps as an NCO and bootstrap for a commission to the officer ranks. He enrolled at the University of Missouri in Columbia under the Marine ROTC program earning a bachelor degree in business management.
Kengene noted that while the ROTC program lectured on the art of leadership and tactics—the program had no field application of these principles. He approached the One Shepherd community and asked if ROTC cadets and midshipmen could be included in the Warrior Leader Program. Kengene served as One Shepherd cadre and has been instrumental in promoting the value of One Shepherd leadership training.
Kengene was commissioned as an officer in the Marine Corps in May of 2008. Today he serves as a test pilot for the Marine experimental aircraft.
The youngest of our honored members, Kengene’s service to our nation and our One Shepherd community has been enormous for such short period of time. He continues to impress all who work with him, and carries with him the hope and pride of our community. For his generous and professional work with the young men and women of One Shepherd, we are very proud to recognize Kengene as a Warrior-Shepherd.
2006 Heather Amstutz
Heather transferred to rural northwest Missouri in 1983. Attractive and popular, Heather stepped outside the boundaries of what was considered normal activity for a young woman when she joined One Shepherd, then called the “Weston War Games.”
Heather remained active in One Shepherd for her last two years at West Platte High School. After graduation in 1985 she attended Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville. Missing the camaraderie of One Shepherd, Heather decided to join the Army ROTC program. Four years later in 1989, she was commissioned as an officer in the US Army Corps of Engineers.
As a young Army officer, Heather deployed throughout Latin America working civil affairs engineer projects in Honduras, Panama and Costa Rica, often living in tribal regions only accessible by air transport. She later served as the commander of an engineer company while deployed to the Bosnia conflict. Heather was then reassigned to The Pentagon coordinating international command-level meetings until she parted from the military in 1999.
Heather went on to earn a master degree in international affairs from Catholic University in Washington, DC and speaks fluent Portuguese and French.
It seems Heather’s military experience was nothing more than a mere dress rehearsal for the real adventure. Working with numerous humanitarian aid programs throughout the world, Heather has been deployed to work in disaster areas and war-torn regions throughout Somalia, Darfur, Ethiopia, Angola, Sudan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Indonesia. She is currently working in Africa for Medair Emergency Relief and Rehabilitation.
Heather’s dedicated service to our nation and her continued ambassadorship of goodwill to our neighbors abroad reflect most positively on the traditions of our community and upon America as a whole. We’re very proud to include Heather in our ranks as a Warrior-Shepherd.
2005 Jeffery E. McGhay
Jeff was thrust into the Warrior-Shepherd role at the age of fourteen. He helped establish One Shepherd in 1981, years before the name One Shepherd was coined. Jeff was an innovator of applied leadership learned through simulation.
After four years of instrumental work in developing a gaming community in northwest Missouri, Jeff graduated West Platte High School and joined the US Army in 1985. He spent six years in service to his nation as an aviation crew chief and door gunner on a UH-1 Huey helicopter.
In addition to his assignments in the US and South Korea, Jeff was deployed to Honduras, El Salvador, and to the Middle East serving in the Persian Gulf War in 1991.
Jeff left the Army as an NCO and returned to his hometown to raise his family. He became involved again in the One Shepherd community almost immediately and continued to promote our organization among business contacts and church youth groups. Indispensable to the organization was Jeff’s vision for One Shepherd and his rapport with the parents of the younger members.
Due to the demands of work and raising two daughters with his wife, Sherry, Jeff took leave from the One Shepherd community in 2002. In his 21 years of service Jeff literally helped pioneer military simulation gaming as leverage for leadership experience; he developed and promoted One Shepherd as an educational institution; and his service to the US Army reflects positively on the US military traditions and the One Shepherd community. For this we confidently recognize Jeff as a Warrior-Shepherd.