NEW YORK - After enjoying a standout career as Army's point guard from 1988-92, Lt. Col. Kim Kawamoto has spent the last 17 years as an Army officer and on Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden she was honored with the inaugural Maggie Dixon Courage Award on a day that celebrates women's college basketball at its finest. Hall of Famer and Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer shared the honor with Kawamoto in front of a crowd of 10,000-plus in New York.
The Maggie Dixon Classic is played annually in memory of the fallen Army women's basketball coach, who led the Black Knights to the program's only Patriot League title in 2005-06. She died suddenly of a heart condition less than a month after gracing the sidelines opposite Hall of Fame Tennessee head coach Pat Summitt in Army's first-ever NCAA Division I Tournament appearance.
On Sunday, Summitt's Lady Vols took on Rutgers in the second game of a women's doubleheader at The Garden, while
Baylor and Boston College opened the growing event. Kawamoto and Stringer took the court in between games for the Maggie Dixon Courage Awards presentation, along with the Dixon family.
Kawamoto left her own mark on the court during her decorated four-year West Point career. Army's single game (16), season (234) and career (796) assists leader, the Honolulu, Hawai'i, native also holds Army's career steals record with 287. Kawamoto was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Signal Corps upon graduation from the United States Military Academy in 1992.
A four-time letterwinner, Kawamoto earned a pair of Division I All-America certificates and captured the prestigious Army Athletic Association Award upon graduation. West Point's highest athletic honor is presented annually to a male and female member of the senior class "who display the most valuable service to intercollegiate athletics during a career as a cadet."
She continued her basketball career following graduation and was a seven-time member of the All-Army Women's Basketball squad. She also earned roster spots on the All-Armed Forces Women's Basketball team on three occasions.
Immediately following graduation, Kawamoto served as a graduate assistant at the United States Military Academy Preparatory School (USMAPS) at Fort Monmouth, N.J. She moved on to Camp Long, Korea, where she served as a platoon leader, operations officer and executive officer for Bravo Company, 304th Signal Battalion, and later served as a Signal Officer for the 16th Military Police Brigade (Airborne) and the 46th Corps Support Group (Airborne) at Fort Bragg, N.C. Upon completion of the Marine Corps Command and Control Systems Course at Quantico, Va., Kawamoto took command of Bravo Company, 1st Satellite Control Battalion at Fort Meade, Md. Following that assignment, Kawamoto returned to USMAPS as an instructor and women's athletic director.
Kawamoto holds a master's degree in leadership and management from Webster University. She is also a graduate of the Signal Officer Basic, Marine Corps Command and Control Systems Course, and the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. Her military awards include the Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal and Parachutist Badge.
Currently serving as an Associate Athletic Director and West Point's Senior Woman Administrator, she returned to West Point in the fall after spending a year-long tour in Afghanistan. Promoted to lieutenant colonel on April 1, 2009, she served as the chief in the Joint Operations Center overseeing all training operations in Afghanistan. In the last year, Kawamoto was awarded a Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, NATO Medal and the Joint Meritorious Unit Award.
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