HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah – Sgt. Jason Paglia, a biomedical equipment specialist with U.S. Army Medical Logistics Command, recently graduated from the Army’s Advanced Leader Course, earning recognition on the Commandant’s List.
The 30-day, branch-specific resident course, held at Joint Base San Antonio, Texas, is structured for Soldiers selected for promotion to staff sergeant, focusing on the needed skills to lead squad- and platoon-sized units.
“The week leading up to graduation, most of the 68As (biomedical equipment specialists) were trying to figure out where we stood for the commandant’s list,” Paglia said, noting the criteria included all events over the monthlong course, including academics, physical fitness, leadership positions and volunteer opportunities.
“People in my class were tunnel-visioned on just the academics, whereas I had high accomplishments all around, leading to me being recognized,” he said.
Paglia has served as a biomedical equipment sergeant at AMLC’s Medical Maintenance Operations Division at Hill Air Force Base for five years.
He said the first half of the course exposed students to a wide range of experiences throughout the Army medical fields, which was valuable since most of his work as a medical maintainer has been isolated from the rest of the medical field.
“Hearing from other Soldiers and what they go through, it was a great opportunity to learn more about Army health care,” Paglia said. “The second half breaks into just 68As, where we learn the basics of how a hospital shop operates and common issues 68As have across the Army.”
The course highlighted the vast differences between military occupational specialties, or MOS, across the Army medical spectrum, but also how they work together to support the nation’s warfighters.
“Most of the MOS in Part 1 never worked with each other, but then there were still parts where we identified a common occurrence that required different jobs working together,” he said. “The other benefit was learning what common issues each of these groups experienced and hearing their solutions.”