PINELLAS PARK, Fla. — Approximately 90 Army Reserve warrant officers hosted and attended the Army Reserve Medical Command Warrant Officer Symposium, held at AR-MEDCOM headquarters in the C.W. Bill Young Armed Forces Reserve Center here, March 6-8, 2026.
The symposium began with keynote speeches from U.S. Army Reserve Maj. Gen. Beth A. Salisbury, AR-MEDCOM Commanding General, as well as additional remarks from Chief Warrant Officer 4 Terrance L. Coleman Jr., AR-MEDCOM Command Chief Warrant Officer, and Command Sgt. Maj. John R. Hilton, AR-MEDCOM Command Sergeant Major.
Coleman said the symposium served as a platform to unify AR-MEDCOM warrant officers with their rank-adjacent counterparts from the Salt Lake City-based 807th Theater Medical Command, the Gillem Enclave, Georgia-based 3rd TMC and a handful of warrant officers from myriad geographical and functional commands.
“What I wanted to do is ensure we had a way for us to bring all of our warrant officers together for collaboration, mentorship and ultimately, to be able to network,” said Coleman. “I think it is important because a lot of times, as warrants — especially junior warrants, you don’t get a lot of face time with the senior warrants in the field, especially being in the Reserve environment where we are kind of all spread out all over the place.”
Coleman said the curriculum consisted mainly of group and mentorship discussions on both topical and doctrinal subjects, as well as mission exercises and a Holistic Health and Fitness, or H2F, session to bolster camaraderie and esprit de corps among junior, peer and senior warrant officers alike.
“For this symposium, our main effort was our mission exercise,” Coleman said. “We wanted our warrants to get out of their traditional fox holes of being just subject matter experts in their career fields but also bridge that gap between operations from a strategic standpoint.”
“I wanted to make something that was fun, as well as educational,” said Coleman.
Army Reserve Chief Warrant Officer 5 LaShon P. White, the CCWO of the Fort Bragg, North Carolina-based U.S. Army Reserve Command, said the symposium provides Army Reserve warrant officers of disparate military occupational specialties, or MOSs, to have face-to-face interactions with one another and foster connectivity.
“What I really want them to take away is the networking environment that they’ve come to know over the weekend,” said White. “There is a warrant officer community that is built within the medical command, which helps bring that medical command to its readiness. When the warrant officers engage in the projects, when they come together in organizations and forums like this, they’re able to see across the spectrum exactly what another MOS is doing.”
“And when we bring them all together and everyone learns exactly what MOS you have and what you’re doing to bring relevance to the force, it enhances the entire unit,” White said.
Army Reserve Chief Warrant Officer 2 Krysten Ardell, a property accounting technician with the Nashville, Tennessee-based Southeast Medical Area Readiness Support Group, said she grasped an enriched comprehension of how the Warrant Officer Corps augments the lethality and readiness of the Total Army.
“For me personally, what I gained from this symposium so far is a deeper understanding of my role and the roles of the senior and technical advisors,” said Ardell. “To our commanders, the symposium reinforced the importance of using our voice. That is one thing that I felt that was key at the very beginning was using the voice that we have when we are invited to the table and if we are not invited to the table, that we go to the table regardless.”
“Being engaged in the meetings and helping drive solutions, rather than just identifying problems, warrants should bring that data-driven recommendations that help our commanders to make informed decisions,” Ardell said.
Furthermore, Ardell said the event gave her the opportunity to meet with warrant officers within her organizational umbrella.
“This has been a key opportunity for me to mingle with them and to be part of a team that is bigger than myself, so I do appreciate Chief Coleman’s persistency in reaching out to me,” said Ardell.
The three-day symposium concluded with opening remarks from U.S. Army Reserve Brig. Gen. Kathleen A. Clary, AR-MEDCOM Deputy Commanding General, along with group briefs in relation to the notational operational scenarios that gave recommended courses of action and corresponding metrics.
All in all, Coleman said he was grateful for the USARC and AR-MEDCOM respective command teams in their investment in their warrant officers and their professional development.
“If it wasn’t for the support of the leaders, we wouldn’t be here today,” Coleman said. “From my experience, we have leaders that truly stand behind and believe in the cohort of warrant officers, and they’re passionate about ensuring that we are part of the team, and this symposium displayed that [unity]. I would be remiss if I didn’t say a big ‘hurrah’ to our command team for standing behind us and making this possible.”