FORT DETRICK, Md. -- U.S. Army Medical Logistics Command leaders recognized their first Dean R. Ohlsen Award of Excellence recipients during a ceremony May 19.
The honorees, who were announced at AMLC’s first Healthcare Technology Management workshop, are Chief Warrant Officer 3 Joshua Barto, 1st Sgt. Jose Maldonado and Jack Rosarius, a recent retiree with 42 years of combined military and civilian service.
The annual award -- recognizing one warrant officer, one enlisted Soldier and one civilian -- is named after retired Sgt. Maj. Dean R. Ohlsen, who is known as a pioneer in the HTM community.
Ohlsen gave over 60 years of combined service as a Soldier and Army civilian, dedicating most of his life to the advancement of the Army’s medical maintenance career field over his decades of governmental service.
“We appreciate all that you have done,” AMLC Commander Brig. Gen. Michael Lalor said to Ohlsen during the ceremony, “but really what I want to thank you for is all the people you helped develop along the way.”
Barto, medical maintenance and logistical analyst for AMLC’s Medical Maintenance Policies and Analysis directorate, or M2PA, was a double honoree during the awards presentation, also earning induction into the Order of Military Medical Merit, or O2M3, along with three others.
Joining Barto as new O2M3 members are Chief Warrant Officer 4 Charles Judd, Master Sgt. Wesley Ladlee and retired Master Sgt. Joshua Varnes.
Founded in 1982, O2M3 is a unique organization created to recognize excellence and promote fellowship among Army Medical Department personnel. Membership denotes at least 15 years of distinguished service, and members receive a certificate and medallion.
Barto and Rosarius addressed the small in-person gathering for the ceremony at Fort Detrick, while Maldonado, stationed in Hawaii, did so via telephone.
Maldonado, who works for the Soldier Recovery Unit at Tripler Army Medical Center, thanked his leaders, peers, mentors and family who have continued to believe in him.
“No achievement or recognition would exist without them,” he said.
Prior to retirement this past December, Rosarius served as the longtime director of the Medical Maintenance Management Directorate, or M3D, at the U.S. Army Medical Materiel Agency, a direct reporting unit to AMLC.
Rosarius noted Ohlsen’s “huge impact” on the lives of many, saying it was a big honor to be named one of the first Ohlsen awardees.
“I do appreciate this but I’m really accepting this on behalf of so many people, particularly at AMLC -- whether it’s M2PA, the folks out at the depots, folks at centralized programs that give the Army so much readiness with so few people,” he said. “Thank you all very much.”
Barto also thanked Ohlsen for always being a strong mentor and advocate for medical logistics.
“It was an absolute blessing to be able to get this opportunity and, hopefully, advance our enterprise and commodity as a whole,” Barto said.
The military’s HTM workforce consists of warrant officers, enlisted Soldiers and civilian employees committed to the care of the nation’s warfighters through planning, procurement and sustainment of medical devices.
A team of dedicated professionals, the HTM community works collectively to deliver effective, efficient health care support, contributing to overall readiness throughout the Department of Defense.
Lalor capped off the event by emphasizing the importance of every HTM professional across the Army, supporting medical readiness at every echelon -- “from the line, all the way back.”
“We’re going to continue driving this forward,” he said. “… It’s great to take a minute, though, and recognize all the great work going on, and thank you for your continued service to our nation.”
Date Taken: | 05.25.2021 |
Date Posted: | 05.25.2021 10:00 |
Story ID: | 397326 |
Location: | FORT DETRICK, MARYLAND, US |
Web Views: | 126 |
Downloads: | 1 |
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