Photo By Cameron Parks | Dave Wirtz, Amber Baughman, and Kristina Hawse graduated from the Army Management...... read more read more
Three civilian leaders with the U.S. Army Medical Materiel Development Activity completed the Army Management Staff College Civilian Education System Advanced Course Sept. 22.
Dave Wirtz, Amber Baughman, and Kristina Hawse graduated from the virtual four-week course, designed to sharpen the leadership skills of attendees while increasing their capacity for management roles within their organizations.
Wirtz is a product manager with Medical Field Systems, Baughman directs the Administrative Services Division, and Hawse is a supervisory budget analyst with the Resource Management Branch at USAMMDA.
The CES Advanced Course is a requirement for Army civilian leaders in certain federal employee service grades, according to the Army Management Staff College. The course helps Army civilians learn to lead complex organizations in support of national security and defense strategies, manage organizational resources, lead change, inspire vision and creativity, direct program management, and integrate Army systems.
“[The Course] is crucial in the development of Army civilians and will provide them with skills needed to work through any issue that may arise,” said Wirtz, whose team of 10 manages the fielding of Medical Equipment and Sets to the Active Duty and Reserve components of the U.S. Joint Forces. “Because of the diversity of the class, with people from all types of organizations, it taught me skills needed to see things through a different perspective.”
The CES Advanced Course is open to Army civilians in the civil service General Schedule grades 13 through 15. As part of the course, civilian leaders complete more than 160 hours of both self-paced and instructor-led training. The course training is a primer for future leadership opportunities, according to Wirtz.
“It reinforces things we learn coming up through the ranks. I viewed this course as an opportunity to gain knowledge and insight from a different perspective,” said Wirtz, himself a retired Army unit supply specialist. “We sometimes get stuck in our own way of thinking. It was refreshing to see some of the issues we deal with day-to-day are occurring across the Army, and then coming up with solutions to help with what we all want to accomplish, and that is taking care of the Warfighter.”
USAMMDA is the U.S. Department of Defense’s premier developer of new drugs, vaccines, devices, and medical support equipment designed to help preserve and protect the lives of Warfighters in the U.S. Joint Forces. Composed of roughly 300 Soldiers, Army civilians and contract staff, USAMMDA’s project management teams guide the development of medical products by leveraging industry and academic partnerships and accelerated product delivery for FDA-approved use across the U.S. military.
For Hawse, who has served with USAMMDA for 15 years, the course helped shed light on her role as an Army civilian, and the importance of diversity of thought in shaping the future of the Army.
“I was provided with an overall idea of how I fit into the Army mission and learned a few new things about leadership philosophy and how to put it into action,” said Hawse. “It gave me a chance to work with Army personnel from across other organizations and listen to the perspectives of federal senior executive personnel regarding the future of the Army.”
The course also gave attendees a baseline for growing leadership skills and a greater understanding of how effective leadership is important to successful organizations, according to Hawse.
“Leaders need to be coaches, mentors, and counselors for their personnel and to be the best leader they can be to have a cohesive team that will forge forward to complete the mission. The CES Advanced Course provides leaders the training and tools to be able to do that.”
| Date Taken: | 09.22.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 10.02.2023 14:08 |
| Story ID: | 454916 |
| Location: | FORT DETRICK, MARYLAND, US |
| Web Views: | 192 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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