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Weed ACH Soldier selected for AMEDD Enlisted Commissioning Program
By Kimberly Hackbarth
Weed Army Community Hospital
FORT IRWIN, Calif. — When Sgt. Jona- than Kwaning left Ghana headed for the United States in 2014, he dreamed of becoming a nurse.
Kwaning, now an operating room noncom- missioned officer with Weed Army Community Hospital, faced many challenges, but overcame them all to get one step closer to his dream by earning acceptance into the Army Medical Department (AMEDD) Enlisted Commission- ing Program.
The AEC Program is a two-year program that gives Soldiers the opportunity to attend nursing school and earn a Bachelor of Sci- ence in Nursing. Upon passing the National Council Licensure Examination, Soldiers then become commissioned officers in the Army Nurse Corps.
For Kwaning, his acceptance into the pro- gram is the product of years of resilience and hard work.
After relocating to the U.S., Kwaning worked at a department store in New York and eventually worked his way up from the women’s shoe department to a leader in the shipping department.
When he was not working, Kwaning pre- pared for nursing school.
“Immediately after I got into this country, I started taking prerequisites for nursing, knowing that one day I wanted to pursue that dream,” he said.
On his way to take a test to gain entrance into a college nursing program, Kwaning said he passed by a recruiting office and decided to see what they could offer him.
The recruiter told Kwaning he could pursue his dream of becoming a nurse and let the Army pay for it.
“I joined the Army to serve, but also to follow the dreams that I’ve been trying to get all this time to purse a nursing career,” he said.
After realizing he could not join in the military as a licensed practical nurse due to citizenship requirements, Kwaning said he felt disappointed, but did not give up.
He accepted his current job and decided as long as he was in the medical field, he could still make his dreams a reality.
Kwaning attended basic combat training in early 2019 and during advanced individual training, he learned about AEC Program from a fellow Soldier.
In the second phase of AIT at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, he first met his current noncommissioned officer in charge, Sgt. 1st Class Pretoria Richardson.
Richardson, the Weed ACH operating room NCOIC, said she wrote one of Kwaning’s refer- ence letters for the AEC Program because of his drive and work ethic.
“He’s always done stuff to set himself apart from his peers,” she said. “Before he even became an NCO, he was already acting in an NCO role.”
Following AIT, Kwaning began working at Weed ACH in November 2019, where he started gathering the documents necessary for the AEC Program, but more obstacles arose.
“I needed a release memorandum from branch, but couldn’t get it because the program requires 24 months in service, so I had to stop last year and begin this year,” Kwaning said.
While he waited to meet the time in service
requirement for the AEC Pro- gram, Kwaning earned his United States citizenship.
Shortly after earning citizen- ship, he entered his second year of military service and began working with a medical recruiter to once again pursue the AEC Program.
At the end of September, Kwaning received a phone call while setting up a back table for surgery.
Kwaning said he usually does not answer his phone while per- forming that aspect of his job, but he had a feeling.
He asked another Soldier to grab his phone for him and saw it was the medical recruiter calling.
Photo by Kimberly Hackbarth/ Weed ACH Public Affairs Office
Sgt. Jonathan Kwaning, an operating room noncommissioned officer with Weed Army Community Hospital, assembles medical instruments in preparation for sterilization Oct. 13, at Weed ACH on Fort Irwin, Calif. Kwaning earned acceptance into the Army Medical Department (AMEDD) Enlisted Commissioning Program.
Headquartered on Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, the 20th CBRNE Command has Soldiers and civilians stationed on 19 bases in 16 states who deploy around the world to take on CBRNE threats in support of military operations and domestic civil authorities.
Maj. Chris A. Chavis, the 2nd Chemical Battalion opera- tions officer, said Decisive Action Rotation 21-10 was one of the largest rotations at NTC since 1985 and included an un- precedented amount of CBRN munitions used on a rotational unit. The battalion began preparing for the training rotation with the 1st ABCT earlier this year.
The rotation presented many dilemmas to the entire 1st ABCT team to include fighting against a peer-like competitor with a robust CBRN delivery capability, said Chavis.
“This was my forth NTC rotation in my career and by far the most CBRNE intensive training experience at a Combat Training Center,” said Chavis, an Operation Enduring Freedom veteran from Niceville, Florida.
Chavis said the battalion adapted quickly by designating pre-determined decontamination elements to areas of the
battlefield instead of focusing on particular units, while keeping the brigade elements informed.
Sharing the information with all elements within the brigade area of operations better prepared the units to confront and defeat CBRN threats, said Chavis.
The 2nd Chemical Battalion has both decontamination and Weapons of Mass Destruction elimination capabilities with Hazard Assessment Platoons and CBRNE Response Teams that can limit enemy CBRN research and development capabilities. The battalion’s Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Reconnaissance Vehicles also provide early warning, detection and surveillance of CBRN threats on the battlefield.
“These capabilities will no doubt save lives and protect the force in order to maintain the lethality of our Soldiers in the next large scale combat operations environment,” said Chavis.
Col. Stephen A. Fairless, the commander of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, said the 2nd Chemical Battalion played an instrumental role during the rotation.
“The Soldiers of 2nd Chemical Battalion, the Red Dragons, not only participated in one of the largest decisive action NTC
into, you should be proud.”
Even though the program is competitive,
Richardson said she recommends applying.
“I know a lot of people feel like they can get more school completed getting out of the mili- tary first then coming back in,” she said. “But if they can get into the AEC Program, have the Army pay for it, and still have active duty time, I would recommend it, especially if they’re going
to make it a long term career.”
Kwaning is slated to start the AEC Program
next fall and said he is grateful he never gave up on his dream.
“I felt like everything I’ve been put through this time didn’t go to waste,” he said. “It’s worth it.”
From HAZARDS, Page 1
rotations in recent memory, through their contributions to NTC 21-10, they immeasurably improved the readiness of our brigade as we prepare for a rotational deployment to the Republic of Korea. It was a true privilege to integrate with and learn from the Red Dragons team,” said Fairless, a native of Flint, Michigan, who has commanded the “Ready First” brigade since July 24, 2020.
Through the speakerphone,
Kwaning received the news that
he had been accepted into the AEC Program.
“I was happy,” he said. “I couldn’t jump and stuff because I was sterile and I didn’t want to contaminate my back table.”
Richardson said she knew Kwaning would get into the program.
“I didn’t think he was going to have any problems getting into the AEC Program at all,” she said. “His [grade point average is] high, his recommendations were good, and he’s overall a good Soldier.”
Still, Kwaning said he knew getting in was not as easy as it may have looked.
“The program is very competitive,” he said. “I saw they only picked 29 [people] out of the whole Army, so it’s something that if you get
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