Greetings DUSTOFF Family! This article marks a bittersweet milestone – this will be my last DUSTOFFer article as the 67J Consultant. My greatest reflection is that it has truly been a distinct honor to serve our 67J Dustoff community over the last seven years.
During my tenure, my consultant team proved very successful in numerous endeavors and that credit squarely belongs to Sam Fricks, Nate Forrester, Steve Schmidt, Mike Crivello, Tom Dolce, Ernie Severe, Sam Diehl, Jared Brynildsen and Russ Scott. They did a phenomenal job in working challenges and communicating to you all the great contributions and achievements our exceptional community was doing routinely. Thank you Team Mates!
I want to personally give a shout out and thank you to Dan Gower publicly for his leadership of the association over the previous three decades! I also want to thank and welcome John McMahan in his newly anointed position as the Executive Director. John will take our association to amazing new heights!
The most exciting news that I have today is to announce that The Surgeon General selected Nate Forrester to assume responsibilities as Consultant on 1 June 2023. Nate is a superior leader and friend who has already done immense work behind the scenes for our community. I am confident that the 67J consultancy is in exponentially better hands.
It’s been a busy year for our officers across the force and we are nearing numerous PCS rotations this summer. Our 67Js remain highly competitive for promotion and command selection. The most recent AMEDD MAJ Promotion Selection Board produced an overall primary zone selection of 71.7%, however our 67Js performed very well amongst their peers with an unprecedented promotion rate of 88.9% and eight newly selected Iron Majors.
This year’s MEDEVAC Command Panel resulted in ten commands filled for FY23. Congrats to the following officers!
MAJ Jeremy Bowling, C/2-3 GSAB, Hunter AAF, GA
MAJ Jeffery Crook, C/1-52 GSAB, Fort Wainwright, AK
MAJ Jason West, C/3-10 GSAB, Fort Drum, NY
MAJ Kevin Zuniga, C/2-227 GSAB, Fort Cavazos, TX
MAJ Katlyn Pearsall, USAAD, Fort Novosel, AL
CPT Lance Randles, C/1-228 GSAB, Soto Cano, Honduras
CPT Joshua Greene, C/ 2-4 GSAB, Fort Carson, CO
CPT Ben Krzeczowksi, USAAD, Fort Benning, GA
CPT Jill O’Hara, C/3-82 GSAB, Fort Liberty, NC
CPT Nick Schaefer, C/1-5 AVN, Fort Polk, LA
Congrats to the following officers selected for promotion to LTC:
MAJ(P) Jared Brynildsen
MAJ(P) Russell Scott
MAJ(P) Keller William
MAJ(P) John Spikes
A special congratulations to LTC Nolan Roggencamp on his selection to command GSAB, Soto Cano, Honduras!
It has been my greatest honor to serve as our MEDEVAC consultant and lead our 67J community. Dustoffers continue to set the standard and lead in Army Aviation, MEDCOM, and now throughout the Defense Health Agency. Please continue your thoughts and prayers for our fight crews serving abroad. Stay safe and thank you for what you do in support of our association and our 67Js.
DUSTOFF!
COL Dave Zimmerman