445th AMXS Airman awarded DG from ALS

  • Published
  • By Stacy Vaughn
  • 445th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio --  Senior Airman Joshua DeWitt, 445th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron aircraft electro/environmental systems specialist, had a memorable night when he not only graduated from airman leadership school June 28 but he also earned the Distinguished Graduate award.

Airman leadership school is designed to develop Airmen into effective front-line supervisors. It focuses on developing leadership abilities as well as effective communication. Students had to pass numerous written exams and multiple performance exams.

Master Sgt. Jason Goodspeed, Commandant, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Airman Leadership School, said the DG award is based on several different criteria--the cumulative academic score combined with the highest amount of leadership points.

Leadership points are awarded by the student's peers and instructors. Each student and instructor gets an opportunity to vote for who they believe demonstrated the most leadership in the class.

With all the scores added up, DeWitt finished with the second highest cumulative score in the class (top 10 percent), earning him the Distinguished Graduate award.

"As his (DeWitt's) primary instructor, I can tell you that he was the most deserving individual for that particular award. He was always extremely professional, hard working and maintained a great attitude even during the most stressful and difficult times," Goodspeed said.

The ALS commandant added that as instructors, it's easy for them to differentiate between individuals who are actually learning the material and applying it and even valuing it from those that don't.

"From what I was seeing from Senior Airman DeWitt, I knew he was here for the right reason."

DeWitt said although the course was challenging and very demanding, he recommends it to any Airman who is ready for the next level in their career.

"I went into ALS open minded with no intention on receiving an award. The only thing I wanted was to graduate and leave with a 'new set of tools' to work with," DeWitt said.

Chief Master Sgt. Peri Rogowski, 445th AW command chief, said she's proud of DeWitt's accomplishments in completing ALS in residence and that a lot of hard work and studying goes into being selected for the DG award.

"Because of his hard work and dedication in completing ALS, he'll be able to write those decorations and EPRs for all his future Airmen he has the privilege to supervise," Rogowski said.