AG Corps HOF Class of 2013
MG (Ret) Patricia P. Hickerson supervised critical and sensitive personnel programs, services, and systems to support the readiness of Army units and to sustain the well-being of Soldiers, Veterans, and their Families, including the major operational divisions of Personnel Services Support, Personnel Information Management, Army Awards and Decorations, Retirements and Separations, Military Records, Promotion and School Selection Boards, Army Education Programs, Officer and Enlisted Evaluations, and Casualty and Memorial Affairs. As The Adjutant General of the Army, MG (Ret) Hickerson was instrumental in decisions leading to the Defense Science Board (DSB) Task Force review of issues concerning the use of Mitochondrial Deoxyribonucleic Acid (mtDNA) comparison techniques for identification of “ancient remains.” Hundreds of Families have reached closure through the positive identification and repatriation of their loved one’s remains, and more will be possible in the future because of MG (Ret) Hickerson’s efforts. Her first-hand experience and understanding of the field Military Personnel Office (MILPO) and the Battalion and Brigade S-1 shops, enabled her to provide critical leadership in the development and fielding of key Army-wide personnel systems – specifically the Standard Installation Personnel System (SIDPERS) and the Personnel Electronic Records Management System (PERMS), which permitted the elimination of the paper Military Personnel Records Jacket (MPRJ).
COL (Ret) Lester R. Bowen, Jr. deployed to Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm as Chief of Theater Personnel Operations in the provisional Theater Personnel Command. He was the first Chief of Theater Personnel Operations in modern military history who executed the Theater Adjutant General’s mission and supported the Theater Personnel Commander with expertise and aplomb. He successfully provided critical personnel support to the battlefield commanders by ensuring they had the right operational-level personnel to execute their wartime missions. He also assured the personnel services architecture was in place for theater mission success, including ever-important casualty reporting operations. When the G1, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) traveled to see him and voiced his concern on not having sufficient crews for the Division’s many airframes, COL (Ret) Bowen guaranteed that personnel shortages would not be a concern for the 101st when they went on the offensive. He delivered on that promise, and to this day, that former G1 credits much of the Division’s success in combat to COL (Ret) Bowen’s support. He also took the time through his personal example and his daily interaction with other Adjutant General’s Corps staff Officers, Noncommissioned Officers, and Soldiers to train, teach, and mentor them on personnel support, timely staff actions to meet wartime requirements, and provided them the capability to meet the arduous work conditions during high-intensity combat operations.
COL (Ret) Michael R. Molosso served as a member of the DA DCSPER Army of Excellence Task Force and played a significant role in redesigning the delivery of HR support to the Army in the face of major reductions of AG Soldiers to support the Army’s new Air Land Battle doctrine. COL (Ret) Molosso led the Joint team of 33 Military Entrance Processing Stations (MEPS), covering the eastern half of the contiguous United States and Puerto Rico. He developed and implemented a customer service ethos known as “The Prime Directive,” which served as the support center pole for Commanders and their organizations. As the 23rd Commandant and Chief of the Corps, COL (Ret) Molosso was the right AG leader at the right place and time. He fully understood that the well-being and readiness of our Army’s formations, its Soldiers, and their Families were inextricably linked to the quality of HR support. His leadership and vision helped mold every AG student into a high-performing Army HR professional. In his DA Civilian career, COL (Ret) Molosso served as the Deputy Commandant of the Adjutant General School. He was integral to the transition of HR training and doctrine in support of combat operations until his retirement in 2018. He has served as a senior leader in the AG Corps Regimental Association, as Fort Jackson’s Retiree Council Chairman, and as a CSA Retiree Council member since 2012.
COL (Ret) Robert Ortiz-Abreu, Jr. was at ground zero on September 11, 2001, when American Airlines Flight 77 departed Dulles International Airport bound for Los Angeles, was hijacked and crashed (loaded with 10,000 gallons of jet fuel) at 345 mph into the west side of the Pentagon. The Army DCSPER and his SGM, along with many other Army G1 personnel, were killed in action. COL (Ret) Ortiz was again the right AG officer at the right time as his leadership skills under intense pressure and unimaginable circumstances supported the continuation of strategic Army HR operations, and the rebuilding and relocation of the Army G1 team to Human Resources Command, and back again to the Pentagon after reconstruction of the west wedge was completed. Also, during this turbulent time in the AG Corps’ history, COL (Ret) Ortiz authored the first Army Stop-Loss policies for all three Army components in support of the Global War on Terror following the 9/11 attacks. The Stop-Loss policies, although unpopular with Soldiers, were ultimately deemed necessary for an Army at war fully supporting combat readiness for a longer extended period. Due to COL (Ret) Ortiz’s initial efforts, federal courts have consistently found that military service members may be involuntarily extended through Stop-Loss during war or national emergencies.
CW5 (Ret) Jerry L. Dillard served as a highly successful U.S. Army Enlisted Soldier and Warrant Officer for over thirty-three years. His extensive experience in leadership, human resources management, policy development, administration, relationship building, organization, and personal communications continue to benefit our Adjutant General’s Corps as he presently serves our HR professionals in the capacity of the manager of the Army’s premier professional forum of Human Resource Professionals, the S1NET. His contributions on active duty to the Corps are numerous, but what sets him above his peers and truly worthy of this prestigious recognition is that not a day has passed since his retirement that he has not continued to contribute to the Adjutant General’s Corps. CW5 (Ret) Dillard has been serving as the Chief Editor and Facilitator for S1NET since June 2006. In this capacity, he not only recruits and approves members, but also fosters and facilitates the exchange of tacit and explicit knowledge through conversation and contributions to the forum. When he took over the grassroots effort in 2006, membership was approximately ten thousand personnel. Under CW5 (Ret) Dillard’s supervision, the S1NET, which began as an e-mail distribution list of 345 S1s deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom to facilitate information exchange unavailable through the web due to limited bandwidth, has become a sensational online professional forum of over 90,000 members and continues to grow by about 1,000 members per month. In June 2009, the S1NET became the largest Battle Command Knowledge forum and remains the most active Army Professional Forum today.
CW5 (Ret) Gerald I. Sims, Sr.’s culminating assignment as the Chief Warrant Officer of the Adjutant General’s Corps / Warrant Officer proponent was at the AG School, Soldier Support Institute, where he hit the ground running in a time of great transition as the AG Community accelerated its transformation to support the Army warfighter. He actively participated in the Personnel Services Delivery Redesign (PSDR) transformation at Fort Campbell, KY providing greatly needed expertise to the future of HR support. This was the first major restructuring of the AG Corps in the last 20 years and included the most substantive change to the Warrant Officer Management system since its initial design. CW5 (Ret) Sims worked diligently to design, develop, and staff the management of change proposals for the Warrant Officers, synchronizing it with both officer and enlisted personnel changes. He also provided counsel and mentoring of many Officers, Warrant Officers, NCOs, and Commanders locally and at numerous sites participating in the transformation of personnel elements. During this period, one of his most significant accomplishments was his contribution as a member of an Army Material Command-led team deployed to Iraq to assess the Iraqi Army’s CSS capabilities and made solid recommendations for improvements needed in developing a capable national-level Army. When staff shortages crippled the New Organization Training Teams (NOTT), CW5 (Ret) Sims volunteered to lead one of the teams in their support of Korea. By all accounts, he did an exceptional job introducing Army HR concepts to senior leaders, advising and mentoring Officers, Warrant Officers, and Enlisted Soldiers, and ensuring training was delivered to standard.
Throughout his career, CSM (Ret) William E. Hoffer was a positive mentor for others to emulate. His work ethic was always about assisting, guiding, and especially developing Adjutant General’s Corps Soldiers to be some of the Army’s finest leaders and Soldiers. CSM (Ret) Hoffer ensured that Soldiers were subject matter experts of their tasks, conditions, and standards and could complete their mission in a garrison, field, and hazardous duty environment. As the Human Resources Command (HRC) CSM, CSM (Ret) Hoffer constantly traveled worldwide, visiting AG units and gaining a better understanding of challenges and better business practices being utilized. CSM (Ret) Hoffer always took the opportunity to mentor and speak with AG Soldiers regarding professionalism, service, and support. From the Sergeant Major of the Army’s office to a hangar in Kuwait, he was always educating or developing Soldiers about the AG mission. CSM (Ret) Hoffer established the Audie Murphy Club at HRC to develop AG / HRC Senior NCOs to compete and be recognized for attaining total Soldier competencies if they met the board’s standards.
SGM (Ret) Gerald J. Purcell served as Desk Policy Officer working within the Directorate of Military Personnel Management Directorate (DMPM), Army G-1, where he authored, facilitated, or otherwise brought many strategically impactful programs and policies to fruition. His counsel and wisdom routinely affected decisions made by the ASA (M&RA), DMPM, Army G-1, Sergeant Major of the Army, as well as the VCSA and CSA. He led or authored policies, regulations, or issuances that changed our principles of promotion from Train, Select, Promote, to Select, Train, Promote; implemented the first major overhaul of the SPC – SGT Semi-centralized Promotion System in over 30 years; built the foundation for the shift to a paperless semi-centralized promotion system (effective 1 June 2011); mirrored the CSM Command Select List selection process to the LTC – COL Command Selection process; created the nominative CSM selection process; reestablished a revised QMP Program; advocated the brilliantly simple solution to remove NCOES backlog without costing the Army a penny; and realigned the entire Enlisted life cycle of promotion and training policies to fully support the Army Force Generation (ARFORGEN) Cycle and the Army Leader Development Strategy.
AG Corps Distinguished Member of the Corps (DMOC)
Class of 2013
MG Marcia M. Anderson
MG Richard P. Mustion
MG Thomas C. Seamands
COL Tammy L. Miracle
COL (Ret) Michael R. Molosso
CW5 Jeanne Y. Pace
CW5 (Ret) Joseph Burgess, Jr.
CW5 (Ret) Jerry L. Dillard
CW5 (Ret) Warren A. Curtis
CSM (Ret) Dedria J. Porterfield
SGM Michael L. Byrd, Sr.
SGM (Ret) Tammy D. Coon
SGM (Ret) Michael L. Croom
SGM (Ret) L.Z. Harrison, Jr.
SGM (Ret) Raymond J. Moran
SGM (Ret) Gerald J. Purcell
SGM (Ret) Michelle J. Richardson
SGM (Ret) Scarlett V. Williams
Mr. Bennie Evans, Jr.
Mr. John J. Yesis, III