Students gain new perspective while part of Army workforce

Student hires at the Army Management Staff College Fort Belvoir campus on the steps of Humphreys Hall. The students in the summer hire program who are not pictured are Emilee Clouse and Rachael Bowen, who worked at the AMSC Fort Leavenworth campus. Front Row: Zedoria Blanton, Alexis Patillo, Lenard Chester. Middle Row: Heather Dietterick, Jakayla King, Huy Pham. Back Row: Samone Conyers, Gabrielle McMahan, David Sutton, Albert Baier.

Over the summer, the Army Management Staff College had 12 students on its staff at the Fort Belvoir and Fort Leavenworth, Kan. campuses. Most of the students were in college and each assisted with the AMSC workload.

In addition to assisting with duties at AMSC, the students took away something for themselves - professional development.

The students' positions varied throughout the college. From Humphreys Hall to Thayer Library on Belvoir to the Fort Leavenworth campus, students were active parts of the AMSC academics and operations.

Some of them were involved when the college offered legacy courses such as Personnel Management for Executives and Sustaining Base Leadership and Management, all courses which were phased into the current Civilian Education System. Other students were new to the program.

David Sutton returned for a fourth time to the AMSC summer hire program and worked in the registrar's office. As a business major at Hampton University, he said his experience benefited his career aspiration.

Sutton worked with customer service, answering telephones and managing e-mail traffic.

"It's been a real good experience for me," Sutton said. "You learn a lot about patience, especially for a 21-year-old male. It's one of those things that are going to improve me in my professional career."

Sutton joined Samone Conyers, student hire, who worked in the same office since spring 2006 when she wasn't attending classes at Northern Virginia Community College.

Other returning student hires were Jakayla King in the academic department; Zedoria Blanton in the information technology department; Rachael Bowen, administrative services at the Leavenworth campus; and Huy Pham, who worked with many of the Civilian Education System Distributed Learning courses.

Students who were new to the program said they enjoyed their first experience at the AMSC.

"For a first job, this has been an amazing opportunity for me, because I've gained computer experience, people skills and learned so much about everything from how to use a fax machine to what kind of learning style works best for me," said Emilee Clouse, a student at Lansing High School in Kansas, who worked in administrative services.

Lenard Chester, who worked in the Information Technology department, mentioned working at AMSC, "is a worth while experience," adding that not many students get a chance to work in a position in the government or the Army.

Newcomers to the summer program included Alexis Patillo in IT, Heather Deitterick in administrative services and Gabrielle McMahan in the resource management office.

The summer hire program was also a good opportunity for students to make achievements outside of the classrooms and apply them toward the professional world.

Gabrielle McMahan created PowerPoint slides that were used in a meeting, where directors and chiefs discussed the budget.

"I didn't realize how much of the presentation I put together until I saw it all together," McMahan said.

Blanton received an award for completing the Defense Acquisition University Acquisition 101, a course that is normally available to GS-5 through GS-9 employees or officers in grades O-1 thru O-3.

"It was very interesting. That's when I got to know more about the government and - see and learn about different departments of IT."

Dietterick wrote articles about a Fort Belvoir tour for the student hires, published on the AMSC Web site and in The Eagle.

Most of the students plan to apply what they accomplished at AMSC when they return to college in the fall. King will bring back a lot of her computer skills to her position as secretary of an organization she plans to establish at Virginia State University and in the public relations department of the Virginia State Concert Choir.

By working at the AMSC, King said she's learned a lot more about working with computers and how she can manipulate other documents and programs.

Patillo simply said, "I think the biggest thing I've gotten here was learning how to work well with people, being able to approach them to get the things you need done, and just be pleasant and not let things get under your skin. I think all that is going to be helpful when I go back to college."

According to the AMSC Commandant Col. Garland H. Williams the student hires provided a needed resource of people to do a lot of things AMSC does not have positions dedicated to throughout the year.

"I don't want to call it grunt work, but, a lot of it is some busy and catch-up work that regular staff employees don't have a chance to get done," Williams said.

For the student hires, Williams said he felt they got a taste of what it's like to work for the Army.

"It is a good chance to see how the Army bureaucracy works and how it can work for you," he said. "The summer hire program is not just a job program for teenagers but also a recruiting program for the Army."

Whether or not the students' experiences have influenced them to work for the Army in the future, they can definitely say it was a great opportunity to experience the professional world with an Army perspective.

Editor's note: Albert Ko. Baier, is also a student hire at the AMSC. Baier is a junior at George Mason University.