Staff Sgt Floretta Sample, from Hopewell, Va., was selected to the Commandant's List while attending the U.S. Army Medical Department's Senior Leader Course held July 22-August 20. Initially, Sample was scheduled to attend SLC in November, but she took the initiative and entered early as a walk-in.

The Noncommissioned Officers' class included 60 senior leaders (15 Staff Sergeants and 45 Sergeants First Class). For the first two weeks, Sample served as a Squad Leader, and by the third week, her peers recognized her leadership abilities and selected her to serve as Platoon Sergeant.

SLC course requirements included a distance-learning program, with three Career Management Field Module Exams and two written assignments. Sample provided military briefings to her classmates on the Medical Education and Training Campus, and she received high praise for her professional manner and timely presentations.

Sample also received overall superior ratings on all written assignments. She displayed exceptional abilities interpreting information, projecting confidence and demonstrating technical proficiency. Her peers then selected her to join a four-person leadership team during field operations of SLC. Her final leadership responsibility was serving as the Executive Officer and a member of S2 during the Command Post Exercise.

At the completion of the course, Sample met the requirements to be named to the prestigious Commandant's List-only the top 10% of each class makes the list. Individuals who achieve this high honor are Noncommissioned Officers who have consistently displayed exceptional leadership skills, knowledge and attributes. They must receive a first-time "go" on all evaluations, attain a grade point average of 90% and secure a recommendation by their leadership with concurrence from the Commandant.