JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas –
JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas - For Army Sgt. 1st Class Everett Holmes, the desire to work in the field of dentistry started at a young age.
While growing up in El Paso, going to the dental clinic would become a daily routine for Holmes after he got out of school for the day so that he could be with his mother, Diane, who worked as a dental assistant.
“Instead of going home, I would end up with her at work waiting for her to get off,” Holmes said. “So I spent quite a bit of time inside of dental clinics when I was younger.”
It was while in high school that Holmes, Army Dental Specialist Program chief instructor at the Medical Education Training Campus, or METC, based at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, decided to pursue a career in the field of dentistry.
“I walked into a dental clinic one day for an appointment and said, ‘I need to be in here,” he said.
Holmes entered the Army 20 years ago and became a dental specialist. He has 18 years of dental experience in the service.
In 2015, Holmes came to METC as an instructor in the Army Dental Specialist Program and was promoted to chief instructor of the program in 2016.
As chief instructor, Holmes’ job is to make sure the 13 instructors in the program have the resources they need, including staffing and supplies, to train Army dental specialists. Dental specialists serve as assistants to dental officers, handling dental instruments and mixing materials needed for dental treatments.
Holmes said the program has the capability to train 400 dental specialists annually, taking eight weeks to complete. The program’s extensive classroom and lab instruction and training includes general emergency procedures, dental sciences, clinical applications, radiology, dental record documentation, legal issues and customer service.
The objective of the Army Dental Specialist Program is to prepare dental specialists to perform in both a clinical or field unit setting, said Holmes.
“Whether it’s a dental clinic they are assigned to or a dental field unit, they will be required to know and be able to perform all those tasks associated with that,” he said. “Everything from setting up a dental treatment room to taking the x-rays to sterilizing the dental equipment. They will be expected to do everything from start to finish.”
As an instructor, Holmes said he is able to pass on the knowledge and skills he has attained in his 18 years of dental experience working in the Army to new students.
“It provides you an opportunity to see the soldiers that are going out to the field right at the beginning,” Holmes said. “It is the 18 years of dental experience I can impart on to them to prepare them for what to expect when they leave the school environment. I just love being able to pass on the experience and knowledge. I have never been a greedy person. So if I get something, I’m going to make sure that everybody else gets it. Plus, it’s an opportunity to shape the future force.”
The Army Dental Specialist Program emphasizes to its students the need to provide quality service to its customers based on Army values, Holmes said.
“As they progress throughout their career, eventually they’ll make it to a leadership position,” said Holmes of Army dental specialists. “They need to, just as part of being in the Army, they need to embody all the Army values – loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, personal courage. If they stand by these, they will be loyal to the profession, loyal to the unit.”
During his military career, Holmes has been stationed at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston three times, including his present job at METC. Other duty stations include Ft. Bliss, in El Paso, Texas; Camp Casey, South Korea; Fort Bragg, N.C.; Fort Wainwright, Alaska; the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, N.Y.; and Tripler Army Medical Center, Hawaii.
He and his wife, Crystal, have been married for 17 years and are the parents of two children. Holmes is continuing his family’s service to military, as his late father, Plez, was an Army medic stationed at Fort Bliss.