WBAMC Fort Bliss, TX –
Twenty-five Soldiers joined the Army's medical ranks as 68C Practical Nurses following a graduation ceremony held at the NCO Leadership Center of Excellence on Thursday, February 12, 2026. These new nurses are now prepared to provide critical and compassionate care for the nation's warfighters both on and off the battlefield.
The nurses, ranging in rank from private first class to staff sergeant, completed the demanding 55-week course, the second phase of which is hosted at William Beaumont Army Medical Center, one of only five such training sites in the U.S. Army. The ceremony’s guest speaker, retired 1st Sgt. Victor M. Ulloa, also a former instructor for the course, urged the new nurses to focus on two key principles as they begin their careers.
“First, is to get ready for the reality that may face them with this world the way it is. We have a lot of conflicts, so one of the things I want them to do is build their skill set so they’re ready for that day,” Ulloa said in an interview. “The second one, the most important one I think, is to show compassion when it comes to seeing their patients and taking care of them.”
Ulloa, a veteran of the Gulf War with 43 years of combined military and federal service, shared a formative experience during his speech from when he was an 18-year-old medic caring for a dying Colonel. When the patient passed, the grieving wife came into the hallway, and a young Ulloa froze, unsure how to react. Another nurse immediately went to the wife and gave her a comforting hug.
“I was standing there thinking, ugh! I should have done that myself,” Ulloa told the graduates. “It’s hard to teach compassion but you can learn it…compassion is what makes you different from other nurses.”
The course is designed to forge Soldiers into highly competent medical professionals. Maj. Brittany N. Leckrone, director of the Army Practical Nurse Course at WBAMC, detailed the intensity of the curriculum.
“Let me take a minute to quantify the actual amount of learning these graduates have participated in over the past year. 993 didactic classroom hours, 28 comprehensive exams...and 986 clinical and skilled lab hours,” Leckrone said. “This is equivalent to 53 undergraduate credit hours…Just seven credits hours short of an associate’s degree.”
Leckrone noted that this dedication resulted in a 100 percent class pass rate on their final exam, far exceeding the national average of 88.3 percent. She reminded the graduates that this journey prepares them for a lifetime of learning.
“To do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better,” she said, quoting a well-known adage. “Being a Soldier nurse means constantly learning, growing and striving to be better than you were yesterday.”
The ceremony concluded after each graduate received their diploma and the class stood together to recite the Florence Nightingale Pledge, formally marking their transition from student to practitioner, and from Soldier to Soldier nurse, tasked with keeping the Army healthy and ready to fight.
Photography by: Amabilia Payen
Caption: Pfc. Paulina Cazarez Curiel (far right), honor graduate, receives her diploma during a Practical Nurse Course graduation ceremony held at the NCO Leadership Center of Excellence on Feb. 12, 2026, hosted by William Beaumont Army Medical Center.