MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, FL -- For First Lt. Carl Sidney, 45th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, MacDill Air Force Base Florida, earning his commission was not only a humbling experience, but the culmination of years of hard work and dedication to excellence.
The former senior airman chartered an unconventional path beginning in Port Au Prince, Haiti, before joining the Air Force Reserve. Spending his youth moving from Montreal, Canada to Paris, France, Sidney didn’t begin to learn English until he settled in Brooklyn New York in 1998.
“I struggled my first few months with learning English but I pushed myself to learn it within six to eight months of being in America,” said Sidney. “I always kept a French-English dictionary around me at all times so I could understand what people were saying around me.”
After settling in Brooklyn, Sidney attended high school where he dedicated himself to earning his high school diploma in three years, propelling him to an academic scholarship at Alfred University. But his pursuit of higher learning did not stop there.
“After I graduated, I received a paid internship at University of California-Los Angeles where I was working with the Summer Institute for the Gifted,” said Sidney. “I was able to learn from different people around the world about how they are successful and how they stay motivated and that proved to be a vital experience for me.”
The experience Sidney gained from UCLA was invaluable, providing him many options to choose from, but he was still undecided about the best course of action for his future. While weighing his options, Sidney referred back to his curiosity of the military he had since he was a boy in Haiti.
“I didn’t have a real idea of what I wanted to do and I knew I wasn’t going to go back to New York, so I decided to enlist in the Army National Guard,” Sidney explained. “I spent three years working as an Automated Logistical Specialist but I still had higher aspirations for what I wanted to do in life.”
After serving in the Army National Guard, Sidney took a job with the Department of the Navy as a civilian and was able to accomplish his goal of earning his Master’s degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Management.
Sidney then joined the 927 AES in 2013 as a Health Service Management Journeyman before receiving his commission earlier this year. Since arriving at MacDill, his drive toward constant improvement has caught the eye of coworkers and his squadron commander, Col James Palmisano
“One word I think of when it comes to Lt. Sidney is, excellence,” said Palmisano, 45th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron commander. “He is so persistent and wants to be the best and we’re very fortunate to have this future colonel within our squadron.”
As a traditional reservist, Sidney spends the majority of his time working, at his alma mater, Argosy University, while he is currently working towards his PhD in Business Administration with a focus in Organizational Leadership.
“It’s been such a humbling journey for me,” said Sidney. “I tell people all the time to fall in love with the process of being what you want to be. You’ll be able to appreciate the labors of your hard work when it’s all said and done in the end.