By Douglas Mallary, NMNG Public Affairs SANTA FE, N.M. – Lt. Col. Patrick Campos relinquished command of 1st Battalion, 515th Regiment (Regional Training Institute), to Lt. Col. Daniel Purcell during a March 3 ceremony here. Regimental Commander Col. Christopher Holland presided over the change of command. Holland began his remarks by detailing the many changes taking place during Campos’s 17 months in command. “The Basic Leader Course has gone through a complete retooling. They’ve also completely retooled the Instructor Development Program,” Holland said. “All this has happened very seamlessly and very successfully. We’re leading the pack.” BLC is the focus of the battalion’s operations. Each month the program graduates around 80 students from the active Army, Army Reserve, and Army National Guard. These students travel from all over the United States and sometimes beyond to attend the three-week course. “During his (Campos) tenure, we’ve graduated over 1,000 Soldiers from BLC,” Holland said. Campos presented each of his BLC instructors with a personal gift, which included a special coin to Master Sgt. Daniel Garcia, the course manager. “I wanted to recognize all of you for all your hard work during the last 17 months,” Campos said. Campos then reminded officer candidates and other junior leaders in the audience, “You are the future.” Campos received his Army Medical Corps commission in 1993 when he graduated from the New Mexico Military Institute with an Associate of Arts degree. He later earned a dual Bachelor of Science degree in Molecular, Cell, and Micro-Biology and Clinical Laboratory Science from the University of New Mexico. He also holds a Master of Business Administration degree, specializing in Health Care Management, from the University of Phoenix and is board certified by the American Society of Clinical Pathologists as a medical technologist. Campos began his military career in Air Defense Artillery, but later migrated to Quartermaster operations. He commanded the 720th Transportation Company for five years, including a deployment to Iraq from 2004 to 2005. Following a tour as the adjutant general’s aide-de-camp, Campos was assigned to the 111th Combat Support Brigade as it transitioned into the 111th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade. He went on to serve with the Recruiting and Retention Battalion, 615th Transportation Battalion, 93rd Troop Command, and Joint Forces Headquarters-New Mexico. Campos is already in his next assignment as the administrative officer/support operations officer of the 111th Sustainment Brigade. His awards include the Bronze Star medal, four Meritorious Service Medals, five Army Commendation Medals, three Army Achievement Medals, and others. Campos lives in Albuquerque with his family, Erin Montoya and daughter Adrian. His son Royal is a U.S. Army sergeant serving at Fort Carson, Colorado. Purcell is also a NMMI graduate. He earned his commission and an Associate of Arts degree in Pre-Engineering in 1999. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Sociology from Eastern New Mexico University. Purcell is a veteran Army aviator, qualified in both the UH-1 Iroquois and UH-60 Black Hawk. While serving in Afghanistan from 2003 to 2004 with the 717th Medical Company, he flew more than 60 medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) missions and logged 230 hours of Combat Flight Time. After returning to New Mexico, Purcell took command of the 812th Medical Company (Air Ambulance) in 2005. Following an assignment as the airspace management officer for the 111th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, he commanded C Company, 1st Battalion, 171st Aviation, in 2012. Purcell has also served as the aviation operations officer for the 93rd Troop Command and the deputy state Army aviation officer at JFHQ. He then completed successive assignments as the safety officer, maintenance officer, operations officer, and commander of the Army Aviation Support Facility in Santa Fe. Purcell’s awards include the Air Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, four Army Commendation Medals, three Army Achievement Medals, and others. Now working as a commercial pilot, he lives in Fort Worth, Texas, with wife Rachael, daughters Keilah and Summer, and son Christian. Holland, himself an Army aviator, said Purcell is a resourceful and organized officer. “I’ve flown with a lot of pilots, and I would have to put him in the top five,” Holland said of Purcell. Purcell said that he is eager to begin his new assignment. “Lt. Col. Campos, you’ve certainly done an outstanding job and left a well-oiled machine,” Purcell said. “To train NCOs in just 22 days, I think that’s awesome. The professionalism I’ve seen at the 515th in every NCO I’ve met just impresses me even more.” Purcell closed by sharing part of his leadership philosophy: “A good leader takes more than the fair share of blame and less than the fair share of credit.”
