A flight surgeon is a military medical officer practicing in the clinical field of aviation medicine. Although the term "flight surgery" is considered improper by purists, it may occasionally be encountered.
The Flight Surgeon Badge is a military badge of the United States Armed Forces which has existed to designate Flight Surgeons since the Second World War.
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) is a health science university of the U.S. federal government. The primary mission of the school is to prepare graduates for service to the U.S. at home and abroad in the medical corps as medical professionals, nurses, and physicians.
The Army Medical Department of the U.S. Army (AMEDD), formerly known as the Army Medical Service (AMS), encompasses the Army's six medical Special Branches. It was established as the "Army Hospital" in July 1775 to coordinate the medical care required by the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. The AMEDD is led by the Surgeon General of the U.S. Army, a lieutenant general.
The United States Air Force Medical Service (AFMS) consists of the five distinct medical corps of the Air Force and enlisted medical technicians. The AFMS was created in 1949 after the newly independent Air Force's first Surgeon General, Maj. General Malcolm C. Grow (1887–1960), convinced the United States Army and President Harry S. Truman that the Air Force needed its own medical service.
Lieutenant General James Gordon Roudebush, USAF, was the 19th Surgeon General of the United States Air Force, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C. General Roudebush served as functional manager of the U.S. Air Force Medical Service. In this capacity, he advised the Secretary of the Air Force and Air Force Chief of Staff, as well as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs on matters pertaining to the medical aspects of the air expeditionary force and the health of Air Force people. General Roudebush had authority to commit resources worldwide for the Air Force Medical Service, to make decisions affecting the delivery of medical services, and to develop plans, programs and procedures to support worldwide medical service missions. He exercised direction, guidance and technical management of more than 42,400 people assigned to 74 medical facilities worldwide.
Brigadier General Patricia C. Lewis was Assistant Surgeon General, Medical Plans and Programs, and Chief of the Medical Service Corps, Office of the Surgeon General, Bolling Air Force Base, D.C. As the Air Force Medical Service senior programmer, General Lewis’ key responsibilities were integrating, analyzing and defending the Defense Health Program and medical elements of Air Force funding during the Program Objective Memoranda, Program Budget Decision and Program Decision Memorandum. She provided expert consultative leadership for all of the Air Force Medical Service. The Medical Service supports the activities of 39,000 personnel serving 2.6 million beneficiaries through 75 medical treatment facilities worldwide with a budget of $6.3 billion. In her dual role as Chief of the Medical Service Corps, General Lewis was the senior healthcare administrator in the Air Force and responsible for accessions, development and management of 1,100 healthcare administrative professionals in the corps.
Gale S. Pollock is a retired United States Army major general who served as the Deputy Surgeon General of the United States Army from October 2006 to March 2007, and also as chief of the Army Nurse Corps. She became acting Surgeon General of the United States Army for nine months following the 20 March 2007 retirement of her predecessor, Kevin C. Kiley, due to fallout from the Walter Reed Army Medical Center neglect scandal. She was the first woman and the first non-physician to hold the position.
Lieutenant General George Peach Taylor Jr. USAF (Ret.) was the 18th Surgeon General of the United States Air Force, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C. General Taylor served as the senior Air Force officer responsible for comprehensive management of the Air Force Medical Service. In this capacity, he advises the Secretary of the Air Force and Air Force Chief of Staff, as well as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, on matters pertaining to the medical aspects of the air expeditionary force and the health care of 2.6 million Air Force beneficiaries. The Surgeon General has authority to commit resources for the Air Force Medical Service, to make decisions affecting the delivery of medical services, and to develop plans, programs and procedures to support worldwide medical service missions. The Surgeon General exercises direction, guidance and technical management of more than 42,000 people assigned to 74 medical treatment facilities worldwide. From September 7, 2010 – December 22, 2010 he served as the acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs
Charles H. Roadman II was the 16th United States Air Force Surgeon General (1996–1999), Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Bolling Air Force Base, Washington D.C. His father, Charles H. Roadman (1914–2000), was also an Air Force flight surgeon and command pilot.
Brigadier General Pedro N. Rivera, M.D. is a retired United States Air Force officer who in 1994 became the first Hispanic to be named medical commander in the Air Force. He was responsible for the provision of health care to more than 50,000 patients.
Rear Admiral Kathleen Lousche Martin served as Deputy Surgeon General of the Navy/Vice Chief, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery from October 2002 until her retirement in September 2005. She also held the position as the 19th Director of the Navy Nurse Corps from August 1998 to August 2001. She serves on the board of directors for Caliburn International, a military contracting conglomerate that also oversees operations of Homestead Temporary Shelter for Unaccompanied Children.
The United States Army Nurse Corps (USANC) was formally established by the U.S. Congress in 1901. It is one of the six medical special branches of officers which – along with medical enlisted soldiers – comprise the Army Medical Department (AMEDD). The ANC is the nursing service for the U.S. Army and provides nursing staff in support of the Department of Defense medical plans. The ANC is composed entirely of Registered Nurses (RNs) But also includes Nurse Practitioners.
Hispanics in the United States Air Force can trace their tradition of service back to the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), the military aviation arm of the United States Army during and immediately after World War II. The USAAF was the predecessor of the United States Air Force, which was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947, under the National Security Act of 1947. In the U.S., the term Hispanic categorizes any citizen or resident of the United States, of any racial background, of any country, and of any religion, who has at least one ancestor from the people of Spain or is of non-Hispanic origin but has an ancestor from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Central or South America, or some other Hispanic origin. The three largest Hispanic groups in the United States are the Mexican-Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Cubans. According to the U.S. Census Bureau the estimated Hispanic population of the United States is over 50 million, or 16% of the U.S. population, and Hispanics are the nation's largest ethnic minority. The 2010 U.S. Census estimate of over 50 million Hispanics in the U.S. does not include the 3.9 million residents of Puerto Rico, thereby making the people of Hispanic origin the nation's largest ethnic or race minority as of July 1, 2005.
Warren L. Carpenter was a veteran of the United States Marine Corps and the Air Force, including serving as the Department of Defense's Chief Medical Officer for military space shuttle missions, flying 297 combat hours, serving as one of six Residents in Aerospace Medicine selected to fly on medical evacuation aircraft to bring home the U.S. prisoners-of-war from North Viet Nam on the final repatriation leg of Operation Homecoming, and earning six Service awards for marksmanship.
Josef F. Schmid is a German-American physician, NASA flight surgeon and a major general in the United States Air Force Reserves. He served as an aquanaut on the joint NASA-NOAA NEEMO 12 underwater exploration mission in May 2007. On 8 October 2021 he became one of the first humans to be Holoported off the planet and into space, visiting the International Space Station by telepresence.
Monte Baldwin Miller was a lieutenant general in the United States Air Force who served as surgeon general of the United States Air Force from 1988 to 1991.
Brigadier General Ethel Ann Hoefly was an American nurse and member of the United States Air Force. She served with the United States Army Nurse Corps during World War II and volunteered for service in the European Theater.
Sarah Elizabeth Beard was an American medical researcher, trained as a nurse. She retired in 1978 as a colonel in the United States Air Force.
Jeannine M. Ryder is a U.S. Air Force brigadier general and the Chief of the Air Force Nurse Corps. Ryder also serves as the Commander, 59th Medical Wing, Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, and director, San Antonio Market, Defense Health Agency. Ryder, an Air Force nurse, is the first female commander of two Air Force wings. Ryder was also the first female commander at Keesler Medical Center, the first female commander of the 711th Human Performance Wing in Air Force Research Laboratory, and the first female commander of the 59th Medical Wing.
United States Air Force 
