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JBSA News
NEWS | April 30, 2019

Army Medicine welcomes a new member of the Senior Executive Service

By Tish Williamson U.S. Army Medical Department Center & School, Health Readiness Center of Excellence Public Affairs

Joseph M. Harmon III, deputy to the Commanding General, U.S. Army Medical Department Center and School, Health Readiness Center of Excellence, or HRCoE, at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, was appointed to the Senior Executive Service in a ceremony at the Army Medical Department Museum April 29.

The Senior Executive Service, or SES, lead America’s civilian workforce. SES is a civilian service position in the federal government equivalent to the rank of general officer. 

According to the Office of Personnel Management, individuals selected for SES have demonstrated several executive core qualifications to include leading change, leading people, being results driven, having business acumen and having demonstrated ability to build coalitions.

Harmon exemplifies the SES attributes through more than 40 years of dedicated military and civilian service to Army Medicine.  Prior to this appointment, Harmon served in key staff and command positions from platoon to brigade levels.

At the HRCoE, he served as the 187th Medical Battalion commander, HRCoE Chief of Staff and has been the Director of Strategy and Innovation since July 2009.

Harmon’s promotion ceremony was hosted by the HRCoE and officiated by Lt. Gen. Nadja Y. West, The Surgeon General of the U.S. Army and commanding general, U.S. Army Medical Command, and took place at the Army Medical Department Museum.

The overall purpose of the senior executive service is to ensure the executive management of an organization at the strategic level in response to the needs, policy and goals of the nation, West explained.

With more than 40,000 civilians serving in Army Medicine, the general stressed that the civilian workforce is an essential continuity element of the command, especially as the Army Medicine undergoes the largest transformation in over 40 years.

“As we move forward it is vital to ensure that we continue to train our nation’s medical professionals, capture lessons learned and develop and integrate force structure to meet the evolving threat,” West said.

In his new role as the deputy to the commanding general, HRCoE, Harmon is responsible for strategic planning and execution of a $154 million budget and serves as the primary integrator of medical requirements determination, capability development, and mission execution across the doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership and education, personnel, facilities and policy domains and the planning, programing, budgeting and execution process.

Harmon thanked his wife Alice and the many senior leaders and guests who were able to attend the ceremony. He told the crowd of more than 200 attendees that he has set several goals for himself as he begins this new position: to know what is right and to do it; to treat everyone with dignity and respect; and to earn the trust and confidence from those I lead and from my leaders.

“I pledge before you as my witnesses that I will devote all of my knowledge, skill and ability to help improve our Army, ensure its readiness, and care for its people: soldier, civilian and family member,” Harmon said.

The AMEDDC&S HRCoE is the Army’s largest civilian-accredited service school and trains more than 35,000 students annually through 192 health related programs of instruction at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston.

The HRCoE is one of nine centers of excellence within the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, each focused on a separate area of expertise within the force; together they are building America’s Army.

HRCoE trainees represent soldiers in 104 officer and warrant officer medical areas of concentration and 24 enlisted medical military occupational specialties to include Army nurses, combat medics, doctors, dentists, veterinarians, X-ray technicians and food inspectors.