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JBSA News
NEWS | Feb. 18, 2016

West assumes command of U.S. Army Medical Command

Army Medicine Public Affairs

The Army’s 44th Surgeon General, Lt. Gen. Nadja West, assumed command of the U.S. Army Medical Command at ceremony at Fort Sam Houston Feb. 10.

This past December, the U.S. Senate confirmed West to serve as the new Army Surgeon General, a position in which she is dual hatted as MEDCOM commanding general.

“Like so many of our leaders in the Army today, Nadja West comes from a great lineage of service to our nation,” said Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Daniel B. Allyn, who officiated the ceremony at the MacArthur Parade Field. “In fact, the West family is a veritable joint force, with 10 of their 12 children choosing to serve their country in uniform.”

MEDCOM is one of 11 direct reporting units in the Army. It manages a budget of more than $12.8 billion budget and provides medical care for approximately 3.95 million eligible beneficiary’s worldwide – active duty service members, retirees and their family members. The command also oversees graduate medical education, health professional education, medical research and training of all combat medics.

“As I look across the field, I am inspired by the magnificent soldiers in the formation and what they represent,” West said. “These soldiers represent those who are training and will go forward.”

West previously served as the Joint Staff Surgeon to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. She holds a bachelor of science in engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point and a doctorate of medicine from George Washington University School of Medicine.

Her previous assignments were as commanding general of Europe Regional Medical Command; Womack Army Medical Center commander, Fort Bragg, N.C.; and division surgeon for 1st Armored Division, Army Europe and Seventh Army, Germany. Raised in the Washington, D.C. area, West is the first African-American to serve as the Army Surgeon General, a three-star billet. West pinned on her third star in a ceremony that took place Feb. 9.

This promotion makes West the Army’s first black female to hold the rank of lieutenant general and the highest ranking female of any race to graduate from West Point.