Enrique Mendez, Jr.

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Enrique Mendez, Jr.
Born 1931
Major General Enrique Mendez, Jr.
Place of birth	Santurce, Puerto Rico
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1954 - 1983
Rank	Major General
Commands held	Commander, Walter Reed Army Medical Center
Awards	Legion of Merit
Other work	Dean and President of the Ponce School of Medicine in Puerto Rico.

Major General Enrique Mendez, Jr. (born 1931), MD, was a United States Army officer who was also the first Puerto Rican to hold the positions of Army Deputy Surgeon General, Commander of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs. He was also the Dean and President of the Ponce School of Medicine in Puerto Rico.

1 Early years
2 Military career
- 2.1 Army Deputy Surgeon General
3 Ponce School of Medicine
4 Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs
5 Recognitions
6 Military awards and recognitions
7 See also
8 References

[edit] Early years

Mendez was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico. His father was a civil engineer and his mother a housewife, he was one of two children born to the couple. He received his primary and secondary education in his native city. During his high school years, Mendez befriended a few physicians who would occasionally invite him to go visit hospitals. He became interested in medicine after witnessing a couple of surgical procedures.^[1]

He enrolled and went to the Mayaguez campus (located on the western coast of the Island) of the University of Puerto Rico, which had a science faculty. After he earned his BS in biology in 1951, he enrolled in the medical school of Loyola University in Chicago and earned his MD degree in 1954.^[1]

[edit] Military career

Mendez joined the Army after completing his internship at Mercy Hospital in Chicago. He entered the Army's GMO program which stands for "general-duty medical officer" and received his basic training at Fort Sam Houston in Texas. After receiving his officers commission he was assigned to Camp Gordon, near Augusta, Georgia. His first assignment at Camp Gordon was to a dispensary which was primarily an ambulatory care. During his stay there, he took the Company Officers' Course and after two years was reassigned to Brooke General Hospital where he underwent his specialty training (residency) in internal medicine.^[1]

In 1960, he was sent to Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawaii. During his service there he had the opportunity to teach interns and residents, plus he set up a dialysis program. ^[1]

In 1963, Mendez was assigned to Medical Research and Development at Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland, and served for less then a year when he was once more sent to Fort Sam Houston. He assigned to the Medical Field Service School as an instructor. He helped to establish a biological and chemical sciences branch. In 1967, Mendez, who was then a Lieutenant Colonel, attended the Command General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth. Upon completion of the CGSC, he was sent to Frankfurt, Germany where he became the surgeon of the 3rd Armored Division. He served as such until 1968 when he was sent to an Army base in Vicenza, Italy where he commanded his first U.S. Army Hospital.^[1]

[edit] Army Deputy Surgeon General

In 1970, Mendez was promoted to Colonel and assigned to Washington, D.C. as chief of the Medical Corps Career Activities. In 1972, he was selected to go to the Industrial College of the Armed Forces for a year and then he was reassigned to Ft. Sam Houston, Texas to head Academy of Health Sciences. In 1975, he was assigned as the deputy chief of staff for operations of the Health Services Command and promoted to Brigadier General. Mendez was named Deputy Surgeon General and remained in that position until 1981 when he was named Commander of Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Mendez retired from the Army in June 1983 with the rank of Major General.^[2]

[edit] Ponce School of Medicine

In 1984, Mendez was offered the position of Dean of the Ponce School of Medicine in Puerto Rico He accepted and moved to the island with his wife and children. A year later he was named president of the institution. He served in said position for four years. He accepted the position of Director of Damas Hospital in Ponce.^[2]

[edit] Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs

In 1990, Mendez received a phone call from the White House personnel office and was asked whether he would consider the position of Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Health Department of Defense. On December 5, 1989, President George H. Bush officially announced the nomination of Mendez for the position of Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs. Among his responsibilities were to give the right advice to the Secretary of Defense which at the time was Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney. He was responsible for a system of health care that included hospitals, medical clinics, and dental clinics scattered in a worldwide configuration. Mendez served in said position from March of 1990 until January of 1993. ^[2]

Mendez joined the firm Martin, Blanck & Associates, a federal health services consulting firm based in Falls Church, Virginia as a Senior Partner. Dr, Mendez and his wife, the former Olga M. Munoz, have four children and six grandchildren.^[3]

[edit] Recognitions

Among his numerous awards and honors are the following: ^[3]

The Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Medal
The Alumni Award for Loyola University
The Laureate Award from the American College of Physicians
The Distinguished Service Award from the Federal Health Care Executives Institute Alumni Association
The Knight rank from the Order of the Holy Sepulchre
The Lifetime Achievement Award of the National Puerto Rican Coalition

Honorary degrees

Doctor of Science from the Universidad Central del Caribe in Puerto Rico
Doctor, Honoris Causa, from the Military Medical Academy of Poland
Doctor of Public Service, Honoris Causa, from the University of North Texas-Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine