Surgeon General of the United States Air Force

This article is about the senior physician in the U.S. Air Force. For the head of the U.S. Public Health Service, see Surgeon General of the United States. For other uses, see Surgeon General (disambiguation).
Surgeon General of the
United States Air Force
Incumbent
Lt. Gen. Thomas W. Travis
since July 20, 2012
Formation 1948
First holder Malcolm C. Grow
Website Official Website
Official Bio

The Surgeon General of the United States Air Force is the senior-most Medical Service officer in the U.S. Air Force. In recent times, this has been a Lieutenant General who serves as head of the United States Air Force Medical Service (AFMS). The Surgeon General is usually the senior Medical Corps officer, but acting surgeons general have been from other branches of the medical service.

History

In September 1947 the combat elements of the Army Air Forces separated from the U.S. Army, forming the United States Air Force. But a few Air Force support functions, such as medical care, remained U.S. Army responsibilities for the next two years. Starting in 1948, the Air Force and the Air Surgeon, Maj. Gen. Malcolm C. Grow (1887-1960), began to convince the U.S. Army and the administration of President Harry S. Truman that the Air Force needed its own medical service. In the summer of 1949, Air Force General Order No. 35 established a medical service with the following officer personnel components: Medical Corps, Dental Corps, Veterinary Corps, Medical Service Corps, Air Force Nurse Corps, and Women’s Medical Specialist Corps.

List of Surgeons General of the United States Air Force

No. Name Dates of Tenure Military Rank
1 Malcolm C. Grow July 1, 1949–November 30, 1949 Major General
2 Harry G. Armstrong December 1, 1949–June 30, 1954 Major General
3 Dan C. Ogle July 1, 1954–November 30, 1958 Major General
4 Oliver K. Niess December 1, 1958–December 1, 1963 Major General
5 Richard L. Bohannon December 2, 1963–November 30, 1967 Lieutenant General
6 Kenneth E. Pletcher December 1, 1967–April 30, 1970 Lieutenant General
7 Alonzo A. Towner May 1, 1970–July 31, 1972 Lieutenant General
8 Robert A. Patterson August 1, 1972–July 31, 1975 Lieutenant General
9 George E. Schafer August 1, 1975–July 31, 1978 Lieutenant General
10 Paul W. Myers August 1, 1978–July 31, 1982 Lieutenant General
11 Max B. Bralliar August 1, 1982–July 31, 1985 Lieutenant General
12 Chesney, Murphy A. August 1, 1985–July 31, 1988 Lieutenant General
13 Monte B. Miller August 1, 1988–July 31, 1991 Lieutenant General
14 Sloan, Alexander M. August 1, 1991–July 11, 1994 Lieutenant General
* Robert A. Buethe (Acting) July 12, 1994–September 25, 1994 Major General
15 Edgar R. Anderson, Jr. September 26, 1994–November 14, 1996 Lieutenant General
16 Charles H. Roadman II November 15, 1996–October 10, 1999 Lieutenant General
* Wyrick, Michael K. (Acting) October 11, 1999–October 31, 1999 Major General
17 Paul K. Carlton, Jr. November 1, 1999–October 14, 2002 Lieutenant General
18 George P. Taylor October 15, 2002–July 31, 2006 Lieutenant General
19 James G. Roudebush August 1, 2006–August 11, 2009 Lieutenant General
20 Charles B. Green August 12, 2009– July 19, 2012 Lieutenant General
21 Thomas W. Travis July 20, 2012– Present Lieutenant General

See also

External links