DGMC welcomes new medical group commander

  • Published
  • By Jim Spellman
  • 60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  "Sir, I assume command."

With that time-honored phrase, Col. (Dr.) Rawson Wood accepted the ceremonial guidon from presiding official Col. Corey Martin, 60th Air Mobility Wing commander, Monday morning as the 60th Medical Group's newest commander.

Standing before an audience of more than 200 guests and a formation of 60th MDG personnel on the north lawn of David Grant USAF Medical Center, Wood became the 37th medical group commander in the history of Travis Air Force Base.

The traditional change of command ceremony marks 71 years of continuous medical care since the winds of war first brought Lt. Col. (Dr.) Archibald Laird here as commander of the original 4167th Hospital Station at Fairfield-Suisun Army Air Base in July 1943.

Col. (Dr.) Kevin Connolly, the outgoing 60th MDG commander, heads off for a one-year deployment as NATO Air Training Command-Afghanistan Surgeon General adviser. He concludes a two-year assignment at DGMC managing a $315 million yearly budget that handled more than 4.2 million patient encounters within the 2.3 million-square-foot facility.

"As we all know, command is a team effort, and I couldn't have done my job without the help of every single one of you. We have endured challenges, but together as a team, we were able to conquer those," said Connolly in his departing remarks to the audience.

"Your daily sacrifice and support during my last two years has been critical to the success of David Grant Medical Center and Travis Air Force Base. Thank you very much and never forget who we are; Airmen First, Medics Always!"

Under Connolly's leadership, DGMC was bolstered by the Air Force's largest joint venture program with the Department of Veterans Affairs, funding the 10th and 11th Joint Incentive Fund programs worth more than $57 million. The collaboration resulted in 662 procedures in the Air Force's only Heart, Lung and Vascular Center. An additional $156 million in upgrade funding has modernized departments and enhanced safe, quality care at DGMC. A recently opened $6 million, 16-room Fisher House II will alleviate a four-year guest waiting list for suffering patients and families seeking desperately-needed housing during their treatment.

A native of New York, Wood entered the Air Force in 1988 through Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps after obtaining his Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering from Embry-Riddle University in Daytona Beach, Florida. He was awarded his Air Force pilot wings in 1989. In 1998, he earned a doctor of medicine degree from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland.

Board certified in both aerospace and occupational medicine and one of the Air Force's few pilot-physicians, Wood is rated as a senior pilot and senior flight surgeon with more than 3,700 flight hours. He has flown the C-130 Hercules as a pilot, the C-17 Globemaster III as aircraft commander and the T-37 Tweet as an instructor pilot.

As the recent commander of the 51st Medical Group, 51st Fighter Wing, Osan Air Base, Korea, Wood provided leadership and direction for four separate squadrons, totaling more than 380 personnel. The 51st MDG supports the Air Force's most permanently forward-deployed wing. The group's primary mission provided health care to more than 11,200 warfighters, dependents and Department of Defense civilians on a daily basis and transition to contingency medical care on a moment's notice.

"To the men and women of 60th MDG ... what an awesome sight to look at and see you formed up. You look fabulous and I am eager to help you take care of our patients and provide for this community and the mission of the 60th Air Mobility Wing, said Wood in his welcoming remarks."

"Truly I am humbled and amazed by this awesome medical center behind me. I look forward to our work together and thank you in advance for your help and encouragement during my command."

A Joint Commission-accredited teaching hospital, DGMC is the Air Force Medical Service's flagship medical treatment facility in the United States. DGMC provides a full spectrum of health care and patient-centered treatment to a prime service area population of more than 130,000 TRICARE-eligible patients from 17 counties covering 40,000 square miles in the immediate San Francisco-Sacramento vicinity and more than 377,000 Department of Veterans Affairs Northern California Health Care System-eligible beneficiaries throughout eight western states.

DGMC provides postgraduate training programs in family medicine, radiology, surgery, transitional year, dentistry, oral surgery, nurse anesthesia, pharmacy, clinical social workers, technicians and clinical nurses. The campus includes the VA Fairfield Outpatient Clinic, a Clinical Investigation Facility, the largest Hyperbaric Medicine chamber on the west coast, the Armed Services Whole Blood Processing Laboratory and two community-supported Fisher Houses.