Major General (retired) George A. Alexander, M.D.

Most Recent Assignment: Deputy Surgeon General for the Army National Guard, Office of the Army Surgeon General.

After 26 years of military service, in November 2005 Major General George A. Alexander, M.D. retired as the Deputy Surgeon General for the Army National Guard, Office of the Army Surgeon General, Washington D.C. In this role he championed health and medical readiness policies for Army National Guard (ARNG) soldiers. He served as principal advisor to the U.S. Army Surgeon General on all aspects of readiness and structure of ARNG assets. He advised on the medical readiness, deployability, health status and access to care of more than 350,000 ARNG soldiers, including dental readiness, TRICARE eligibility and community based healthcare organizations for the ARNG, In addition, he successfully led strategic problem solving sessions with ARNG state surgeons from the 54 states and territories. He commanded military hospitals in Delaware and Maryland.

Major General George A. Alexander completed premedical studies at Columbia University, the M.D. degree from Howard University College of Medicine, postgraduate radiation oncology training at M. D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute, advanced biostatistics training at the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health and the Program for Senior Executives in National and International Security at the JFK School of Government, Harvard University.

In his civilian role, General Alexander served as Senior Medical Advisor in the Office of Preparedness and Emergency Operations at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He served as subject matter expert in chemical, biological, radiation and nuclear events addressing civilian preparedness and response. He developed emergency preparedness policies objectives, standards and procedures to respond to public health and medical threats. He was Special Advisor in the Radiation Research Program at the National Institutes of Health. He also served as Director for Medical and Public Health Security in the Office of Homeland Security at The White House. General Alexander has held many academic and research positions throughout his career. These included: Clinical Assistant Professor of Radiation Therapy Technology, Howard University College of Allied Health Sciences; Clinical Assistant Professor of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences; Collaborative Scientist in Experimental Hematology, Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute; Program Director, Radiation Research Program, National Cancer Institute; Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology and Nuclear Medicine and Assistant Dean of Student Affairs, Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University; and Chief, Special Populations Studies Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health. Having served on the Editorial Board of Military Medicine for 16 years, General Alexander has published many medical and scientific articles.

General Alexander has been honored as a recipient of the Garde Nationale Trophy from the National Guard Association of the United States, and as an inductee to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society and to the Order of Military Medical Merit. In 1999 he received the Assistant Secretary for Health and U.S. Surgeon General's Award for outstanding performance in developing strategies to achieve Healthy People 2000 objectives.

His military awards include the Legion of Merit Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (with one oak leaf cluster), Army Commendation Medal (with one oak leaf cluster), Army Achievement Medal, Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal (with four oak leaf clusters), National Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal with Silver Hourglass Device, Army Service Ribbon, Army Reserve Components Overseas Training Ribbon with Numeral 2 Device, Expert Field Medical Badge, Flight Surgeon's Badge, Parachutist Badge, Air Assault Badge and the Army Staff Identification Badge.