A Bronze Star Medal with Valor device recipient who has served on multiple Space Shuttle recovery missions took command of Bayne-Jones Army Community Hospital and the U.S. Army Medical Department Activity in a ceremony Tuesday on Warrior Field here.
Col. Kelly A. Murray replaced Col. George N. Giacoppe Jr., who will retire from military service and practice medicine in the private sector.
Murray had served at Fort Polk before and she's glad to return. "It's great coming back," she said. "I've ran into so many old friends and soldiers. It's like I never left."
She is also looking forward to her latest challenge. "I'm really honored to be leading this great organization ... and humbled by this responsibility," she said. "Thank you, Col. Giacoppe, for handing me such a great team."
Murray said she will make patient access to care a priority, and said soldiers under her command can expect "straightforward leadership with not a lot of ambiguity," and added, "I want them to enjoy this job and enjoy coming into work."
Murray comes to Fort Polk after receiving two national medical awards in 2008. She was the Uniformed Services Academy of Family Physicians Operational Medicine Physician of the Year and recipient of the Col. Brian Allgood Field Grade Combat Care Award.
She has provided emergency medical support to five Space Shuttle recovery missions and graduated from NASA's Flight Surgeon Course. She has deployed multiple times to Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait.
Her previous assignment was as MEDCOM primary care staff officer and director of the MEDCOM Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Program at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.
Besides the Bronze Star Medal with "V" Device, Murray has received the Purple Heart Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Iraqi Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and the Order of Military Medical Merit.
She has earned the Combat Medical Badge, the Expert Field Medical Badge, the Senior Flight Surgeon's Badge, the Parachutist's Badge and the Air Assault Badge.
She has a bachelor's in biology from Drake University and a doctorate of medicine from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.
Fort Polk, La. —
