Gale Pollock Gale S . Pollock is a retired United States Army major general who served as the Deputy Surgeon General of the United States Army from October 2006 to March 2007 , and also as chief of the Army Nurse Corps . She became acting Surgeon General of the United States Army for nine months following the 20 March 2007 retirement of her predecessor , Kevin C . Kiley , due to fallout from the Walter Reed Army Medical Center neglect scandal . She is the first woman and the first non - physician to hold the position . She has 30 years of service in the Army and is a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist . She retired from the Army in 2008 . For 2011 she was a Fellow at Harvard ' s Advanced Leadership Initiative . Biography . Education . Pollock received a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from the University of Maryland , Baltimore . She attended the U . S . Army Nurse Anesthesia Program and is a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist ( CRNA ) . She received her Master of Business Administration from Boston University , a Master of Healthcare Administration from Baylor University , a Master of Science in National Security Strategy from the National Defense University , and an honorary Doctorate of Public Service from the University of Maryland . She is also a Fellow at the American College of Healthcare Executives ( FACHE ) . Pollock ' s military education includes the Department of Defense CAPSTONE Program ; the Senior Service College at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces ; the Air War College ; the Interagency Institute for Federal Health Care Executives ; the Military Health System CAPSTONE program ; the Principles of Advanced Nurse Administrators ; and the NATO Staff Officer Course . Military career . Pollock ' s last position was Chief , United States Army Nurse Corps and Commanding General of Tripler Army Medical Center of the Pacific Regional Medical Command . She was also Lead Agent of TRICARE Pacific in Honolulu , Hawaii . Her past military assignments include Special Assistant to the Surgeon General for Information Management and Health Policy ; Commander , Martin Army Community Hospital , Fort Benning , Ga . ; Commander , U . S . Army Medical Activity , Fort Drum , N . Y . ; Staff Officer , Strategic Initiatives Command Group for the Army Surgeon General ; Department of Defense Healthcare Advisor to the Congressional Commission on Service Members and Veterans Transition Assistance ; Health Fitness Advisor at the National Defense University ; Senior Policy Analyst in Health Affairs , DoD ; and Chief , Anesthesia Nursing Service at Walter Reed Army Medical Center , Washington , D . C . Awards . Pollock ' s awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal , Legion of Merit ( with 2 oak leaf clusters ) , the Defense Meritorious Service Medal , the Meritorious Service Medal ( with 4 oak leaf clusters ) , the Joint Service Commendation Medal , the Army Commendation Medal , and the Army Achievement Medal . She also earned the Expert Field Medical Badge , and the Parachutist Badge . She received the Army Staff Identification Badge for her work at the Pentagon and earned the German Armed Forces Badge for Military Proficiency ( Leistungsabzeichen ) in gold . Criticism . In 2007 , an ABC News piece and a story by " The Nation " journalist Joshua Kors questioned Pollack ' s involvement in a brewing scandal involving personality disorder discharges from the military . Pollock released a memo claiming that her office had conducted a careful review of a series of personality disorder discharges from Fort Carson , Colorado , a review Kors alleged to be a sham . According to Kors ' piece , the Office of the Army Surgeon General had not interacted directly with discharged soldiers , instead relying on the Army officials who made the original diagnoses to confirm their confidence in their diagnoses . Kors article stated that the Surgeon General ' s office then closed the review , without seeking information from more objective sources , leading to criticism of Pollack by the Iraq War Veterans Organization and Veterans for America