Enrique Méndez , Jr . Major General Enrique Méndez , Jr . ( born 1931 ) , was a United States Army officer who was also the first Puerto Rican to hold the positions of Army Deputy Surgeon General , Commander of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs . He was also the Dean and President of the Ponce School of Medicine in Puerto Rico . Early years . Méndez was born and raised in San Juan , Puerto Rico . His father was a civil engineer and his mother a housewife , he was one of two children born to the couple . He received his primary and secondary education in his native Puerto Rico . During his high school years , Méndez befriended a few physicians who would occasionally invite him to go visit hospitals . He became interested in medicine after witnessing a couple of surgical procedures . He enrolled and went to the Mayagüez campus ( located on the western coast of the Island ) of the University of Puerto Rico , which had a science faculty . He earned his BS in biology in 1951 . He enrolled in the medical school of Loyola University in Chicago and earned his MD degree in 1954 . Military career . Méndez joined the Army after completing his internship at Mercy Hospital in Chicago . He entered the Army as a GMO which stands for " general - duty medical officer " and received his basic training at Fort Sam Houston in Texas . His first assignment was to Camp Gordon , near Augusta , Georgia . His first duty at Camp Gordon was in a dispensary which was an ambulatory care facility . After that assignment and attending the Company Officers ' Course and he was reassigned to Brooke General Hospital where he underwent his specialty training ( residency ) in internal medicine . In 1960 , he was sent to Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawaii . During his service there he had the opportunity to teach interns and residents and set up a dialysis program . In 1963 , Méndez was assigned to Medical Research and Development at Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland , where he served for less than a year and was once more sent to Fort Sam Houston . He was assigned to the Medical Field Service School as an instructor . He helped to establish a biological and chemical sciences branch . In 1967 , Méndez , who was then a Lieutenant Colonel , attended the Command General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth . Upon completion of the CGSC , he was sent to Frankfurt , Germany where he became the surgeon of the 3rd Armored Division . He served as such until 1968 when he was sent to an Army base in Vicenza , Italy where he commanded his first U . S . Army Hospital . Army Deputy Surgeon General . In 1970 , Méndez was promoted to Colonel and assigned to Washington , D . C . as chief of the Medical Corps Career Activities . In 1972 , he was selected to go to the Industrial College of the Armed Forces for a year and then he was reassigned to Ft . Sam Houston , Texas to the Academy of Health Sciences . In 1975 , he was assigned as the deputy chief of staff for operations of the Health Services Command and subsequently promoted to Brigadier General . Méndez was named Deputy Surgeon General and remained in that position until 1981 when he was named Commander of Walter Reed Army Medical Center . Méndez retired from the Army in June 1983 with the rank of Major General . Ponce School of Medicine . In 1983 , Méndez was offered the position of Dean of the Ponce School of Medicine in Puerto Rico He accepted and moved to the island with his wife . A year later he was named president of the institution . He served in said position for four years after which he accepted the position of Director of Damas Hospital in Ponce . He was appointed Secretary of Health of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in 1989 . Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs . In 1990 , Méndez received a phone call from the White House personnel office and was asked whether he would consider the position of Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs , Department of Defense . On December 5 , 1989 , President George H . Bush officially announced the nomination of Méndez for the position of Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs . Among his responsibilities was to give health advice to the Secretary of Defense which at the time was Richard Bruce " Dick " Cheney . He was responsible for a system of health care that included hospitals , medical clinics , and dental clinics scattered worldwide . Méndez served in said position from March 1990 until January 1993 . Méndez joined the firm of Martin , Blanck & Associates , a federal health services consulting firm based in Falls Church , Virginia as a Partner . Dr . Méndez and his wife , the former Olga M . Munoz , have four children and six grandchildren . Recognitions . Among his numerous awards and honors are the following : Honorary degrees Military awards and recognitions . Among MG Méndez ' s military awards are the following : Badges