James A . Zimble James Allen Zimble ( October 12 , 1933 – December 14 , 2011 ) was a commissioned officer in the Medical Corps of the United States Navy . His Navy career spanned 35 years of service , beginning in 1956 at the rank of ensign and ending in 1991 at the rank of vice admiral . He served as the 30th Surgeon General of the United States Navy from 1987 to 1991 . After retiring from the Navy in 1991 , Zimble was appointed President of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda , Maryland . He remained in that position until 2004 . Early life . Zimble , an only child , was born on 12 October 1933 in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . Shortly after his birth , the family moved to Little Rock , Arkansas , where they lived until 1946 . His parents , both hearing impaired , were employed as teachers of deaf children . In 1946 , the Zimble family relocated back to Philadelphia . Education and training . Zimble enrolled in Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster , Pennsylvania in 1951 , from where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1955 and was a member of the Pi Lambda Phi fraternity . Later that year , he matriculated in the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine . The following year , he accepted a commission in the United States Navy Reserve at the rank of ensign . Zimble received his Doctor of Medicine degree in 1959 . He completed his internship at the U . S . Naval Hospital at St . Albans , New York from 1959 to 1960 , then trained in undersea medicine at the Naval School , Diving and Salvage ( NSDS , often referred to as the U . S . Navy Deep Sea Diving School ) and also at the U . S . Navy Nuclear Power School until 1961 . Zimble returned to St . Albans in 1963 for residency training in obstetrics and gynecology . Career . Serving as the submarine medical officer for the commissioning crew of the " USS John Marshall " ( SSBN - 611 ) from 1961 to 1963 , he received the Submarine Medical insignia . After completing his residency in 1966 , he was assigned to the obstetrics and gynecology department at the U . S . Naval Hospital at the Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in California ; he remained there until 1970 . On 1 August 1970 , while on his way to report for his next assignment ( at the U . S . Naval Hospital at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard ) , Zimble was involved in a motor vehicle accident which resulted in his being hospitalized for a year and a half . During this time , he began to redirect his efforts towards a career in executive medicine . In late 1971 , he finally reported to the U . S . Naval Hospital in Philadelphia , where he remained on the medical staff until the following year . From 1972 to 1976 , Zimble was Chief of OB / GYN and Director of Clinical Services at the U . S . Naval Hospital at the Naval Air Station Lemoore in Lemoore , California . From 1976 to 1978 , he was assigned as Director of Clinical Services at the Naval Regional Medical Center at the Naval Station Long Beach in Long Beach , California . From 1978 to 1981 , he was Commanding Officer of the Naval Regional Medical Center in Orlando , Florida . In 1981 , Zimble was promoted to flag rank and was assigned as Medical Officer of the Marine Corps . He held that office , stationed at Headquarters Marine Corps , until 1983 . Later that year , RADM Zimble was promoted to Fleet Surgeon for the Commander in Chief , U . S . Atlantic Fleet ( CINCLANTFLT ) and Medical Advisor to the Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic ( SACLANT ) . In that post , he was responsible for the health of United States Navy and United States Marine Corps personnel and contingency and wartime planning of medical support to operational forces . In 1986 , RADM Zimble was again promoted , this time as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategic Planning and Medical Program Management ( subsequently redesignated as the Force Health Protection & Readiness ( FHP & R ) ) in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs . In this role , Zimble was the Executive Secretary of the Defense Department ’ s Advisory Committee on graduate medical education . He was responsible for the oversight of the development of an integrated global plan for military medicine and the implementation of the Military Health Services System Sizing model . In 1987 , Zimble was promoted to vice admiral ( VADM ) and held the office of Surgeon General of the United States Navy . As Navy Surgeon General , Zimble was the principal medical advisor to the United States Department of the Navy . He was responsible for developing and establishing overall naval health care policies and priorities , contingency and wartime planning , and program development in support of more than 2 . 8 million United States Navy and Marine Corps active duty and retired beneficiaries and their families . During this period , Zimble also presided over the disestablishment of the Naval Medical Command and the re - establishment of the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery ( BUMED ) . He also oversaw the deployment of the Navy ' s two hospital ship s ( USNS " Mercy " and USNS " Comfort " ) , the fleet hospital s , and Medical Department personnel for Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm . Upon his retirement from the Navy in 1991 , VADM Zimble was replaced as Surgeon General of the United States Navy by VADM Donald F . Hagen . Later that year , Zimble was appointed by Dick Cheney , the United States Secretary of Defense , as President of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences ( USUHS ) in Bethesda , Maryland . As President of USUHS , Zimble established the USUHS Graduate School of Nursing in 1993 . Since that time , the USUHS GSN has grown from its charter class of two students in one advanced practice nursing discipline in 1993 to more than 530 graduates in five program areas . Zimble also established the National Capital Area Medical Simulation Center , which has since become a world class model for medical simulation education . Zimble remained President of USUHS until 2004 . Personal life . Dr . James A . Zimble married the former Mona C . Melton . He had three children , five step - children , and twelve grandchildren . Death . Zimble died on December 14 , 2011 of coronary artery disease at Lawrence and Memorial Hospital in New London , Connecticut . Honors and awards . Honors and awards that Zimble has received include :