Lt. Col. Benjamin assumes command of AFMOA

Master Sgt. David Plautis holds the Air Force Medical Operation Agency flag as Lt. Col. Chris Benjamin (right) salutes Maj. Gen. (Dr.) Joseph Kelley (left). Benjamin, who has also been selected for promotion to colonel, assumed command of AFMOA  during the ceremony.  (U.S. Air Force photo by Col. (Dr.) Allan Hancock)

Lt. Col. Chris Benjamin assumed command of the Air Force Medical Operations Agency recently in an assumption of command ceremony officiated by Maj. Gen. (Dr.) Joseph E. Kelley, assistant surgeon general, health care operations.

“I’m honored to command an agency that has such a solid history of contributions to the Air Force Medical Service," said Benjamin. "Though the new AFMOA is a fraction of its former size, it will continue to play a vital role in coordinating and communicating issues and activities in the AFMS.” 

Created out of the old AFMS flight medicine department in 1992, AFMOA has steadily seen its mission change over the years.  When AFMOA was first created, serving as a field-operating agency under Office of the Air Force Surgeon General, it mainly took care of the operational side of the AFMS.

In time, the AFMS moved more toward population health and managing the health of the Air Force population as opposed to primarily doing episodic care. With that move, AFMOA’s duties grew, and the agency ended up serving as the operational and consultant lead for aerospace medicine, preventive medicine, clinical excellence, optimization of medical resources, bioenvironmental and occupational health, radiation protection and population health.

The “new” AFMOA will have two divisions.  The first is the medical operations center, which manages expeditionary and current operations for the SG and SGO.  “They are located in the Pentagon and work closely with XO, the Joint Staff, the COCOMs and the other services,” said Benjamin.

The other division is health modeling and informatics, which is located in Alexandria, Va. 

“They create, manage and communicate all the metrics for the AFMS as well as our part in the health affairs metrics,” said Benjamin. “In addition, they take part in a number of different projects developing management tools for the AFMS.” 

Other functions previously handled by AFMOA transitioned over to the Air Force Medical Support Agency.

“There have been many remarkable accomplishments of AFMOA over the years... too many to list,” said Col. (Dr.) Paul Christianson, vice commander of AFMSA.  “As it transitions into the new AFMSA organization, the AFMOA ‘Wolfpack’, its heritage, reputation, and abilities will live on and contribute greatly to AFMSA’s success in ensuring execution of the surgeon general's policies and supporting the AFMS.”