Brig. Gen. (Dr.) Young takes command of 59^th MDW

Gen. William R. Looney III, commander of Air Education and Training Command (left), presents the 59th Medical Wing guidon to Brig. Gen. (Dr.) David G. Young III during the wing’s change of command ceremony at Lackland Air Force Base July 8. (U.S. Air Force photo by Robin Cresswell)

By 1^st Lt. Ellen Harr
59^th Medical Wing Public Affairs

LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- Brig. Gen. (Dr.) David G. Young III became the 59th Medical Wing’s commander here July 8, taking the helm of the Air Force’s medical flagship, Wilford Hall Medical Center.

Gen. William R. Looney III, commander of Air Education and Training Command, presided at the ceremony, which took place at the flagpole near the hospital’s main entrance.

Young comes to Lackland following three years at Keesler AFB, Miss., where he served as commander of the 81st Medical Group and senior market manager, TRICARE Gulf Coast Multi-Service Market.  At Keesler, he led more than 2,300 healthcare professionals and managed a $102 million budget while coordinating care for 95,000 beneficiaries along the Gulf Coast.

An internal medicine physician, Young is a chief flight surgeon with more than 800 hours in a wide variety of aircraft.  Young has also been stationed at Chanute AFB, Ill.; Randolph AFB; Seymour Johnson AFB, N.C.; Nellis AFB, Nev.; Hickam AFB, Hawaii; and as lead agent, Department of Defense Health Services Region IV, and also lead agent, TRICARE Pacific.

As commander of the 59^th MDW, Young leads the Air Force’s largest medical facility with a staff of 5,400 military members, DOD civilians, contract employees, volunteers, residents and students.  As the DOD Multi-Service Market Manager for San Antonio TRICARE, he oversees four medical treatment facilities in the San Antonio metropolitan area and directs a $1.2 billion budget providing healthcare for more than 204,000 beneficiaries.

“My association with Wilford Hall as an institution goes back a long time.  When I was a clinical clerk with the first class of Health Professions Scholarship Program recipients, I did an anesthesia clerkship here,” Young said after assuming command of the 59^th MDW.

“We stand on the shoulders of the giants who have come before us,” he added.

Young explained that it was thanks to the vision of previous leaders of the Air Force Medical Service, in particular Lt. Gen. (Dr.) Charles Roadman and Lt. Gen. (Dr.) Paul K. Carlton Jr., that medicine is leaner and lighter today.  That vision is also part of the “extraordinary decline” of the lethality of combat (from 25 to 9 percent, according to the New England Journal of Medicine) in today’s military conflicts.

“They had the vision to make medicine leaner and lighter – through modular patient care sets, critical care air transport teams and the training to get folks ready to go.  They also had the vision to send far forward our most current and experienced physicians,” Young said.

Young reaffirmed the wing’s commitment to providing quality healthcare, both in a deployed environment and here in San Antonio.  He also emphasized the importance of military readiness, education and training, and medical research to the overall mission of the 59^th MDW.

“I look forward to working with you,” Young said to the audience.  “And I look forward to being led by those I lead.”

During the ceremony, Looney also recognized the achievements of the 59th MDW and its previous commander, Maj. Gen. (Dr.) Charles B. Green, and presented General Green with the Distinguished Service Medal. 

Under Green’s command, the wing executed the first-ever sustained deployment of a theater-level hospital at Balad Air Base, Iraq.  About 1,000 personnel were deployed with zero theater discrepancies, the only wing in the Air Force with that distinction, according to the medal citation.

Green thanked the men and women of the 59th MDW for their hard work and dedication. 

“It is time for me to leave and those who know me best know that I go to Washington because of my love of the Air Force mission and my hope to make things better for you here at the Flagship.  I know General Young will take great care of you.  He will lead you to even greater achievement,” said General Green.  “I am jealous, as I would love to be starting here (at Wilford Hall) all over again.”

Green and his family will begin their next assignment in the Office of the Air Force Surgeon General, Bolling AFB in Washington, D.C., where he will be assistant surgeon general for healthcare operations.