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- About ASB Main Page
- Deployment Travel and Travel Readiness
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Government Travel Charge Card
- Household Goods Officers
- Important Regulation Changes
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- Links
- Official Travel Forms
- Permanent Change of Station (PCS)
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- Table of Frequently Used Acronyms
- Temporary Duty Assignments (TDY)
- Transportation
- Travel and Transportation
- Travel and Transportation Allowances FAQ
- Travel and Transportation Entitlements Summary
- Travel, PCS and Transportation
- Important Regulation Changes
- Travel & Transportation Entitlements Summary
- Permanent Change of Station (PCS)
- Temporary Duty (TDY)
- Junior COSTEP Travel Information
- Official Travel Forms
- Household Goods Officers
- Transportation
- Government Travel Charge Card
- Table of Frequently Used Acronyms
- Servicemembers Civil Relief Act
- Links
- Travel and Transportation Allowances FAQ
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- Promotion Ceremony Protocol (PDF, 126kb)
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- Leadership
- List of Agency Liaisons
- List of Chief Professional Officers (CPO)
The USPHS Commissioned Corps is committed to our mission to protect, promote, and advance the health and safety of the nation. Public Health Service officers are trained and equipped to provide crucial public health leadership, assist with policy development, advance innovation and science, provide essential care services and respond to national and global public health emergencies. Through our Active Duty Regular Corps, our Public Health Response Strike Team (PHERST) and our Ready Reserve Corps, we remain responsive and available to rapidly deploy in the service of health.
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Commissioned Corps Headquarters
Director of Commissioned Corps Headquarters (CCHQ)
Rear Admiral Susan Orsega, MSN, FNP-BC, FAANP, FAAN
As Director of Commissioned Corps Headquarters (CCHQ), Rear Admiral (RADM) Susan Orsega is responsible for directing all functions regarding personnel, administration, operations, readiness, deployment, and policy for the approximate 6,500 members of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. She is the principal advisor to the Surgeon General (SG) on activities and policies related to Commissioned Corps training, preparedness, activation, deployment, and total force fitness.
RADM Orsega served as the Chief Nurse Officer of the USPHS from May 2016 to March 2019. In this role, she advised the Office of the Surgeon General and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on the recruitment, assignment, deployment, retention, and career development of nurse professionals, and was responsible for provide leadership to 4,500 Commissioned Corps and civilian nurses.
Prior to joining the Office of the Surgeon General to lead CCHQ, RADM Susan Orsega was assigned to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She was responsible for the operational management of international research that are US Government to Government partnerships with South African and currently with Malian Government involving 150 international nurses and researchers, and 500 research participants. Since 2015, RADM Orsega played a fundamental role in the United States Government (USG) NIH Ebola and Emerging Infectious Disease response. In 2015, at the height of the Ebola, she was one of the US NIH team members on the ground for first human vaccine trial in Liberia and Ebola Z-Mapp trial in Sierra Leone. As part of the U.S. NIH collaboration with the Mali Government, she was responsible for the NIAID operations of the University Clinical Research Center. Her emphasis was focused on building the infrastructure and leading the operations of the US NIH Ebola Vaccine Trial in Mali and Emerging Infectious Disease Trial focused on early detection of suspicious febrile cases in that country.
In addition, RADM Orsega has a distinguished public health emergency and disaster care experience ranging from an elite medical team after 9/11 as well as 14 other national and international disaster/humanitarian USG missions serving in roles with progressive nursing and leadership responsibilities. She was selected as the only USPHS officer on the Advance Planning team, USS Pacific Peleliu Navy ship health diplomacy mission.
RADM Susan Orsega began her career in the USPHS Commissioned Corps in 1989 at NIH. At that time, when the HIV/AIDS epidemic was unfolding, RADM Orsega continued to advance her nursing and scientific knowledge with an emphasis on practice as a Nurse Practitioner. She recognized as a subject matter expert in realm of HIV/AIDS global research, advanced nursing practice, health diplomacy and disaster response. She has authored 19 articles in peer-reviewed journals and presented at 40 major scientific and nursing conferences around the world. RADM Orsega is the recipient of the US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary’s Award for Distinguished Service in 2016, the distinguished Uniformed Services University Graduate of School of Nursing Alumni of the Year award in 2015 and NIH Director’s award in 2002.
RADM Orsega earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) from Towson University and a Master’s degree of Science from the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences Nurse Practitioner program. In 2013, she was inducted as a Fellow in the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. In 2016, RADM Orsega was inducted into the American Academy of Nursing.