-
- About ASB Main Page
- Deployment Travel and Travel Readiness
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Government Travel Charge Card
- Household Goods Officers
- Important Regulation Changes
- Junior COSTEP Travel Information
- Links
- Official Travel Forms
- Permanent Change of Station (PCS)
- Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA)
- 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
- Managing TSP after separation or retirement
- Retiree Pay-USCG Website
- SGLI Information
- SGLI Premium Rates (PDF, 20kb)
- T-SGLI Information
- TSP Information (PDF, 99kb)
- Uniformed Service Member Pay
- PHSPay
- Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account (DCFSA) Overview
- DCFSA Fact Sheet
- Benefits
- Eligibility Guide
- Enroll in a DCFSA Plan
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- Fact Sheet for Military Spouses
- DCFSA Video Series
- Dependent Care Tax Credit Worksheet
- Contacts For Questions about DCFSA
- About Personnel & Career Management
- Awards-Introduction
- USPHS Award Recipients
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Background
- Awards Process
- General Guidance
- Types of Awards
- USPHS Awards
- Non-PHS Awards
- Leadership
- List of Agency Awards Coordinators
- List of Agency Liaisons
- USPHS Awards Process Flow Chart
- DEERS Information (PDF, 139kb)
- Important Information Regarding DEERS and ID Cards During COVID-19 (PDF, 57kb)
- eCORPS Information
- Education Benefits Overview
- FAQs
- Forms
- Electronic Official Personnel Folder (eOPF)
- eOPF FAQs
- eOPF Status
- FAQs Practice Hours and Special Pay Changes
- Practice Hours User Guide
- Licensure
- Transcripts FAQs
- Extramural and Intramural Training FAQs
- Officer Leave and Absence Request FAQ
- Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA)
- Veteran Health Administration (VHA) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for Practice Hours
- Link to list of Professional Advisory Committee (PAC) Chairs (PDF, 19kb)
- About Policy
- Commissioned Corps Issuance System
- Commissioned Corps Legislative Liaison Program (CCLLP)
- Equal Opportunity
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Political Restrictions
- Promotion Ceremony Protocol (PDF, 126kb)
- SGHG Drill and Ceremonies Manual (PDF, 3.39mb)
- Uniform Specifications
- PHS Hard Shoulder Boards and Sleeve Insignia (Male and Female) (PDF, 828kb)
- PHS Soft Shoulder Marks (Unisex) (PDF, 324kb)
- Promotion Preparation
- Checklist (Due Dates & Reminders)
- Precepts & Benchmarks
- Administrative Checks
- General Guidance
- Promotion Process
- Eligibility
- Opt Out/Promotion Deferral
- Zones
- Below the Zone
- Failure of Promotion
- 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.
-
Officer Spotlight
CDR Leo Gumapas
"The USPHS Commissioned Corps allows me to be part of a multi-disciplinary team advancing the public health of our nation."CDR Leo Gumapas serves as the Environmental Engineering Program Chief at the Program Support Center in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). He is responsible for developing policies and guidance directing and managing HHS facility activities and environmental compliance in 4,000 HHS facilities nationwide. He works with diverse stakeholders across HHS operating divisions and interagency workgroups to advance HHS sustainability and climate adaption change goals.
CDR Gumapas has been in the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) Commissioned Corps for
11 years. Prior to joining the USPHS Commissioned Corps as an engineer officer in 2012, he was a program manager at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), responsible for inventorying NIH’s carbon footprint. Before NIH, he worked for the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control as an environmental engineer enforcing the Clean Air Act. Before those positions, CDR Gumapas worked as a consultant in Kennesaw, Georgia, preparing air permit applications for industrial manufacturing facilities, most notably a $3.7 billion steel and stainless steel manufacturing and processing facility in Mount Vernon, Alabama.Born and raised in Charleston, South Carolina, CDR Gumapas joined the USPHS Commissioned Corps through converting his civilian position at the NIH to a USPHS Commissioned Corps billet. He joined the USPHS Commissioned Corps for two reasons: His father, who was enlisted in the U.S. Navy, taught him the importance of service to country and community, and he was attracted to the sense of adventure and response to public health emergencies.
At the NIH, CDR Gumapas successfully led the implementation of an industrial water treatment program at the NIH Bethesda Campus Central Utility Plant (CUP), which was recognized with the 2016 U.S. Department of Energy Federal Energy Management Program Award. The CUP treats 400 million gallons of water annually to meet 76 different operating indices and guarantees $362.7 million worth of heat transfer equipment is clean and protected from corrosion to support a research campus of over 20,000 employees.
In 2013, CDR Gumapas provided the framework for tracking public health education events, leading to the establishment of the Prevention through Active Community Engagement (PACE) chartered advisory group providing community outreach on Surgeon General priorities. Over the span of a decade, PACE has grown to 980 Public Health Service officers in 35 states reaching over 80,000 individuals nationwide.
In February 2020, CDR Gumapas was recognized as National Society of Professional Engineer 2020 NIH Engineer of the Year for implementing solutions addressing 16 environmental compliance issues. Most notably, he responded to a 4,000-gallon oil spill from a ruptured fuel transfer line, preventing the oil spill from contaminating the environment while meeting all federal and state reporting requirements.
CDR Gumapas states, “The USPHS Commissioned Corps allows me to be part of a multi-disciplinary team advancing the public health of our nation.” In July 2020, CDR Gumapas supported the Commissioned Corps Headquarters Readiness Deployment Branch (RDB) by building an on-demand system to roster Public Health Service officers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The on-demand system loads the entire array automatically and updates lists through workflow automation based on Public Health Service officers’ deployments, availability, and skills. In addition, he drafted a comprehensive manual on the on-demand system for continuity of operations. The on-demand system has facilitated more than 17,500 USPHS Commissioned Corps deployments since inception and has reduced weekly deployment roster request processing time by 98%.
In October 2017, CDR Gumapas deployed to Puerto Rico in response to Hurricanes Maria and Irma. He served as a logistics officer and delivered supplies to nine federal medical stations. Furthermore, he identified the root cause of large quantities of water loss, 90,000 gallons of water per day, at Bayamon Hospital. CDR Andrew Yang and CDR Leo Gumapas provided a plan for Bayamon Hospital to minimize water loss from the cooling tower overflow, and the hospital was able to resume operations.
CDR Gumapas remarks, “I am grateful for the experience to create holistic solutions and build capacity within the community and federal government to advance public health.” Public health problems are complex, requiring a multitude of skills and strategies to address. CDR Gumapas offers advice for anybody wanting to live a life of public service. He says, “Take risks and combine novel ideas to create innovative solutions to address our nation’s most pressing public health problems.”
