CAPT George F. Archambault, Ph.G., Ph.C., J.D.

CAPT Archambault was appointed the first Pharmacy Liasion Officer for the U.S. Public Health Service. Additional noble titles he held included “Father of Consultant Pharmacy,” “Number 109,” and “Pharmacist of the Twentieth Century.” On April 22, 1999, for his 90th birthday party, Deputy Surgeon General Kenneth Moritsugu also proclaimed CAPT Archambault a “Living Treasure of the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.” CAPT George F. Archambault died on January 1, 2001.

CAPT Archambault graduated from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy (MCP) with his Ph.G. in 1931 and his Ph.C. in 1933. In 1941 he received a law degree from Northeastern University. He also received numerous honorary degrees. CAPT  Archambault taught commercial pharmacy at MCP. He began working at the U.S. Marine Hospital in Brighton, Massachusetts in 1943 as a civilian, and in 1945 he joined the Public Health Service (PHS) reserve. From 1947 to 1965, he was Chief of the Pharmacy Branch of the PHS Division of Hospitals. CAPT  Archambault served as the pharmacy liaison officer to the Surgeon General from 1957 to 1965. In 1965, he became the Medicare pharmacy planning consultant to the Division of Medical Care Administration. In this role, he was responsible for writing the regulations governing pharmacy’s role in Medicare and Medicaid. CAPT Archambault retired at the rank of Captain in 1967, having provided thirty-four years of service to the PHS.

CAPT Archambault was a charter member of the American Society of Hospital Pharmacists (ASHP) in 1942 and later served as president. In 1956, he was awarded ASHP’s Whitney Award. Additionally, he served as the 109th President of the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) from 1962-1963, hence the nickname “Number 109”. In 1969, he was rewarded the Remington Medal from the APhA. CAPT Archambault also received the Craigie Award from the American Society of Military Surgeons in 1962, which is presented for outstanding accomplishments in the advancement of professional pharmacy within the federal government. Furthermore, CAPT Archambault was a charter member of the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists in 1970. He was truly a pharmacy visionary as he stated: “It is the pharmacist’s professional responsibility to protect the public against iatrogenesis, physician-induced injury or disease in the area of drug prescribing especially as to overdosage, incompatibilities, contraindications, and synergistic drug actions.”

RADM Allen J. Brands, D.Sc., F.C.P.

RADM Allen J. Brands served as Chief Pharmacist Officer in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps from 1967 to 1981. From 1953 until 1981, he served as the Chief, Pharmacy Branch, Indian Health Service, and was one of the first national pharmacy leaders to introduce clinical pharmacy concepts into the practice setting. In 1971, RADM Brands collaborated with Indian Health Service (IHS) in establishing clinical pharmacy projects at IHS health centers. He was involved in many projects Department-wide, and was well known for his leadership abilities in advancing the role of federal pharmacists. Following his retirement in 1981, he continued to be very active in pharmacy organizations as a consultant.

RADM Brands graduated cum laude with a B.S. in Pharmacy from the University of Southern California in 1941 and received graduate training at Georgetown University. He worked in community practice and served as a Battalion Radar Officer in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II. RADM Brands was the recipient of many honors in his lifetime including an Honorary Doctorate of Science degree from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science, University of Southern California Merit Award, the Andrew Craigie Award, the Harvey A.K. Whitney Lecture Award, and the USPHS Outstanding Service Medal. These awards reflect the significant accomplishments he made for the pharmacy profession.

RADM Brands died March 17, 1994.

RADM Richard Ashbaugh

RADM Richard Ashbaugh was appointed the Chief Pharmacist Officer on June 1, 1981, by Surgeon General C. Everett Koop following the retirement of RADM Allen Brands. RADM Ashbaugh served in this capacity for 6 years. Graduating from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, his first PHS assignment was at the PHS hospital in New Orleans. RADM Ashbaugh served as Director of Pharmacy Services for the Bureau of Medical Services, and then Deputy Director for Ambulatory Services for the Bureau of Medical Services (BMS). After BMS closed operations, he became the Director of the Office of Health Facilities in the Bureau of Maternal and Child Health within the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), and then later became Deputy Director of the Bureau.

RADM Richard M. Church, Pharm.D.

RADM Richard Church has served as Director, Office of Public Health Support for the Indian Health Service (IHS) since 2004. In this position, he provides national IHS leadership in several critical public health support areas including medical epidemiology and disease prevention; national program statistics; program planning, evaluation, and research; and health professions support. The IHS is the principal agency in the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that provides comprehensive public health services for the American Indian and Alaska Native population across the United States.

A native of Michigan, he received his B.S. and Doctor of Pharmacy degrees from the University of Michigan and completed his residency at the University of Michigan Medical Center. Prior to joining the PHS, he served as Assistant Professor of Clinical Pharmacy and Lecturer in Medicine at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Schools of Pharmacy and Medicine. Over his PHS career, he has served in a variety of clinical and managerial positions at the local, regional, and national program levels. He played an active role in pioneering many progressive pharmacy practice roles that grew out of the Indian Health Service. Very early in his career, he sought roles that put the pharmacist directly in contact with patients to delivery pharmacy services. This included using the patients’ medical record rather than a prescription blank which enabled pharmacists to leverage clinical information to provide primary patient care and directly manage the care of patients whose primary mode of treatment was drug therapy. He built upon his grass roots pharmacy practice as he took on other leadership roles that ultimately led to his appointment as Chief Pharmacist for the Indian Health Service and later the Public Health Service. Under the tenure of Surgeon General C. Everett Koop he was appointed as the PHS Chief Pharmacist in 1987. In this role, he provided leadership for the USPHS Pharmacy Category during the centennial and revitalization years of the PHS Commissioned Corps. He sought to elevate the visibility of the PHS Pharmacy programs. To accomplish this, he focused on building professional relationships with professional organizations, universities, national student organizations, and other federal pharmacy services.

Following his role as PHS Chief Pharmacist, RADM Church assumed other leadership roles in the IHS. Early in his career, he developed an active interest in the application of information technology in support of pharmacy practice programs. He maintained and expanded that interest to the broader areas of clinical services and management. He was selected as the Chief Information Officer in 1992. In this role he was active in a variety of national initiatives involving information technology across the IHS and other HHS agencies. He focused on building and modernizing the technology infrastructure to make it capable of supporting a national electronic health record and better serving the health care delivery system.

RADM Richard J. Bertin, Ph.D., R.Ph.

RADM Richard Bertin is Executive Director of the Board of Pharmaceutical Specialties (BPS). He has held this position since February 1997, when he retired from the United States Public Health Service after a long career in a variety of clinical and administrative positions.

A 1965 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh with a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy, RADM Bertin went on to earn a Master’s Degree in Hospital Pharmacy and a Ph.D. in Pharmacy Administration from the University of Minnesota. While in the Public Health Service, he served as Chief Professional Officer (as an Assistant Surgeon General at the grade of Rear Admiral) as well as in the National Institute of Mental Health, the Bureau of Medical Services, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, the Office of the Surgeon General, and the Food and Drug Administration. His responsibilities ranged from clinical pharmacy practice to advising the Surgeon General, the Assistant Secretary for Health, and other Federal and non-Federal leaders on national pharmacy issues.

BPS was established in 1976 by the American Pharmacists Association to recognize specialties and to certify pharmacists’ knowledge and skills in specialized areas of pharmacy practice. Five specialties are currently recognized by BPS: nuclear pharmacy, nutrition support pharmacy, oncology pharmacy, pharmacotherapy, and psychiatric pharmacy. Nearly 5000 pharmacists are currently certified by BPS in one or more of these specialties. As the Board’s first Executive Director, RADM Bertin is responsible for the overall management and growth of the BPS specialty certification program. In his present position, he works with several national membership organizations and educational institutions on a wide variety of credentialing activities across the pharmacy profession.

RADM Fred Paavola

RADM Fred G. Paavola has worked in a variety of private sector and federal assignments. He worked as a pharmacist in both chain and independent stores and many U.S. Army and U.S. Public Health Service facilities. He held numerous leadership positions throughout his career. His career culminated when he was appointed as the Chief Pharmacist Officer and Assistant Surgeon General for the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) on June 1, 1996. He also held collateral duties as Chief of Peer Review during this time. He retired with over 30 years of service.

As the Chief Pharmacist Officer for the U.S. Public Health Service he led over 1,100 pharmacists in 12 federal operating divisions and programs including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Food and Drug Administration, Indian Health Service, National Institutes for Health, United States Coast Guard, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

RADM Paavola earned his pharmacy degree in 1970 from North Dakota State University. He is the recipient of numerous awards including a Honorary Doctorate of Science and Alumni Achievement Award from North Dakota State University, Phi Lambda Sigma National Leadership Award, Fellow of the American Pharmacists Association, Linwood F. Tice Award, Drug Topics Pharmacist of the Year, Association of Schools of Allied Health Professions Distinguished Service Award, and was inducted into the North Dakota State University ROTC Wall of Fame. He currently serves as the Commander of Arizona One Disaster Medical Assistance Team and is a member of Region IX National Pharmacist Response Team and the Pharmacy Task Force Metropolitan Medical Response System. He is also the Officials Coordinator for Arizona Swimming.

RADM Richard S. Walling, R.Ph., M.H.A.

RADM Richard S. Walling served over thirty-years in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. His career included a progression of senior executive positions in clinical pharmacy, personnel management, policy development, and global health leadership.

A graduate of the University of Iowa, College of Pharmacy in 1970, RADM Walling began his professional pharmacy career as a community pharmacist. He transferred from the U.S. Army National guard in 1974 to accept a commission in the United States Public Health Service. He was stationed at Staten Island, New York, Seattle, Washington, and Fort Defiance, Arizona before being transferred to the Commissioned Personnel Operations Division in Washington, DC in 1982. In 1989 he transferred to the Office of International Health within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health. His last assignment was as the Director, Office of the Americas and Middle East, Office of Global Health Affairs in the Immediate Office of the Secretary prior to his retirement in July 2005.

RADM Walling also served the United States Surgeon General as the Chief Pharmacist Officer and Assistant Surgeon General from July 2001 through June 2005.

RADM Robert Pittman

RADM Robert Pittman received his Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from the University of Arizona in 1984 and a Master of Public Health degree in Health Policy and Management, from Johns Hopkins University in 1999.

RADM Pittman began his career with the U.S. Public Health Service in 1984. He was assigned to the Indian Health Service for the first seven years of his career, first as a staff pharmacist at the Whiteriver Indian Hospital in Whiteriver, Arizona, from 1984 to 1987, then as Deputy Chief Pharmacy Services at the Sells Indian Hospital in Sells, Arizona, from 1987 to 1991. In November 1991, RADM Pittman transferred to the Health Resources and Services Administration in Rockville, Maryland, to serve as a Health Care Personnel Recruitment Specialist in the National Health Service Corps (NHSC). From 1994 to 1997, he was a Senior Health Care Personnel Recruitment Specialist in the NHSC Recruitment Branch and in 1997 served as the Acting Deputy Branch Chief for the Recruitment Branch. In November 1997, RADM Pittman transferred to the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Bureau of Health Professions to become the Deputy Branch Chief of the Peer Review Branch.

In November 2000, RADM Pittman was appointed as the Principal Pharmacy Consultant for the Indian Health Service (IHS) in Rockville, Maryland. As the chief pharmacist for the IHS, RADM Pittman is responsible for providing performance improvement, risk management, cost containment, and professional pharmacy coordination, analysis, consultation, and collaboration with and for Indian Health Service, Tribal and Urban components nationwide. He provides leadership for over 600 Indian Health Service, Tribal and Urban Program pharmacists at 237 practice sites.

In February 2006, RADM Pittman was appointed Chief Pharmacist Officer for the U.S. Public Health Service.

RADM Scott Giberson

RADM Scott Giberson was selected by U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin as the first Director of the Division of Commissioned Corps Personnel and Readiness (CCPR) in August 2011. He has operational leadership for a new Commissioned Corps infrastructure that provides the management of all personnel and readiness systems for over 6,500 Commissioned Corps officers. In addition to his full-time responsibilities as the Director of CCPR, RADM Giberson was also selected by Dr. Benjamin for a four-year term as the Chief Professional Officer (CPO) for the Pharmacy Category of the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS), effective March 16, 2010. As the CPO, he advises the Office of the Surgeon General and the Department of Health and Human Services on operational and professional affairs of over 1,150 PHS pharmacists.

RADM Giberson has served in roles as a Clinical Pharmacist, Chief Pharmacist, Senior Public Health Advisor, Senior Medical Program Officer, Acting Division Director, and Principal Consultant. RADM Giberson began his career in Gallup, New Mexico as a clinical pharmacist in the Indian Health Service (IHS) in 1994. In the mid-90s, he implemented pharmacy-based disease management clinics for hypertension and hyperlipidemia in Tohatchi, New Mexico. He increased his clinical expertise through two unique programs to expand his scope of practice. RADM Giberson was one of the first pharmacists in the PHS to ever become licensed as a Pharmacist Clinician and certified as an IHS Pharmacy Practitioner. He also was one of the founding members of the National Clinical Pharmacy Specialist (NCPS) Program in 1997. Today, the NCPS Program continues to thrive and has recognized over 225 pharmacists - in the IHS and now expanded to the Bureau of Prisons. In 1998, he (and a small group of IHS pharmacists) became the first federal pharmacists to be compensated by a state Medicaid program as non-physician practitioners. RADM Giberson then became a long-standing member (privileged by physicians) of the Family Practice medical staff in Gallup, NM. He still holds those privileges today after 13 years. In 2000, RADM Giberson became the Chief Pharmacist at the Fond du Lac (FDL) Health Clinic in Cloquet, Minnesota where he continued as a non-physician primary care provider. RADM Giberson has taught hundreds of students at the IHS Clinical Pharmacy Practice Training Program (PPTP) and has lectured at many pharmacy schools across the U.S.

In 2001, RADM Giberson responded to the Anthrax attacks and provided care to postal workers in New York City. He was later chosen by his peers as the National Coordinator for over 40 Nurse and Pharmacist Response Teams as he worked under the newly-formed Department of Homeland Security. In 2003, RADM Giberson was detailed to the Department of Defense for three years. He served on many international health missions for the U.S. Pacific Command involving more than 23 countries. His bilateral work with specific countries also included Thailand, India, Vietnam, Papua New Guinea, and Australia. He traveled extensively working with foreign militaries on HIV/AIDS and other initiatives. Following his work in the Pacific, he transitioned back to the IHS as their National HIV/AIDS Program Principal Consultant. He greatly expanded the program and became a sought-after consultant on HIV/AIDS programs. He also served as a Steering Committee member for President Obama’s National HIV/AIDS Strategy.

RADM Giberson has advocated across his career to advance the pharmacy profession. He maintains dual licensure as a pharmacist and clinician, and has worked as a member of an IHS Family Practice Medical staff for most of his career. He is the primary author of Improving Patient and Health System Outcomes through Advanced Pharmacy Practice – A Report to the U.S. Surgeon General 2011 that garnered the U.S. Surgeon General’s public support. RADM Giberson also co-authored and facilitated the development of the first Federal Pharmacist Vision and Scope of Practice with the Federal Pharmacy Chiefs from the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs. He has authored articles in many publications, spoken at numerous venues domestically and internationally, and served as an adjunct faculty at multiple universities. RADM Giberson has experience as a global health consultant to the U.S. Marine Corps Command Staff and College during their Capstone exercise. He has received numerous PHS awards across his career including the Clinical Pharmacist of the Year and a Department of Defense Meritorious Service Medal for his global health work. RADM Giberson holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Pharmacy from Temple University, a Master’s Degree in Public Health from the University of Massachusetts, and a graduate certificate in Health Emergencies in Large Populations, a graduate-level program developed by the International Committee of the Red Cross.