Photos

San Antonio, TX

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON – (April 8, 2025) – Dr. Heuy-Ching Hetty Wang, Naval Medical Research Unit (NAMRU) San Antonio’s human research protection official and director, Combat Casualty Care & Operational Medicine directorate, speaks with Derek English and Lt. Cmdr. Matt Shipman, military deputy director, Department of the Navy (DON) Human Research Protection Program (HRPP) during a site visit to NAMRU San Antonio at the Battlefield Health and Trauma Research Institute. The DON HRPP is responsible for ensuring human subjects research conducted or supported by U.S. Navy complies with federal, DoD and Navy regulations. Its mission is to ensure the ethical treatment of human subjects in DON-conducted or supported research by promoting adherence to the ethical principles, laws, regulations, and policies that protect human subjects. NAMRU San Antonio is one of eight research commands within Navy Medicine Research and Development. Its mission is to conduct gap driven combat casualty care, craniofacial, and directed energy research to improve survival, operational readiness, and safety of DoD personnel engaged in routine and expeditionary operations. (U.S. Navy photo by Burrell D. Parmer, NAMRU San Antonio Public Affairs/Released) Share

San Antonio, TX

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON – (April 8, 2025) – Dr. Yoon Hwang, a principal investigator assigned to Naval Medical Research Unit (NAMRU) San Antonio’s Craniofacial Health and Restorative Medicine directorate, speaks with Derek English and Lt. Cmdr. Matt Shipman, military deputy director, Department of the Navy (DON) Human Research Protection Program (HRPP) during a site visit to NAMRU San Antonio at the Battlefield Health and Trauma Research Institute. The DON HRPP is responsible for ensuring human subjects research conducted or supported by U.S. Navy complies with federal, DoD and Navy regulations. Its mission is to ensure the ethical treatment of human subjects in DON-conducted or supported research by promoting adherence to the ethical principles, laws, regulations, and policies that protect human subjects. NAMRU San Antonio is one of eight research commands within Navy Medicine Research and Development. Its mission is to conduct gap driven combat casualty care, craniofacial, and directed energy research to improve survival, operational readiness, and safety of DoD personnel engaged in routine and expeditionary operations. (U.S. Navy photo by Burrell D. Parmer, NAMRU San Antonio Public Affairs/Released) Share

San Antonio, TX

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON – (April 8, 2025) – Dr. Darrin L. Frye, chief science director, Naval Medical Research Unit (NAMRU) San Antonio, speaks with Derek English and Lt. Cmdr. Matt Shipman, military deputy director, Department of the Navy (DON) Human Research Protection Program (HRPP) during a site visit to NAMRU San Antonio at the Battlefield Health and Trauma Research Institute. The DON HRPP is responsible for ensuring human subjects research conducted or supported by U.S. Navy complies with federal, DoD and Navy regulations. Its mission is to ensure the ethical treatment of human subjects in DON-conducted or supported research by promoting adherence to the ethical principles, laws, regulations, and policies that protect human subjects. "DON HRPP site visits are crucial for maintaining ethical and regulatory compliance in NAMRU San Antonio’s research,” said Frye. “They facilitate procedural enhancement and ensure rigorous protection of human participants, thereby strengthening research integrity and public trust." NAMRU San Antonio is one of eight research commands within Navy Medicine Research and Development. Its mission is to conduct gap driven combat casualty care, craniofacial, and directed energy research to improve survival, operational readiness, and safety of DoD personnel engaged in routine and expeditionary operations. (U.S. Navy photo by Burrell D. Parmer, NAMRU San Antonio Public Affairs/Released) Share

GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA

From left, Cmdr. Jennifer Francis, Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Taylor Keene, Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Shakirah Peterson-Wall and Cmdr. James Zmijski, members of U.S. Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command, display the Association of Perioperative Registered Nurses “Go Clear” Award, March 28, 2025. The award recognized the operating room team for their work to implement advanced smoke evacuation technology and demonstrate commitment to surgical safety. (U.S. Navy photo by Emily McCamy) Share

GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA

A photo of the touchscreen displaying “evacuate smoke” on a Stryker Neptune 3 Waste Management System taken in the operating room at U.S. Naval Hospital Guantanamo Bay, March 8, 2025. The smoke evacuation system protects surgical staff from the harmful effects of inhaling smoke generated during surgical cauterized procedures. (U.S. Navy photo by Emily McCamy) Share

GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA

Cmdr. Jennifer Francis, a perioperative nurse assigned to U.S. Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command Guantanamo Bay, holds the filter system from the Stryker Neptune 3 Waste Management System in an operating room at U.S. Naval Hospital Guantanamo Bay, March 8, 2025. Francis, along with Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Shakirah Peterson-Wall, spearheaded an initiative to protect the surgical staff from the harmful effects of inhaling smoke generated during surgical cauterized procedures. (U.S. Navy photo by Emily McCamy) Share

Sigonella, Italy

SIGONELLA, Italy. (March 28, 2025) Captain TaRail A. Vernon, Commanding Officer, U.S. Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command (NMRTC) Sigonella presents Captain Michael G. Mercado, Executive Officer, U.S. NMRTC Sigonella with a Meritorious Service Medal during the Command's Spring uniform inspection at Naval Air Station Sigonella gymnasium, March 28, 2025. (U.S. Navy photo by Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Carlos Villegasmejia). Share

BAHRAIN

KINGDOM OF BAHRAIN. (Jan. 28, 2024) Captain Michael G. Mercado, Executive Officer, U.S. Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command (NMRTC) Sigonella, speaks to the team about their mission in their Area of Responsibility (AOR) during a quarterly visit to U.S.Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Unit (NMRTU) Bahrain, Jan. 28, 2024. (U.S. Navy courtesy photo). Share

Stockton, CA

STOCKTON, CA. Captain Michael G. Mercado, Executive Officer, U.S. Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command (NMRTC) Sigonella, photographed with his grandparents in their home in Stockton, CA. circa 1980. (U.S. Navy courtesy photo) Share

Twentynine Palms, CA

Sailors assigned to Naval Hospital Twentynine Palms complete the final exam of the Lean Six Sigma (LSS) Green Belt course on February 28, 2025. The weeklong training, led by NMFP Regional Master Black Belt James Bloomer, immersed participants in the DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) methodology—an evidence-based process improvement framework central to Navy Medicine’s “Get Real, Get Better” initiative. By mastering Lean and Six Sigma principles, students learned to identify inefficiencies, reduce variation, and implement data-driven solutions that enhance patient care, boost operational readiness, and support a culture of continuous improvement across the military health system. Share

Bremerton, WA

Naval Hospital Bremerton’s Healthcare Business Referral Management is specifically designed to assist all eligible beneficiaries – active duty, retirees and dependents – in getting timely medical care appointments. This include helping navigate the TriWest authorization waiver which has been extended through April 30, 2025, for TRICARE Prime beneficiaries with a referral from their military or civilian primary care manager to seek outpatient care for covered services without referral approval from TriWest. Naval Hospital Bremerton Contact Information to know: Health Benefits Advisor: (360) 475-4768 Healthcare Operations: (360) 475-5561 Patient Relations: (360) 475-4810 Share

Silver Spring, MD

SILVER SPRING, Md. (April 4, 2025) Cmdr. Rhonda Lizewski, deputy science director with Naval Medical Research Command (NMRC), engages with students at Weller Road Elementary School’s STEM Career Day. Representatives from NMRC spent the day with 3rd, 4th and 5th graders answering questions, discussing careers within Navy Medicine and demonstrating laboratory equipment. NMRC is engaged in a broad spectrum of activities, from basic science in the laboratory to field studies in austere and remote areas of the world to investigations in operational environments. In support of the Navy, Marine Corps, and joint U.S. warfighters, researchers study infectious diseases, biological warfare detection and defense, combat casualty care, environmental health concerns, aerospace and undersea medicine, medical modeling, simulation, operational mission support, epidemiology and behavioral sciences. For 250 years, Navy Medicine, represented by more than 44,000 highly-trained military and civilian healthcare professionals, has delivered quality healthcare and enduring expeditionary medical support to the warfighter on, below, and above the sea and ashore. (U.S. Navy photo by Elliott Page /Released) Share