Medical Service Corps Officers Observe 65th Birthday in Texas

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (NNS) -- Medical Service Corps (MSC) officers at Naval Health Clinic Corpus Christi (NHCCC) observed their 65th birthday during a cake cutting ceremony, Aug. 3.

Capt. Gina M. Jaeger, commanding officer and most senior MSC officer, accompanied by Lt. Erica Poole, an optometrist and most junior officer, sliced the cake with a Navy sword.

The MSC, created on Aug. 3, 1947, was originally comprised of supply and administration, optometry, allied sciences, and pharmacy.

"We have grown from 251 plank owners to a diverse professional corps of nearly 2,900 active and reserve officers representing 31 specialties of clinicians, scientists, and administrators," said Rear Adm. Eleanor V. Valentin, director of the MSC, in a birthday message.

Valentin was the executive officer at NHCCC from 2003 until 2006, and has served as the first female and 16th director of the MSC since Oct. 1, 2009. She is currently assigned to the Under Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs as the director of the Military Health System (MHS) Governance Implementation Planning Executive Secretariat.

"Now, more than ever, our MSC officers provide relevant and critically important services to all our Sailors, Marines, Soldiers and Airmen, as well as our coalition partners throughout the world," Valentin added. "We have scientists conducting world-class, operationally relevant health and medical research solutions, clinicians providing high quality patient care to warrior fighters in the battlefield and Medical Treat Facilities around the world and administrators leading the way in maintaining the health and wellness of our fighting forces and beneficiaries. Wherever MSCs are needed, they work globally to build medical capability."

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