SERVICE MEMORIES

Vice Admiral Adam R. Robinson Jr. grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, where televised images of the return of assassinated President John F. Kennedy’s body to the National Naval Medical Center inspired him to dream of a career in the Navy.  After graduating from college in 1972, Robinson entered the Armed Forces Health Professions Scholarship Program which offers a medical education in return for service as a commissioned officer.  After medical school, Robinson spent two decades practicing surgery at naval hospitals and on board three aircraft carriers before embarking on leadership assignments.  He exceeded even his most ambitious childhood dream in August 2007 when he became the 36th Surgeon General of the Navy and Chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, managing 59,000 people, a $3 billion annual budget, and comprehensive medical care for sailors, marines and their families around the world.  VADM Robinson once said, “No job in the private sector offers the breadth and the depth of the experiences that I've been fortunate to have.”