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 Timberlake
awarded Spanish Navy Cross of Merit
U.S. Joint Forces Command's command surgeon recently received
the Spanish Navy Cross of Merit award for his accomplishments
while serving as director of surgical services and medical
director of the emergency room at Naval Hospital Rota,
Spain.
By
Navy Cmdr. Lana Hampton
USJFCOM Public Affairs
(WASHINGTON
- May 4, 2006) - Persistence paid off for the nation
of Spain in its desire to recognize a U.S. naval officer's
excellent performance when U.S. Joint Forces Command's
top medical professional
received
one
of the
Spanish navy's
top awards in a recent ceremony here
Rear
Adm. Gregory Timberlake, USJFCOM's command surgeon,
received the Spanish Navy Cross of Merit award for his
accomplishments while serving as director of surgical services
and medical director of the emergency room at Naval Hospital
Rota, Spain from 1983 to 1985.
During
his tour more than 20 years ago, Timberlake ensured all
surgical care and emergency treatment rendered to patients
at the hospital was of the highest quality. This included
a number of Spanish civilians and military members who
were brought to the hospital for life or limb threatening
emergencies on a "compassionate" basis.
The award ceremony was originally scheduled in June 1986,
but Timberlake had already returned to the United States
for a new assignment, and was unable to attend. The diploma
and medals were not sent to him due to an oversight by
the office handling this matter at the Spanish Navy Headquarters.
"It was through Dr. Arnaldo Olcese, a surgeon at
the National Naval Medical Center at Bethesda, that we
were able to establish contact with Rear Adm. Timberlake
again," said Capt. Juan Carlos San Martin, Naval Attaché.
After several e-mails and telephone calls between Timberlake
and San Martin, the two men scheduled the award ceremony
to coincide with one of Timberlake's official visits to
Washington, D.C.
"I was particularly touched that 20 years after the
award was made that the general and his naval attaché,
when he found out that the award had not been presented
to me, would take the time and effort to track it down
and then have such a great ceremony," said Timberlake.
Timberlake
was formally presented the award by Defense Attaché to
the United States, Spanish Brig. Gen. Antonio Valderrabano.
"Even though the award was in my name, it's really
a tribute to the entire Naval Hospital Rota team," said
Timberlake.
In his role as USJFCOM surgeon, Timberlake oversees the
mission of leading the medical transformation of the armed
forces of the United States and the NATO nations.
His
directorate provides advice on force health protection
in the command's
joint force provider role as well as overseeing various
medical plans and policies that support the commander's
initiatives.
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