Chief of Staff
Colonel Robert (Rob) Carter III
Chief of Staff, U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command
Colonel Robert (Rob) Carter III commissioned into the Medical Service Corps (MSC). In addition to his role as Chief of Staff, COL Carter continues to serve as the Biochemistry and Physiology Consultant to the Army Surgeon General. COL Carter served as White House Social Aide (2008-2011) to the President of the United States. COL Carter served as the USAMRDC Liaison Officer, and subsequently served as the Chief, Medical Modernization and Research, Development and Acquisition (RDA) Advisor to the Executive Deputy to the Commanding General (EDCG), Army Futures Command Headquarters in Austin, Texas.
As a MSC Officer, COL Carter first assignments were with the 4005th United States Army Hospital, 807th Medical Brigade where he served as the Chief, Laboratory Services and Company Commander. He served as a Principal Investigator at the United States Army Institute of Environmental Medicine in Natick, Massachusetts; a Science Attaché & Principal Investigator at the Centre de Recherches du Service de Santé des Armées (CRSSA) in Grenoble, France; the Special Assistant to the Director of the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center, Fort Detrick, Maryland; the Deputy Director, Executive Officer, and Department of the Army Systems Coordinator (DASC), Office of Medical Systems within the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology), Pentagon; and as the Director of the Pre-Hospital Combat Casualty Care Research Program at the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research, Fort Sam Houston, Texas.
As an Acquisition Officer, he has served as the CSL (Brigade-level command) Joint Project Manager for Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) Sensors, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland; the CSL (Battalion-level command) Army Product Manager for Medical Simulation at the Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training, and Instrumentation (PEO STRI) in Orlando, Florida; RDA Advisor to the Combatant Commander and J1/J8 Staff Staffer (Requirements and Assessments), United States Africa Command in Stuttgart, Germany.
COL Carter deployed as a Medical Operations Officer and the Field Assistance in Science and Technology (FAST) Leader with Combined Joint Task Force Paladin and United States Forces- Afghanistan (USFOR-A).
His awards and decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Meritorious Service Medal (7 Oak Leaf Clusters), Joint Service Accommodation Medal. the Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal. He is a recipient of the Order of Saint Maurice (Infantry), Order of the Dragon (Chemical Corps Regiment) and is inducted into the Official Order of Military Medical Merit (O2M3). He possesses the "A" proficiency designator awarded by the Surgeon General. He has earned multiple unit awards including the Joint Meritorious Unit Award. He has also earned the Combat Action Badge, Parachutist Badge and the Army Staff Badge among other medals and honors.
He holds a Ph.D. in Physiology and Biophysics, Master of Public Health (MPH), and M.S. degrees in biological sciences, immunology, and strategic studies. He is a distinguished graduate of the Army War College (AWC) and was awarded the AWC Foundation Award for Outstanding Strategy Research Paper. He completed post-graduate studies at Harvard School of Public Health and has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. He is currently certified as Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) Level III in Engineering and Technical Management (ETM) and Level III in Program Management.