Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

Alberto Díaz Jr. (born 1943) is the first

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

to become the Director of the San Diego Naval District and Balboa Naval Hospital.

Early years

Díaz was born and raised in

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...

, the capital of Puerto Rico, where he received his primary education. He completed his secondary education at

Cheshire Academy Cheshire Academy is a co-educational college preparatory school located in Cheshire, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1794 as the Episcopal Academy of Connecticut, it is the eleventh oldest boarding school in the United States. In 1917, th ...

in Cheshire, Connecticut. After he graduated from high school, he applied and was accepted at

University of Rochester The University of Rochester is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded in 1850 and moved into its current campus, next to the Genesee River in 1930. With approximately 30,000 full ...

in upstate New York. Subsequently, he transferred to

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

in Washington, D.C., where he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree.Navy News
/ref>

Naval service

After earning his Bachelor of Arts degree, he enrolled at

Butler University Butler University is a private university in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1855 and named after founder Ovid Butler, the university has over 60 major academic fields of study within six colleges in the arts, business, communic ...

, in

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

, and earned a master's degree in psychology. Following that, he applied and was accepted to University of Barcelona Medical School in

Barcelona, Spain Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a pop ...

. After earning his medical degree, Díaz joined the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

and in 1976 was commissioned an officer. While serving in the Navy, he continued his education, doing his internship and residency in psychiatry at

Bethesda Naval Hospital Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC; formerly known as the National Naval Medical Center and colloquially referred to as Bethesda Naval Hospital, Walter Reed, or Navy Med) is a United States military medical center located in B ...

in Washington, D.C. His first post-graduate assignment in the Navy was Chief Resident at the Naval Center, Bethesda,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

. Then he was sent to the Naval Medical Regional Clinic,

Marine Corps Marines (or naval infantry) are military personnel generally trained to operate on both land and sea, with a particular focus on amphibious warfare. Historically, the main tasks undertaken by marines have included raiding ashore (often in supp ...

Development and Education Command,

Quantico, Virginia Quantico (; formerly Potomac) is a town in southeastern Prince William County, Virginia, United States. The population was 578 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Quantico is approximately 35 miles southwest of Washington, D.C., bound ...

, where he served as staff psychiatrist and Clinical Director of the Alcohol Rehabilitation Service. Among other assignments which he has held are Chief, Department of Psychiatry as Fleet Liaison Officer and Chairman of the executive committee of the Medical Staff, Naval Hospital,

Rota, Spain The town of Rota is a Spanish municipality located in the Province of Cádiz, Andalusia. Its surface area is 84 km2 and is bordered by the towns of Chipiona, Sanlúcar de Barrameda and El Puerto de Santa María. It is located near the city of ...

. Díaz established and served as Director of the Navy's only Alcohol Rehabilitation Service in Europe. During

Operation Desert Storm Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

, he was ordered to the 1st Medical Battalion, 1st FSSG, at

Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is the major West Coast base of the United States Marine Corps and is one of the largest Marine Corps bases in the United States. It is on the Southern California coast in San Diego County and is bordered by ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Naval Medical Center San Diego

In 1998, Díaz was assigned as Commander of the Naval Medical Center, San Diego, becoming its first Hispanic Commander as well as Lead Agent TRICARE Region Nine. As Commander of the

Naval Medical Center San Diego Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD) is a United States Navy hospital in San Diego, California. It is also known as Bob Wilson Naval Hospital and informally referred to as "Balboa Hospital", and "The Pink Palace", due to the stucco of the first ...

(NMCSD), he was in charge with providing leadership and management of the command, planning, directing and administering the operations of NMCSD. He was also responsible for the professional care and services provided to the patients in the Medical Center. As Lead Agent

TRICARE Tricare (styled TRICARE) is a health care program of the United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the fede ...

Region Nine, his role was to advance the partnership and communication between the military health system leadership, military treatment facilities, the managed care support contractor and the civilian network to provide beneficiaries access to a high-quality integrated healthcare delivery system. In 1999 the appointment to Rear Admiral was confirmed by the senate. Díaz held these positions until July 10, 2002, when he was transferred to

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

and named Chief of Staff/Program Executive Officer Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. Díaz retired from the Navy on June 13, 2003, at a ceremony held at the

National Naval Medical Center National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

in Bethesda, Maryland.

Later years

Rear Admiral Alberto Díaz Jr. retired from the Navy in 2003 and currently resides in

Gaithersburg, Maryland Gaithersburg ( ) is a city in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. At the time of the 2020 United States census, Gaithersburg had a population of 69,657, making it the third-largest incorporated city and the ninth-most populous communit ...

with his family. He is a member of

Annapolis Annapolis ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is the county seat of Anne Arundel County and its only incorporated city. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...

Center Board of Directors and serves as a spokesman on the subject of health issues. In 2002, ''Hispanic Business magazine'' selected Díaz as one of the most influential Hispanics in the United States On February 12, 2004, SAIC's Enterprises (Science Applications Incorporated) and Health Solutions Business hired Díaz and five other retired senior military healthcare leaders to serve in its newly founded Military Health System.News release: SAIC Launches Military Health System Advisory Council
/ref>

Awards and recognitions

Among the many awards and recognitions which Díaz has received are the following: * Legion of Merit ribbon

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States military, military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievemen ...

with Gold Star * Meritorious Service Medal ribbon

Meritorious Service Medal with Gold Star *

Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal The Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Each branch of the United States Armed Forces issues its own version of the Commendation Medal, with a fift ...

Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation The Meritorious Unit Commendation (MUC; pronounced ''muck'') is a mid-level unit award of the United States Armed Forces. The U.S. Army awards units the Army MUC for exceptionally meritorious conduct in performance of outstanding achievement or ...

Fleet Marine Force Ribbon *

National Defense Service Medal The National Defense Service Medal (NDSM) is a service award of the United States Armed Forces established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953. It was awarded to every member of the U.S. Armed Forces who served during any one of four s ...

Navy and Marine Corps Overseas Service Ribbon *

Navy Expert Pistol Shot Medal ''( Pistol Marksmanship Ribbon with Expert Device)'' * Command_Ashore-Project_Manager_badge

Navy Command Ashore Insignia

Early years

Naval service

Naval Medical Center San Diego

Later years

Awards and recognitions

See also

References

Further reading