Loree K. Sutton (born July 15, 1959) is an American psychiatrist and retired military officer who served as a brigadier general in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

. Sutton served for over 20 years and was awarded a

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

. From 2007 to 2010, She was the Army's highest-ranking psychiatrist. In 2014, New York City Mayor

Bill de Blasio Bill de Blasio (; born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961; later Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm) is an American politician who was the List of mayors of New York City, 109th mayor of New York City, mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of t ...

appointed Sutton as Commissioner of the New York City Department of Veterans' Services. Sutton was a candidate in the

2021 New York City Democratic mayoral primary 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Early life and education

Sutton was born and raised in

Loma Linda, California Loma Linda ( Spanish for "Beautiful Hill") is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States, that was incorporated in 1970. The population was 24,791 at the 2020 census, up from 23,261 at the 2010 census. The central area of the ...

. Her mother, Lavaun Sutton, was a former cardiac intensive care nurse. Sutton graduated from

Pacific Union College Pacific Union College (PUC) is a private university, private Seventh-day Adventist Church, Seventh-day Adventist liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Angwin, California. It is the only four-year college in Napa Cou ...

with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

business administration Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

in 1981. Sutton graduated from medical school at

Loma Linda University Loma Linda University (LLU) is a private Seventh-day Adventist health sciences university in Loma Linda, California. , the university comprises eight schools and a Faculty of Graduate Studies. It is a part of the Seventh-day Adventist educatio ...

in 1985, and completed her internship and residency in psychiatry at Letterman Army Medical Center. She is also a graduate of the

U.S. Army Command and General Staff College The United States Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC or, obsolete, USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is a graduate school for United States Army and sister service officers, interagency representatives, and international military ...

, with an M.S. in national security strategic studies, and the

National War College In the United States, the National War College (NWC) is a school within the National Defense University. It is housed in Roosevelt Hall on Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C., the third-oldest Army post still active. History The National ...

.","
''The New York Daily News''.

Career

Military service

Sutton served in the United States military for over 20 years. She was deployed to

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

, and

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

in support of the first

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

and other missions. Sutton was commander of the

Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center The Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center is a United States Department of Defense medical facility at Fort Cavazos, Texas. It provides medical care to servicemembers and their families, along with veterans and their dependents, in and around the larg ...

Fort Hood Fort Cavazos is a United States Army post located near Killeen, Texas. The post is currently named after Gen. Richard E. Cavazos, a native Texan and the US Army’s first Hispanic four-star general. The post is located halfway between Austi ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, beginning in 2005, commander of the

DeWitt Army Community Hospital The Alexander T. Augusta Military Medical Center is a United States Department of Defense medical facility located on Fort Belvoir, Virginia, outside of Washington D.C. In conjunction with Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, the hospital ...

, Deputy Commander for clinical services at the General Leonard Wood Army Community Hospital, and a special assistant to the

Surgeon General of the United States Army The Surgeon General of the United States Army is the senior-most officer of the U.S. Army Medical Department (AMEDD). By policy, the Surgeon General (TSG) serves as Commanding General, U.S. Army Medical Command (MEDCOM) as well as head of the ...

. Sutton was the founding director of the

Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury The Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE) is a United States Department of Defense (DoD) organization that provides guidance across DoD programs related to psychological health (PH) and traumatic ...

in 2007, and was a special assistant to the

Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs (ASD(HA)) is chartered under United States Department of Defense Directive (DoDD) 5136.1 in 1994. This DoDD states that the ASD(HA) is the principal advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Defense o ...

. She was the United States Army's highest-ranking psychiatrist from 2007 to 2010. During her career, Sutton received many awards, including the

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 ...

Bronze Star Medal The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious a ...

Defense Meritorious Service Medal The Defense Meritorious Service Medal (DMSM) is an award bestowed upon members of the United States military by the United States Department of Defense. In the order of precedence of the United States Armed Forces, it is worn between the Purple ...

, and

Order of Military Medical Merit The Order of Military Medical Merit (02M3) is a private organization that was founded by the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Health Services Command in 1982 with the goal of recognizing excellence and promoting fellowship and ''esprit de corp ...

. She was one of only 15 female generals out of the 1.3 million soldiers serving in the Army. She retired from the military in 2010.

Politics

In 2014, New York City Mayor

appointed Sutton as Commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Veterans’ Affairs, and from 2017 to 2019, was the Commissioner of the newly formed New York City Department of Veterans’ Services. She resigned in October 2019 to launch her campaign for Mayor of New York City. She struggled to raise money and never polled higher than 2%, resulting in her dropping out on March 10, 2021.

Personal life

At the

NYC Pride March The NYC Pride March is an annual event celebrating the LGBT culture in New York City, LGBTQ community in New York City#Sexual orientation and gender identity, New York City. The largest pride parade and the List of largest LGBT events, larges ...

in 2015, Sutton proposed to her lesbian partner Laurie Leitch.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sutton, Loree Living people Pacific Union College alumni Female generals of the United States Army American psychiatrists American Seventh-day Adventists Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury Recipients of the Legion of Merit 1959 births Brigadier generals Loma Linda University alumni United States Army Command and General Staff College alumni New York (state) Democrats People from Loma Linda, California LGBTQ people from New York (state) United States Army personnel of the Gulf War United States Army Medical Corps officers Candidates in the 2021 United States elections American LGBTQ military personnel American female military personnel of the Gulf War