NAVAL SUPPORT FACILITY INDIAN HEAD, Md. -- After serving in the Navy for 33 years helping warfighters survive the battlefield, Lt. Cmdr. Kevin Kelley, officer-in-charge, Medical Department, Chemical Biological Incident Response Force, II Marine Expeditionary Force retired, here, June 19.
Kelley enlisted in the Navy in 1976 and graduated from Hospital Corpsman “A” school located in Naval Station Great Lakes, Ill. After working as an independent duty corpsman for 17 years, Kelley earned a commission through the Medical Service Corps In-service Procurement Program in 1993 and attended the Physician Assistant Program at the Naval School Health Sciences in San Diego. Since then, Kelly has been saving lives in a variety of billets in numerous commands.
“Lt. Cmdr. Kelley has pretty much done it all,” said Col. John Pollock, commanding officer, CBIRF. He served with Marines from all over the Corps, has enjoyed shore assignments on both coasts and tackled some of the most dangerous assignments officers can take on inside the National Capital Region, Pollock explained.
Kelley not only made a lasting impression on the U.S. military but the Canadian and British militaries as well, by integrating a tactical combat casualty care course with live agent training. Not only do CBIRF Marines and sailors use the training, but the Canadian and British militaries also complete the training at the Defense Research and Development Canada in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada.
“The training is so good that the Canadians looked at it, and now they’ve put all of their corpsmen and medics who are going to places like Iraq and Afghanistan through that training,” Pollock said.
At the end of 33 years of military service, Kelley explained significantly, “One thing we learn in the military is we do a job until it’s done.”