Photo By BUMED PAO | LCDR Robert A. Bartholomew, MSC, USN, Architect and Course Director of Navy Medicine...... read more read more
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When the Navy Medicine 101 pilot program was initiated in 2020 it was little surprise that Lt. Cmdr. Robert Bartholomew was selected as its architect and first course director. Since 2018, the Medical Service Corps officer has served as the Plans, Operations and Medical Intelligence (POMI) course director and instructor for operational readiness and strategic management at both Naval Medical Leader and Professional Development Command (NMLPDC) and the Uniformed Services University.
And for anyone being welcomed into Navy medical life or transitioning to an operational medicine platform there is probably no one else you would want serving as your guide. Commander Bartholomew comes to the role with an abundance of unique life and career experiences that few can match.
Born near a Royal Navy base just outside of Edinburgh, Scotland, Bartholomew’s entry into the sea service was in many respects predestined.
His father, a native of Lincolnshire, England, served 25 years in the British Royal Navy before retiring as a chief petty officer. Among Bartholomew’s earliest memories is sitting on his parent’s bed drinking tea and eating toast while his father regaled he and his mother with captivating sea stories.
Bartholomew’s maternal grandfather was an enlisted engine mechanic aboard HMS Glorious, the ill-fated aircraft carrier sunk by the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisnau in the North Sea on June 8, 1940. The young sailor was one of 1,531 servicemen lost in the attack, which marked the first sinking of an aircraft carrier in World War II.
Today a framed collage of the Glorious, his father’s ship HMS Eagle, as well as his last ship, USS Bataan, hangs in Commander Bartholomew’s Bethesda office. It is both a daily reminder of family service, and the importance of operational readiness.
Growing up, naval service was always an option for Bartholomew, but fate (initially) took him in a very different direction.
His formative years were spent in Scotland, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Lincolnshire. After leaving secondary school (high school) he briefly dabbled as a photographer before entering college.
“I discovered that the process in higher education was more to my liking as it was more self-paced,” said Bartholomew. “It was more dependent on the techniques, or the approach that I wanted to take rather than being as regulated as it had been in school.”
He studied mechanical engineering, air transport management, and later innovation and technology management earning a PhD in the process. While not studying or teaching, Bartholomew moonlighted as a special constable and served at precincts in Lincolnshire and later Thames Valley.
In 1999, Commander Bartholomew was working as a professor of management at Manchester University, England, when he was recruited by the School of Management at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) in Newark, N.J. While in the United States, Bartholomew’s sense of service led him to joining the Civil Air Patrol. But after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11th, Bartholomew wanted to do more for his adopted country.
“It felt like an attack not just on a building, not just on a country, but on me, my family, my neighbors, my friends,” said Bartholomew. “It was a vicious, unprovoked attack on all of us.”
Like many he was spurred to do his part by entering military service. Although having limited options since he was not yet a U.S. citizen, his choice of service was natural. Wanting to build on his family’s naval heritage, he went to see a Navy recruiter who advised him that although he was not eligible for commissioned rank, he was permitted to enlist in the Navy Reserves.
Commander Bartholomew continued serving as college professor during the week, but now spent his weekends as a naval airman apprentice in the reserves. “I was enjoying what I was doing. I enjoyed the people that I was working with,” said Bartholomew. “I enjoyed the ethos of the naval service, and as an aircraft mechanic, it was nice to actually go in on a Saturday morning for a drill weekend and have something clearly broken, or in need of maintenance on an aircraft, and by the time I left on Sunday it was done.”
After less than two years, he transferred to active duty.
Bartholomew became a naturalized citizen 2004. Through mentoring and advice of senior enlisted and officers he also began exploring a path to getting commissioned. Because of his age his options were limited, but he discovered that the Medical Service Corps-In-service Procurement Program (IPP) offered a chance to obtain a commission and go on full time instruction under duty. Bartholomew was commissioned in the Medical Service Corps in 2008.
“My dad was very proud to have a son in the Navy; although, it wasn’t the Royal Navy,” said Bartholomew. “But he watched what I was doing with interest and pride and I kept him up to date. And he was very excited when he learned that I’d be commissioned.”
After a tour as Naval Medical Center Portsmouth’s (NMCP) as Dental Operations Officer, Commander Bartholomew deployed to the staff of the USFOR-A Surgeon, TF 30th MEDCOM (US Army), Bagram, Afghanistan, as their sole Health Facilities Planner. Returning to NMCP in 2010, he served as the Department Head of Security and Emergency Management, Division Officer, POMI, and Operational Support Office (OSO) and the interim Department Head for Human Resources.
He reported to the USS Bataan (LHD 5) in 2012 as Medical Admin Officer and Medical/Dental Division Officer where he deployed to the 6th and 5th fleet AORs. These tours qualified Bartholomew for the POMI specialty and led to a tour as a medical intelligence analyst at the National Center for Medical Intelligence in Fort Detrick, Maryland. And in 2017, he became the first staff corps officer in Navy history to earn the Information Warfare Additional Qualification Designator (AQD) and pin.
These experiences would prove foundational for his return to the education and training realm.
Today, there is one piece of advice that Commander Bartholomew imparts to all of his students built on his years of experience. Whether they are newly commissioned staff corps officers or entering the POMI subspecialty, Bartholomew tells them “don’t stovepipe.”
“Initially it’s all about being a great nurse, being a great doctor, being a great dentist or Medical Service Corps officer,” said Bartholomew. “But ultimately throughout your career, you need to have a broad knowledge; you need to have experience in other areas. You really do need to step out of your comfort zone and do something different. Accept every single challenge that comes your way no matter how difficult it is and figure out how to get it done. That’s uncomfortable at the time, but you learn exponentially more than you will by just plodding day to day and doing the same thing over and over again.”
| Date Taken: | 04.27.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 04.27.2021 08:02 |
| Story ID: | 394862 |
| Location: | FALLS CHURCH, VA, US |
| Web Views: | 862 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
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