Photo By Joseph Siemandel | Col. Ben Maltz presents his wife Brenda Maltz with a Certificate of Appreciation for...... read more read more
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Dr. Ben Maltz was looking for something to do, something different than his background as a physician.
“I learned about this thing called the Civil Support Team and it was exactly what I was looking for,” said Maltz.
After 22 years in the Washington Army National Guard, Maltz, an emergency medicine physician and the State Surgeon retired following a career full of adventures and friendships on April 2, 2022.
“Ben, although you are leaving us, we will forever be indebted to you for what you brought to our organization in terms of knowledge, work ethic and friendship,” said Maj. Gen. Bret Daugherty, the adjutant general.
Maltz earned his bachelor’s degree in zoology from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona before receiving his medical degree from Chicago Medical School/Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine Science.
“I did zoology, the study of animals because I hated botany, so less plants,” said Maltz.
An already successful MD on the civilian side, Maltz mentioned to his wife he was interested in joining the National Guard after conversations with Col. Steve Anderson, who was a nurse at the hospital he worked at.
“I told her it would be one weekend a month and two weeks a year and she was good with that,” said Maltz. “Boy, was I wrong about the service commitment.”
During his 22-years, Maltz deployed multiple times. He deployed to both Iraq and Jordan, and he traveled to Thailand multiple times a year, where his work with the Royal Thai Armed Forces not only increased that nation’s medical readiness but helped prepare civilian medical professionals on how to respond in the event of a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear of high-yield explosive attack.
“It started out working with their military and that morphed into working with the ports, and exchanging best practices and how we can support one another,” said Maltz.
The last two years Maltz has been an integral part of the Washington National Guard’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He provided knowledge and insights into the disease while keeping the command informed of the ever changing requirements.
“There were a lot of long, late-night conversations, but you made sure that I was always informed and made the best decisions for our Guard,” said Brig. Gen. Dan Dent, the commanding general of the Washington Army National Guard. “I appreciated your insight and your willingness to be honest with me. At a time that I wanted to speed up our Guard, you were the one that told me to slow it down.”
One of Maltz’s biggest accomplishments might also be his service as the State Surgeon. He served off and on as the State Surgeon for 12 years and during that time he transformed the medical readiness of the Washington National Guard.
“Through your work, we are at the highest level of medical readiness that we have ever been,” said Dent. “There are so many times that you just took the request that was made to us and made it happen.”
While the missions and the travel is exciting, Maltz believes it is the people he will miss the most about retiring.
“I enjoyed my time as a soldier. I enjoyed the relationships and the conversations. It was the best career choice I ever made and our family is truly grateful for the opportunity it gave us,” said Maltz.
| Date Taken: | 04.12.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 04.12.2022 13:52 |
| Story ID: | 418345 |
| Location: | CAMP MURRAY, WA, US |
| Web Views: | 151 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, State Surgeon retires after busy career with the Washington National Guard, by Joseph Siemandel, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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