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The Defense Health Agency announced a leadership transition at its Joint Trauma System, the Department of Defense Center of Excellence for Trauma, as the organization pivots to meet the demands of future large-scale combat operations.
Air Force Col. (Dr.) Valerie G. Sams has assumed the role of the center’s chief, succeeding Army Col. (Dr.) Jennifer M. Gurney. This transition follows a comprehensive strategic offsite meeting designed to optimize the military’s trauma learning system, ensuring the joint force can adapt faster than modern battlefield threats.
The leadership change directly supports DHA's strategic mission as a combat support agency, focusing intensely on generating and sustaining warfighter readiness. Specifically, JTS plays a critical role in advancing DHA Director Navy Vice Adm. Darin K. Via’s strategic line of effort to deliver joint warfighting capabilities. By advancing unified trauma clinical care standards and leveraging data-driven medical logistics, JTS ensures warfighters are fully supported from the point of injury through rehabilitation.
"The Joint Trauma System represents the very best of military medicine's commitment to warfighter readiness and directly impacts survivability and lethality," said Via. "Col. Sams brings a stellar combination of clinical excellence and operational trauma leadership to this role. As we prepare for more complex, distributed operating environments, her vision will ensure the lessons of the battlefield translate into joint warfighting capabilities that save lives. We are deeply grateful to Col. Gurney for her years of extraordinary service and her relentless dedication to achieve zero preventable deaths on the battlefield."
Sams has established a clear intent: "Ready Today. Learning Always. Saving Lives." The JTS strategic plan outlines six critical lines of effort aimed at operationalizing combatant command trauma systems, modernizing the department’s trauma registry, standardizing and improving care across the trauma system framework, institutionalizing JTS as the Center of Excellence for Trauma Systems, and transforming training protocols to ensure the medical force is as ready as the warfighters they treat — aligning with DHA's goal to deliver medical warrior currency.
"Leading this premier institution is an incredible honor," Sams said. "Col. Gurney’s leadership built an unmatched foundation of data-driven medicine that revolutionized combat casualty care. Moving forward, our focus is absolute readiness. We will continue to advance our operational trauma-system organization to improve survivability and reduce preventable death and disability for those defending the nation.”
JTS will continue utilizing automated data systems and interoperable information technology solutions to prepare the force for future conflicts, directly enhancing the lethality and survivability of the joint force across the global health system.
“To the JTS team I am honored to lead: Priorities, governance, and resources will align to our military combat support mission of delivering the high-quality healthcare our warfighters deserve,” Sams said.
Learn more about JTS online at jts.health.mil.
| Date Taken: | 09.16.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 09.16.2026 09:55 |
| Story ID: | 574850 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 27 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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