COL Robert F. DeFraites,
Director of the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center
COL Robert F. DeFraites, U.S. Army Medical Corps is the Director of the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center.
A native of New Orleans, Louisiana, he earned a Bachelors of Science in Biology from Tulane University in 1976, and graduated with a doctorate in Medicine from Tulane School of Medicine in 1980. He completed a Masters in Public Health at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and Hygiene in 1988. He is board-certified in Pediatrics and Preventive Medicine.
COL DeFraites' Army career has included assignments in the state of Washington, Kansas, Germany, Maryland, Virginia, the District of Columbia, Haiti, and Somalia. He has served as the Director of Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance at the U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine and Deputy Functional Proponent for Preventive Medicine, Office of U.S. Army Surgeon General, Falls Church, Va.
He has co-authored 27 medical journal articles and numerous oral presentations on a variety of military medicine topics. COL DeFraites is a member of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States, the American College of Preventive Medicine, and the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. He is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Preventive Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.
His military awards include the Legion of Merit, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, the Humanitarian Service Medal, the Joint Meritorious Unit Award, the Superior Unit Award, and the "A" designator for proficiency in Preventive Medicine. Currently he is the Consultant in Preventive Medicine to the U.S. Army Surgeon General.