Run-Off Vote

Here’s where we stand. No nominee received a majority in the primary. Forty-seven psychiatrists voted, quite a bit below the 65-70 votes we normally get. I don’t know why people are not voting. I have never heard a good reason not to vote. Today I personally reminded several psychiatrists to vote. They did not. I sent emails to psychiatrists who wanted the bios and had questions about the award. They did not vote.

I have conducted this vote for the last five years. I can tell you what happens. Portsmouth is the biggest place and the busiest place. They take pride in how hard they work. There’s an “us against them” attitude at Portsmouth because they are under constant siege. They hang together.

Portsmouth votes. If they have a candidate, they tend to vote as a bloc. Portsmouth, in general, controls this vote. And here’s something else, the Portsmouth residents are voting; the residents at San Diego and Bethesda are not.

So, if you are content to let Portsmouth have its way once more, don’t read any further.

If the nominee you voted for made it to the run-off, you do not need to vote again (unless you want to change your vote). I carry those primary votes over to the run-off.

I expect the run-off vote to be very close. In the case of a tie, the tie will be broken by the senior psychiatrist, RADM Mateczun. Voting ends Thursday at midnight PDT 1 May 2008.

The final two nominees for the 2008 Sears Award are CAPT Robert Alonso and CAPT Robert Koffman. Their narrative biographies are below.

CAPT Robert Alonso holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree cum laude from the University of Louisville, a Master of Arts Degree in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College, and a Doctor of Medicine Degree from the University of Louisville School of Medicine. He completed his Family Practice Internship at Naval Hospital Charleston, then reported as Battalion Surgeon, 5th Bn, 11th Marine Artillery Regiment at 29 Palms Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center. He was ordered to Naval Hospital Portsmouth for his psychiatry residency, graduating in 1993. From 1993 to 1996 he served first as Inpatient Director, then as Department Head of the Psychiatry Department of U. S. Naval Hospital Okinawa, leading the Navy’s largest OCONUS psychiatry department. In 1996 he reported as Division Psychiatrist and Assistant Division Surgeon for the 1st Marine Division, Camp Pendleton. He became Group Surgeon for 1st Force Service Support Group in August 1999. In 2000 he deployed with 1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade to Kenya and Tanzania as the Combined-Joint Task Force Surgeon for Exercises Natural Fires/Native Fury. In 2002 he reported as Command Surgeon with Joint Task Force-Civil Support (JTF-CS). JTF-CS is the headquarters command tasked with providing command and control of all DOD resources deployed in support of civil authorities for chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear events. During this tour he was became a Plank Owner of Northern Command, participating in the development of the mission scope, concept of operations, and manning requirements for the NORTHCOM Surgeon’s Directorate. In 2005 he was selected to lead Navy Psychiatry's largest clinical and training operation as Department Chairman at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth. Concurrently at Portsmouth, he was appointed Department Head for Contingency Planning, developing hospital contingency plans and functioning as the hospital’s emergency manager. In October 2006 CAPT Alonso reported to FIRST Naval Construction Division, where he currently serves as Force Surgeon. CAPT Alonso’s awards include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Joint Service Commendation Medal, the Navy-Marine Corps Commendation Medal (three awards), Global War on Terror Service and Expeditionary Medals, and the Fleet Marine Force Ribbon. Vote Here.

Captain Robert Koffman graduated with a B.S. Degree from Whittier College in 1976. He received his Doctor of Medicine Degree from the University of Santo Tomas in 1982 and his MPH Degree from the Harvard School of Public Health in 1995. He completed residencies in psychiatry in 1991 and aerospace and preventive medicine in 1997. With a demonstrated interest in psychiatric epidemiology, CAPT Koffman's dedication to improve the delivery of mental health care in operational settings is noteworthy. He implemented one of the first Naval Combat Stress Centers during Operation Desert Storm sixteen years ago. Over more than two decades, CAPT Koffman's largely operational career has spanned a wide variety of clinical and operational settings, including serving at Antarctica's McMurdo Station (Operation Deep Freeze), embarked aboard aircraft carriers and amphibious vessels, and most recently, several deployments to Al Anbar Province, Iraq. As a former Marine Division Psychiatrist, he helped champion and develop the current OSCAR program. CAPT Koffman deployed during OIF-1 as the first Combat Stress Control (CSC) Consultant for First Marine Expeditionary Force. As the Seabee Force Surgeon, he pioneered a revolutionary in-country three-day Warrior Transition redeployment program now considered the gold standard for Navy Expeditionary Combat Command. Collaborating with the VA, CAPT Koffman is a member of the VA's Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Centers (MIRECC 6), and he was also a member of the blue ribbon panel that crafted the current ASD/PTSD Clinical Practice Guidelines. He is frequently consulted as the Navy's expert in operational psychiatry by the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and has collaborated on numerous studies and projects (Hoge et al) to include the Mental Health Assessment Teams (MHAT). Personally recruited and selected to stand up Navy Medicine's first Combat and Operational Stress Control consultant position at BUMED, Capt Koffman continues to ensure that the behavioral health needs of the war fighter are understood and met. Vote Here.