JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. -- During a joint Relinquishment of Command and Responsibility Ceremony on Dec. 30, Maj. Gen. Dennis P. LeMaster and Command Sgt. Maj. Clark J. Charpentier relinquished command authority and responsibility of Regional Health Command-Pacific at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.
The ceremony was attended by more than 100 RHC-P personnel, family members and friends.
The U.S. Army Surgeon General, Lt. Gen. R. Scott Dingle, presided over the ceremony, and during his remarks, he described LeMaster and Charpentier as the quintessential team of teams.
"You are two of Army Medicine's greatest command teams," Dingle said. "Under your leadership, the professionals assigned to RHC-P have flourished."
After serving more than 18 months as the region's commanding general, LeMaster expressed gratitude for having had the opportunity to serve side-by-side with the RHC-P team.
"RHC-P has a special place in my heart because of the people," LeMaster told the audience.
He went on to say that despite undergoing multiple reorganizations over the past few years, "the team continued to soldier through and the work continued to be professionally carried out," LeMaster said.
Charpentier served as the region's top enlisted advisor since 2018. During his remarks, he said the ceremony was an opportunity for him to look the RHC-P military and civilian team members in the eye and thank them.
"The impact you have on a life will be lasting," Charpentier said. "I'm proud to be an American Soldier and even more proud to have served on the RHC-P team."
LeMaster's new assignment will be as the commanding general of the U.S. Army Medical Center of Excellence, or MEDCoE, in San Antonio, Texas. Charpentier will serve as the MEDCoE's command sergeant major.
Brig. Gen. Jack M. Davis, the region's deputy commanding general, will serve as the interim commanding general until a new commander is named in the near future, and Sgt. Maj. Conrad Walters, RHC-P Operations, will serve as the region's interim command sergeant major.
Regional Health Command-Pacific encompasses the Army's largest geographical medical region and has responsibility for all medical, dental, public health and Warrior Care and Transition throughout Hawaii, Washington, Alaska, Japan, Korea and the Indo-Pacific Region.
Collectively, the region's operational space spans across 36 countries that make up 17 percent of the world's land mass and contains 60 percent of the world's population.
Regional Health command Pacific's mission is to provide combatant commanders with medically ready forces and ready medical forces, conducting health services support in all phases of military operations.
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