Dr. Gupta seems like a decent choice. But here's the question I've always had about surgeons general: why do they wear a uniform? C. Everett Koop, in his white uniform and beard, always reminded me of a Dutch admiral, and Jocelyn Elders, who fancied a blue uniform, looked like a midshipman fresh off the deck of a Civil War ironclad.
Well, Google is our friend, and according to Wikipedia, the Surgeon General "serves a four-year term of office and is normally the highest ranking uniformed officer of the PHSCC [the Public Health Service Commissioned Corp], holding the grade of a three-star vice admiral while in office."
I am glad that I learn at least one new thing every day (to replace the one old thing that I forget).
BTW, if I were Surgeon General, I'd go for this look:
O/T but related
ReplyDelete111th Congress
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It's minor trivia, Paco, but officer commissions are available outside of the Department Of Defense. The Coast Guard is the most obvious example, but the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is another example. The same for the Public Health Service.
ReplyDeleteAnd, yeah, their formal uniforms can look very, ummmmm, archaic. Fortunately, they tend to copy the Navy in their duty uniforms, and thus look more modern, and less like a Civil War re-enactment, on a day-to-day basis.
Why the Navy? Danged if I know!
Jeff: That's pretty interesting. I never knew. I guess the Navy rank was used because it gives them opportunties to dress up in really snappy uniforms!
ReplyDeleteBut the post is called the Surgeon-General, not the Surgeon-Admiral. I'm sure that there are traditional reasons for all of this, but I'm not sure I really want to know.
ReplyDeleteThe way some of those folks have dressed in the past, I'm surprised the position isn't known as "Surgeon Field Marshal"
ReplyDeleteBefore this administration leaves, it may well be Surgeon Moonbeam.
ReplyDeleteHippies and Panthers and Commies - Oh My!
"Dammit, Barack! I'm a doctor, not a media circus!"
ReplyDeleteTW: "rothe" -- Japanes for 'Reluctant.' "The sukebe was rothe to leave the women-only train car..."
Admiral er nice uniform Paco. What with maintaining the mo and all that polishing of the medals you won't have much time left for Surgeonal Generalling. Mehaul
ReplyDeleteTrivia,
ReplyDeletePaco,
did you notice, that if you left click on this picture and hold the mouse button down, you can drag a transparent layer of the picture?
Can't paste it though!
Pete.
Mehaul: I figure I'd have a Surgeon Corporal to shine the buttons.
ReplyDeletePete: Cool! That does create a ghostly effect.
ReplyDeleteTry dragging the picture off the web browser and drop it on the desktop. Or some application that's open on the desktop.
ReplyDeleteWorks just about everywhere on a Mac, and I just did it in WinXP on a netbook.
Leaves you with a copy of the graphic file on the desktop.
Gupta? I dunno. The only English news service I have on TV over here in Korea is CNN and Gupta can be quite excruciating most of the time.
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