Rear Admiral Alan M. Steinman | |
|---|---|
 RADM Steinman in 2013 | |
| Born | (1945-02-07)7 February 1945 (age 80) |
| Allegiance |  United States of America |
| Branch |  U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps |
| Years of service | 1972–1997 |
| Rank |  Rear Admiral |
| Commands | Chief Medical Officer of the U.S. Coast Guard Director of Health and Safety for the U.S. Coast Guard |
| Awards | Distinguished Service Medal Legion of Merit |
| Other work | Presidential Special Oversight Board for Department of Defense Investigations of Gulf-War Chemical and Biological Incidents, Transgender Military Service Commission |
Alan M. Steinman (born February 7, 1945) is an American physician, retiredU.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corpsrear admiral, who served with theU.S. Coast Guard for the majority of hiscommissioned corps career. His final assignment was serving as the Coast Guard's chief medical officer.[a] Steinman is expert in sea survival, hypothermia and drowning, and an advocate for the open service ofLGBT people in the U.S. military.[1][2][3][4]
Born inNewark, Ohio, Steinman moved toLos Angeles with his family as a young boy.[2][3] His father was a chemist and chemical plant owner and his mother was a housewife.[2][3] Steinman earned a Bachelor of Science degree from theMassachusetts Institute of Technology in 1966 and his medical degree fromStanford University in 1971.[2][3] Following medical school Steinman completed an internship at theMayo Clinic.[2][3] Steinman also has a Master of Public Health degree from theUniversity of Washington.[4]
Attracted by the Coast Guard's image as the country's "premier search and rescue agency" he joined theU.S. Public Health Service in order to pursue his interests inemergency medicine.[2][3] Steinman received his commission in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps as alieutenant and was assigned to the U.S. Coast Guard in July 1972.[2][3][4] Following graduation from theU.S. Navy'saerospace medicine school atNAS Pensacola in 1973, Steinman qualified and served as a Coast Guardflight surgeon.[1][2][3][4][5]
As part of his duties as a flight surgeon, Steinman participated in numerous rescues at sea of ill and injured personnel. These occasionally required him to be lowered and recovered from vessels at sea by ahelicopter rescue basket.[3] With the exception ofCoast Guard Base Kodiak, Steinman was the lone physician on staff at all of his field duty stations.[3] During his time on active duty with the Coast Guard, Steinman was instrumental in establishing the Coast Guard's system of emergency medical services, including the establishment of the Coast Guard EMT School at Petaluma, California.[5] He also established the Coast Guard Wellness Program, emphasizing good nutrition, physical fitness and avoidance of tobacco products.
Steinman is best known, however, for his research into sea-survival, hypothermia and drowning, publishing numerous scientific articles and book chapters and making numerous presentations at medical and search and rescue conferences on these topics.[3][5] In 1989, theAerospace Medical Association awarded Steinman itsannual Arnold D. Tuttle Award in recognition of " 'his extraordinary series of studies which characterized the protective properties of antiexposure suits under real-world conditions,' culminating in the 1987 publication inAviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine of 'Immersion hypothermia: comparative protection of anti-exposure garments in calm vs. rough seas.' "[5] Steinman also co-developed anunderwater escape breathing device andanti-exposure garment for use by helicopter crews and "a heated, humidified oxygen system for treatinghypothermic patients."[5]
In 1993, Steinman was selected for promotion toflag officer in the commissioned corps and assignment as the Coast Guard Director of Health and Safety.[4] Steinman retired from the U.S. Public Health Service in 1997 and later served on the Presidential Special Oversight Board for Department of Defense Investigations of Gulf War Chemical and Biological Incident investigatingGulf War syndrome.[3][4][6] Steinman is aFellow of theAmerican College of Preventive Medicine.[7]
His military awards and citations include theDistinguished Service Medal and theLegion of Merit.[8]
After his retirement, Steinman came out publicly as a gay man in a 2003New York Times news article featuring Brigadier GeneralKeith Kerr (CSMR, ret.) and Brigadier GeneralVirgil A. Richard (USA, ret.).[1][3] The three flag officers were made available to theTimes by theServicemembers Legal Defense Network in a move timed to coincide with the tenth anniversary of theClinton administration's "Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) policy concerning U.S. military service by gays and lesbians.[1][3] At the time, Kerr, Richard, and Steinman were the highest-ranking members of the military to publicly acknowledge being gay and they did so in an attempt to foment dialogue with the aim of getting DADT changed.[1][3]
In 2008, Steinman joined 103 other generals and admirals in signing an open letter calling upon President-elect Barack Obama to end DADT and allow gays and lesbians to serve openly in the U.S. military.[9] In 2014, Steinman joined with former US Surgeon GeneralJocelyn Elders to co-chair the Transgender Military Service Commission, sponsored by thePalm Center.[4][10] Among other things, the Commission found: "There is no compelling medical rationale for banningtransgender military service, and medical regulations requiring the discharge of all transgender personnel are inconsistent with how the military regulates medical and psychological conditions."[10] The commission's final report was published in the journalArmed Forces & Society.[4] An earlier version of the report was published online by the Palm Center.[4]: 212 [11]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
