BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY : AFRICAN AMERICAN BRIGADIER GENERAL NADJA Y. WEST DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF FOR US ARMY MEDICAL DEPARTMENT: GOES INTO THE " HALL OF BLACK GENIUS "

                              BLACK     SOCIAL    HISTORY                                                                                                                                                       Brigadier General Nadja Y. West is currently serving as the Deputy Chief of Staff for the United States Army Medical Department.  She is a graduate from the United States Military Academy with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Engineering.  She attended the George Washington University School of Medicine in Washington, D. C., where she earned a Doctorate of Medicine Degree.
She completed her internship and residency in Family Medicine at Martin Army Hospital, Fort Benning, GA.  During this assignment she deployed with the 197th Infantry Brigade, 24th Infantry Division during Operation Desert Shield and was attached to the 2/69th Armored Battalion during Desert Storm.  She then served at Blanchfield Army Hospital, Fort Campbell, KY as a staff family physician and then the Officer in Charge of the Aviation Medicine Clinic.  While there she also participated in a medical mission with the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne).
BG West completed a second residency in dermatology at Fitzsimons Army Medical Center and the University of Colorado Medical Center in Denver, CO.  She was then assigned as the Chief, Dermatology Service at Heidelberg Army Hospital in Germany.  In her following assignment, she served as the Division Surgeon of the 1st Armored Division, Bad Kreuznach, Germany; deploying to the former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia and Kosovo as the Deputy Task Force Surgeon.
She was then assigned as Chief, Department of Medicine and the Dermatology Service at 121st General Hospital in Seoul, Republic of Korea.  BG West then commanded McDonald Army Community Hospital, Fort Eustis, VA.  Other assignments include Deputy Commander for Integration at the National Naval Medical Center (NNMC), Bethesda, MD where she became the first Army Officer to join the leadership team at NNMC.  She then served as the J-3, Director of Operations for Joint Task Force, National Capital Regional, Medical.  Prior to this assignment BG West commanded Womack Army Medical Center, Fort Bragg, NC.
BG West completed the AMEDD Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, the Army Flight Surgeon Course and the Command and General Staff College.  She graduated from the National War College, in Washington, D.C., earning a Master of Science in National Security Strategy.
Her awards and decorations include the Combat Medical Badge, the Flight Surgeon Crewmember Badge, the United States Army Parachutist Badge, the United States Army Air Assault Badge, the German Armed Forces Bronze Eagle, the Legion of Merit with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the NATO Medal, and various campaign medals.  She is a member of the Order of Military Medical Merit and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology and the American Academy of Family Practice.