First nurse nominated as Army surgeon general

Maj. Gen. Patricia Horoho would become the first nurse and the first woman to serve as the Army Surgeon General if the Senate confirms her nomination and simultaneous promotion to lieutenant general, which were announced by Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Tuesday.

Horoho currently serves as Army deputy surgeon general and 23rd chief of the U.S. Army Nurse Corps.

Another nurse, Maj. Gen. Gale Pollock, served as acting Army surgeon general from March through December 2007, temporarily filling the post after Lt. Gen. Kevin Kiley was relieved of command as a result of poor patient care at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Horoho has commanded the Army Nurse Corps since 2008, when she received a rare two-grade promotion from colonel to major general. Horoho has also commanded the Walter Reed Health Care System, which included that hospital and seven other Army hospitals and clinics in Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania.

A registered clinical trauma nurse, Horoho was serving in the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, and was recognized as a "Nurse Hero" by the American Red Cross and Nursing Spectrum magazine for her care of the wounded after terrorists crashed a Boeing 757 into the building.