FORT LEE, Va., 2016-Nov-02 — /EPR Retail News/ — Army Lt. Col. Alisa R. Wilma is the Defense Commissary Agency’s new director of public health and safety, announced DeCA Executive Director of Sales, Marketing and Policy Rogers E. Campbell. She replaces Army Col. Michael A. Buley, who retired from the military July 31.
Wilma reported to DeCA Sept. 19 from Fort Benning, Georgia, where she served as commander of the 463rd Medical Detachment (Veterinary Service Support). As DeCA’s director of public health and safety, she leads a staff that plans and implements the agency’s consumer health and safety programs.
“We have a dedicated network of food safety specialists whose mission is all about ensuring the products in our commissaries and the stores themselves are the safest possible,” Campbell said. “With Colonel Wilma’s experience as a senior veterinary commander, I’m confident DeCA will continue operating with the highest standards in food safety.”
In 1998, Wilma graduated veterinary school and entered active duty as a captain in the Army Veterinary Corps after graduating from the University of California at Davis. Her previous assignments included stops at Fort Dix, New Jersey; Camp Darby, Italy and Fort Sam Houston, Texas.
From 2010 to 2012, Wilma served in the rank of major as the command veterinarian for the Area Support Group-Kuwait at Camp Arifjan Kuwait, where she supervised all clinical and preventive veterinary services throughout Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates and Oman.
From 2012 to 2014, Wilma, now promoted to lieutenant colonel, was assigned to the U.S. Army Africa/Southern European Task Force, where she planned veterinary missions throughout Africa and supported the command’s food safety and preventive medicine mission.
From August 2014 to August 2016, while commander of the 463rd Medical Detachment, she deployed teams to Liberia in support of Operation United Assistance as part of the Ebola relief effort and to Kosovo as part of NATO’s international peacekeeping force. In July 2015, she also deployed the 463rd to Kuwait in support of Operation Spartan Shield, Operation Inherent Resolve and Operation Enduring Freedom. During this deployment members of her unit further deployed to Qatar, Jordan, Iraq and Afghanistan.
“I cannot even begin to express how pleased and proud I am to be able to be part of the DeCA team,” Wilma said. “No other grocery chain in the world has the level of safety and security that DeCA does and being chosen to lead the team that makes this the safest place for our beneficiaries to shop is extremely rewarding.”
Wilma graduated from the University of California at Davis, where she earned a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree (1998), a Master of Preventive Veterinary Medicine degree (1999) and a Bachelor of Science degree (1993). She also earned the Expert Field Medical Badge and is a board certified Diplomat of the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine.
For a complete bio of LTC Wilma, go to our Organization page.
About DeCA: The Defense Commissary Agency operates a worldwide chain of commissaries providing groceries to military personnel, retirees and their families in a safe and secure shopping environment. Commissaries provide a military benefit and make no profit on the sale of merchandise. Authorized patrons purchase items at cost plus a 5-percent surcharge, which covers the costs of building new commissaries and modernizing existing ones. By shopping regularly in the commissary, patrons save thousands of dollars annually. A core military family support element, and a valued part of military pay and benefits, commissaries contribute to family readiness, enhance the quality of life for America’s military and their families, and help recruit and retain the best and brightest men and women to serve their country.
Media Contact:
Kevin L. Robinson
(804) 734-8000, Ext. 4-8773
kevin.robinson@deca.mil
Source: Commissary