Cmd. (Ret.) Robert Mabry, MD, MBA

Dr. Mabry is an independent consultant focused on emergency care, trauma systems, military, disaster, and austere medicine. Prior to this role, he was the principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for health affairs for the US Department of Defense (DoD).

He enlisted in the Army at age 17 and served for 35 years, including more than a decade as an army ranger and special forces medic. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and Purple Heart following the “Blackhawk Down” battle in Mogadishu, Somalia in 1993. His experiences as a combat medic inspired him to become a physician.   

During his career as an Army emergency physician, Dr. Mabry became a recognized leader in operational medicine. Following residency, he returned to Special Forces as a battalion surgeon and operated a far-forward aid-station on the Afghan-Pakistan border during Operation Enduring Freedom. He established the only accredited EMS physician fellowship training program in the DoD with a unique curriculum designed to reduce preventable death on the battlefield and has published more than 50 scientific articles and book chapters related to combat casualty care.

In 2015, he was the first active-duty soldier to be selected for the Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellowship where he helped develop legislation enabling military surgical teams to integrate into civilian trauma centers. He has an MBA from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business in Charlottsville.   

In his final active-duty assignment, Dr. Mabry commanded the Joint Medical Augmentation Unit at Ft. Bragg, NC, where he led global medical operations in support of the Joint Special Operations Command.