JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. –
Col. (Dr.) Thomas J. Cantilina took command of the 779th Medical Group from Col. Rudolph Cachuela at a change of command ceremony on June 5 at Joint Base Andrews, Md.
The primary purpose of the change of command is to witness the formality of command passage from one officer to another.
Maj. Gen. Gerard Caron, 79th Medical Wing commander, was the host for the ceremony.
Cachuela entrusted the command flag to Chief Master Sgt. Rodney L. Lindsey, 779th Medial Group Superintendent, who then passed it to Caron. Upon receiving the guidon, he passed it to Cantilina who assumed command of the medical group.
Cantilina will have primary responsibility for 1,356 Airmen and civilians operating in four locations to include Malcolm Grow Medical Clinic and Surgery Center. They provide health service support to Joint Base Andrews, primary health care to 30,000 enrolled beneficiaries, and specialty health care to over 600,000 Department of Defense beneficiaries in the National Capital Region. He also has oversight of a 45-bed aeromedical staging facility that serves as the aeromedical evacuation hub for the East Coast, receiving wounded, ill, and injured warriors back to the continental United States.
Cantilina received his Bachelor of Arts Degree from The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md., in 1990. After 3 years of biochemical research at the University of Maryland and running a start-up computer consulting firm he returned to medical school obtaining his Doctorate of Medicine Degree in May 1997 from the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine, Bethesda, Md. Cantilina then completed his Family Practice Residency Program at Malcolm Grow Medical Center, Andrews AFB, Md., serving as chief resident in his final year. He successfully passed his Board Certified American Academy of Family Practice in June 2000.
Cachuela will be stationed in Miami, Fla. and become the SOUTHCOM Surgeon General.