LRMC Change of Command - Welcome Colonel Cho!

Col. (Dr.) John M. Cho (left) accepts the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center colors July 1 from Brig. Gen. Keith W. Gallagher, signifying Cho as the new LRMC commander. Gallagher is the Commanding General for Europe Regional Medical Command and the Command Surgeon for U.S. Army Europe. (U.S. Army Photo/Liz Paque)

Col. Cho Assumes Command of Landstuhl Regional Medical Center

By Chuck Roberts
Landstuhl Regional Medical Center Public Affairs

LANDSTUHL REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER, Germany – Col. (Dr.) John M. Cho assumed command of Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in a July 1 ceremony also honoring the departure of Col. (Dr.) Brian C. Lein. It marked the second time Cho succeeded Lein as commander.

“I stand before you honored and humbled to assume this command from Colonel Brian Lein,” said Cho, who also followed Lein as commander of Evans Army Community Hospital at Fort Carson, Colo. Cho, a cardiothoracic surgeon, described his new command as an “outstanding organization with a world-class reputation.”

Cho, whose previous assignment was as Chief, Healthcare Business Operations, J3, Joint Task Force Capital Medical Region, expressed his appreciation to the LRMC staff gathered before him.

“Thank you for all you have done and thank you in advance for your continued commitment for our number one priority – providing the best care for those returning from the theater of operations.”

Lein, who will serve as the senior medical officer for U.S. Army Forces Command at Fort McPherson, Ga., said he envied Cho in his new position.

“You are getting the opportunity to command the best organization in the entire Department of Defense. This joint team before you is ready, willing and able to accept any challenge before it. You are all a perfect fit for each other and I with you all the greatest success,” said Lein.

LRMC, which falls under the command of Europe Regional Medical Command, is the largest American hospital outside of the United States and is verified by the American College of Surgeons as a Level II Trauma Center, making it the only U.S. medical facility overseas to hold that distinction, and only one of three in the Department of Defense. LRMC provides primary care, tertiary care, hospitalization and treatment for more than 245,000 U.S. military personnel and their families within the European Command. It is also the evacuation and treatment center for all injured U.S. servicemembers, contractors and members of 44 coalition forces serving in Afghanistan and Iraq, treating more than 55,000 since January 2004.