Dr. Robert E. Suter

On Dec. 8, 2018, Robert E. Suter, DO, MHA, FACEP, was promoted to brigadier general in the United States Army Reserve. He is the deputy commanding general of the 807th Medical Command (Deployment Support). Dr. Suter entered the Army in August 1978 and has served in a variety of positions in the Medical Service Corps. Upon completion of his emergency medicine residency at Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, he served as chief of the department of emergency medicine and acute care at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center at Fort Gordon, Georgia.

Dr. Suter transitioned into the Army Reserve in 1995. He recently served as commander of the 3rd Medical Command (Deployment Support) Forward, U.S. Army Central, and is an emergency medicine consultant (USAR) to the Surgeon General and a professor of military and emergency medicine at Uniformed Services University.

In 2017, Dr. Suter received the prestigious Major General Lewis Aspey Mologne Award in a ceremony held at Camp As Sayliyah, Qatar. In addition to his military appointments, Dr. Suter is a professor of emergency medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas. He served as ACEP President from 2004 to 2005 and was President of the International Federation for Emergency Medicine in 2006. He currently serves as President-Elect of the American College of Osteopathic Emergency Physicians.

Dr. Marco Coppola

Marco Coppola, DO, FACEP, accepts the colors of the Texas Medical Brigade during a change of command ceremony.
Texas State Guard

In November 2018, Marco Coppola, DO, FACEP, was selected for promotion to brigadier general. He is presently the interim commander of the Texas Medical Brigade/Medical Component Command, Texas State Guard. He has 30 years of military and EM experience and was chief resident at Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center in Fort Hood, Texas.

Dr. Coppola is chief of staff at The Colony ER Hospital in The Colony, Texas. He is a past ACEP Council Speaker, the recipient of the Council Meritorious Service Award, and a past two-term President of ACEP’s Government Services Chapter. He has been an academic chair, department chair, and program director of three emergency medicine residencies throughout Texas.

Dr. Coppola holds the Surgeon General’s “A” Proficiency Designator in Emergency Medicine and is a member of the Order of Military Medical Merit. His decorations include the Legion of Merit, the Meritorious Service Medal, six Army Commendation Medals, the Air Force Commendation Medal, the Texas Outstanding Service Medal, two Texas Medals of Merit, and the Texas Lone Star Distinguished Service Medal. 

Honoring Our Military Members

Emergency physicians have excelled as combat support hospital commanders and medical support unit commanders deployed to the most austere locations (combat and noncombat), commanders of military medical facilities in both the United States and overseas, and they have dominated medical leadership roles within the special operations community.