Interim Director, Defense Health Network, National Capital Region
Captain Melissa C. Austin received her initial commission from the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps Unit at Vanderbilt University in 1996. She was designated a Surface Warfare Officer in 1998.
CAPT Austin completed her first sea tour aboard USS Sacramento (AOE 1) as the Assistant First Lieutenant and Main Propulsion Officer and deployed in support of Operation Southern Watch. She then served as the commissioning Training Department Officer aboard USS O’Kane (DDG 77). She completed a shore tour as a Tri-Command Protocol Officer at HQ NORAD, United States Space Command, and Air Force Space Command, before transitioning to the Selected Reserves and serving as the Training Officer for Commander, Naval Forces Europe Joint Task Force Contingency Unit 118 in anticipation of starting medical school. During this time, she earned a Master’s of Basic Science in Biology (Bioinformatics) from the University of Colorado.
CAPT Austin attended medical school under the Health Professions Scholarship Program at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. She received her Doctor of Medicine degree and was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Medical Corps in 2007. After completing a Transitional Internship at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, she returned to the surface Navy as the Group Medical Officer for Commander, Naval Surface Group Middle Pacific and Commander, Destroyer Squadron 31 in Pearl Harbor.
CAPT Austin completed her residency training in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology at the University of Washington Medical Center under the Navy Active-Duty Delay for Specialists program prior to being assigned as a Staff Pathologist at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, in 2014. She went on to serve as their Medical Director for Healthcare Operations, the Executive Assistant to the Director, and as an Associate Program Director for the National Capital Consortium Pathology Residency Program. Transferring to Fort Belvoir Community Hospital in 2017, she served as their Director for Clinical Support Services and the National Capital Region Market Service Lead for Clinical Support Services through July of 2018. She spent two years as the Medical Corps Plans and Policy Officer in the Office of the Chief of the Medical Corps at the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery in Falls Church, Virginia. After screening for command, she was assigned as the Executive Officer of Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command, Portsmouth; the Deputy Director of Naval Medical Center, Portsmouth; and the Commanding Officer of Expeditionary Medical Facility Juliet from May 2020 through February 2022. She completed her command tour at Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command, Fort Belvoir before assuming duties as the Director of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in July of 2023.
CAPT Austin is a Diplomate of the American Board of Pathology and is Board Certified in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology. She is an Aresty Scholar and graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business Executive Physician Leadership Academy and holds a faculty appointment as an Assistant Professor of Pathology at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland. Her personal awards include the Legion of Merit, Defense Meritorious Service Medal (two awards), Meritorious Service Medal (two awards), Joint Service Commendation Medal (two awards), Navy Commendation Medal (three awards), and the Air Force Achievement Medal.
CAPT Austin assumed duties as the Interim Director in September of 2026.