Brig. Gen. (Dr.) Eveline F. Yao is the Special Assistant to the Commander, Air Force Medical Command. She is charged with establishment of the Department’s first-ever medical command and supports the AFMEDCOM Commander as a direct report to Chief of Staff of the Air Force. AFMEDCOM provides command and control of 27,000 Air Force uniformed medical personnel and Air Force-funded medical civilians. AFMEDCOM supports warfighter readiness for both Airmen and Guardians, and organizes, trains, and equips uniformed medics to meet operational requirements at the speed of relevance. It also assists the Defense Health Agency in its statutory requirement to provide care to beneficiaries enabling Service integration and unity of effort.
She assists the AFMEDCOM Commander in direction, guidance, prioritization and implementation of strategies for executing force design and development, medical operations, logistics and installation support, plans and requirements, medical information operations, force structure, resources, and research and analytics; in support of two intermediate medical readiness commands, seven medical wings, and 76 medical groups.
Prior to this assignment, Brig. Gen. Yao served eight years in command at Group and Squadron level and Command Surgeon for two functional combatant commands. As Command Surgeon, Headquarters U.S. Transportation Command and Director, Global Patient Movement Operations, she guided movement of wounded, ill and injured patients during peacetime, overseas contingency operations, and defense support to civilian agencies. As Command Surgeon, Headquarters U.S. Special Operations Command, she advised the Commander on all aspects of health service support across the Special Operations enterprise impacting the health and welfare of more than 70,000 special operations forces who support persistent, networked and distributed Global Combatant Command operations to protect and advance our nation’s interests.
Brig. Gen. Yao was commissioned into the Air Force in 1991. She began her Air Force career as a Family Practice Physician, earned her wings as a basic Flight Surgeon in 2000, and graduated from the Residency of Aerospace Medicine in 2005. She is board-certified by the American Board of Family Medicine and deployed five times in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, served three times as the Combined Joint Special Operations Air Component Surgeon, and has stepped foot on all seven continents.
EDUCATION
1988 Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio
1991 Master of Science in Biochemistry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich.
1995 Doctor of Medicine (with Honors, Alpha Omega Alpha), Pritzker School of Medicine, University of Chicago, Ill.
1998 Residency in Family Practice, David Grant Medical Center, Travis Air Force Base, Calif.
1998 Squadron Officer School, by correspondence
2002 Air Command and Staff College, by correspondence
2003 Air War College, by correspondence
2004 Master of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Calif.
2005 Residency in Aerospace Medicine, USAF School of Aerospace Medicine, Brooks City-Base, Texas
2010 Inter-Agency Institute for Health Care Executives
2012 Master of Strategic Studies, Air War College, Air University, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
2012 Military Health System Executive Skills Capstone Course, Washington D.C.
2025 CAPSTONE Fellow, National Defense University, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington D.C.
ASSIGNMENTS
1. July 1995 – July 1998, Resident Physician, Family Practice, David Grant Medical Center, Travis AFB, Calif.
2. July 1998 – December 1998, Staff Physician, Family Practice, Altus AFB, Okla.
3. December 1998 – January 2000, Staff Physician, Primary Care, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio
4. January 2000 – July 2003, Chief of Flight Medicine, McChord AFB, Wash. (September 2001 – November 2001, Flight Surgeon, 615 Air Mobility Operations Group, Karshi-Khanabad Air Base, Uzbekistan) (January 2002 – March 2002, Flight Surgeon, 7th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, Moron AB, Spain)
5. July 2003 – July 2005, Resident in Aerospace Medicine, Brooks City-Base, Texas
6. July 2005 – May 2007, Flight Commander, Operations Support Medical Flight, 1st Special Operations Support Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Fla. (September 2005 – December 2005, Special Operations Flight Surgeon, Combined Joint Special Operations Air Component, Balad AB, Iraq) (September 2006 – February 2007, Special Operations Flight Surgeon, Combined Joint Special Operations Air Component, Balad AB, Iraq)
7. May 2007 – June 2010, Commander, 1st Special Operations Aerospace Medicine Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Fla. (February 2008 – June 2008, Special Operations Flight Surgeon, Combined Joint Special Operations Air Component, Balad AB, Iraq)
8. June 2010 – July 2011, Deputy Director, Medical Services, Air Force Medical Operations Agency, Lackland AFB, Texas
9. July 2011 – May 2012, Student, Air War College, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
10. July 2012 – March 2015, Commander, 374th Medical Group, U.S. Forces, Japan & 5th Air Force Surgeon, Yokota AB, Japan
11. March 2015 – June 2017, Commander, 96th Medical Group, 96th Test Wing, Eglin AFB, Fla.
12. June 2017 – June 2018, Deputy Command Surgeon, Headquarters, U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa, Ramstein AB, Germany.
13. June 2018 – June 2021, Command Surgeon, U.S. Special Operations Command, MacDill AFB, Fla.
14. June 2021 – May 2023, Deputy Director, Medical Operations, Headquarters, U.S. Air Force, Office of the Surgeon General, Falls Church, Va.
15. May 2023 – May 2024, Command Surgeon, U.S. Transportation Command and Director, Global Patient Movement Operations, Scott AFB, Ill.
16. May 2024 – July 2025, Chief of Staff, Air Force Medical Command, Defense Health Headquarters, Falls Church, Va.
17. July 2025 – present, Special Assistant to the Commander, Air Force Medical Command, Defense Health Headquarter, Falls Church, Va.
SUMMARY OF JOINT ASSIGNMENTS
1. June 2018 – June 2021, Command Surgeon, U.S. Special Operations Command, MacDill AFB, Fla., as a colonel
2. May 2023 – May 2024, Command Surgeon, U.S. Transportation Command and Director, Global Patient Movement Operations, Scott AFB, Ill., as a colonel
FLIGHT INFORMATION
Rating: Chief flight surgeon
Flight Hours: More than 1,280
Assigned Aircraft: C-141, C-17, AC-130, C-12, C-145, KC-135, C-32, C-21
MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Defense Superior Service Medal with oak leaf cluster
Legion of Merit with two oak leaf clusters
Meritorious Service Medal with four oak leaf clusters
Air Medal
Aerial Achievement Medal
Joint Service Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters
Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster
Air Force Combat Action Medal
Joint Meritorious Unit Award with oak leaf cluster
Meritorious Unit Award with three oak leaf clusters
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Valor Device and ten oak leaf clusters
Air Mobility Command Flight Surgeon of the Year 2001
United States Air Force Team Aerospace 2006
EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
Second Lieutenant March 1, 1991
Captain Aug. 28, 1993
Major Aug. 28, 1999
Lieutenant Colonel May 31, 2004
Colonel May 31, 2010
Brigadier General May 6, 2024
(Current as of August 2025)