Karen Flaherty
Rear Admiral Karen Ann Flaherty assumed duties as the Deputy Surgeon General of Navy Medicine at the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery as of August 6, 2010. Flaherty served as the 22nd Director of the United States Navy Nurse Corps as well as the Deputy Chief, Wounded, Ill, and Injured at the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery from 2009 to 2010.
Early life
Flaherty is a native of Winsted, Connecticut and graduated from the Gilbert School there in 1970. She joined the United States Navy as a Nurse Corps Candidate in July 1973. She graduated from Skidmore College and attended Officer Indoctrination School at Newport, R.I., in August 1974.Navy Nurse Corps career
Flaherty's first assignment was Quantico Naval Hospital where she served as a staff nurse and charge nurse in the Surgical ward, Orthopedic ward, and the Maximum Care Unit. Upon transfer to the Philadelphia Naval Medical Center in 1977, she assumed the duties as charge nurse for the General Surgery Unit and the Obstetric and Gynecology clinic. Flaherty reported for duty as the Officer Programs Officer for Naval Recruiting Command, Navy Recruiting District New Jersey in 1979. She transitioned to the Naval Reserve in 1982.Flaherty's subsequent reserve tours included assignments to numerous Naval Hospitals and Fleet Hospital commands. She has served as Commanding Officer Fleet Hospital Fort Dix, Executive Officer, Director of Nursing Services, Officer-in-Charge, and Training Officer.
In February 1991, she was recalled to serve with Fleet Hospital 15, Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia, in support of Operation Desert Shield/Storm. She served as CO OPNAV 093 prior to assuming Flag duties as the Deputy Commander Force Integration National Capital Area and the Deputy Chief for Health Care Operations at the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery.