Dr. David Smith Replaces Army Lt. Gen. Telita Crosland as Director of U.S. Defense Health Agency

The leadership of the military continues to transition under the Trump administration as Army Lt. Gen. Telita Crosland has unexpectedly retired as director of the Defense Health Agency, per a statement from the Pentagon. 

In a statement issued Friday, Dr. Stephen Ferrara, the acting assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, said Crosland, who served in her post since January 2023, was “beginning her retirement” effective Friday morning.

The statement reads: This morning, Army Lieutenant General, Dr. Telita Crosland, the fourth Director of the Defense Health Agency, is beginning her retirement. I want to thank LTG Crosland for her dedication to the nation, to the Military Health System, and to Army Medicine for the past 32 years.

I have designated Dr. David Smith, the Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, as the Acting Director of the DHA while the Department conducts the normal nomination process. Dr. Smith is a steady hand with decades of experience in the Military Health System in and out of uniform. I ask everyone to support Dr. Smith and the entire DHA team as we stabilize and strengthen our system serving the most lethal fighting force on the planet. Dr. Smith’s biography is available on Health.milGoes to Dr. D. Smith biography.

I am confident the DHA will continue to improve health care in support of our beneficiaries and rise to meet complex security challenges worldwide. Thank you

In coming Smith in July 2003, accepted the appointment as chief of staff, TRICARE Management Activity, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs). Smith helped lead the migration to the new TRICARE contracts, expanded the Reserve Health Benefit, and implemented new regional governance. Afterwards, he served as the Deputy Chief for Health Care Operations (M3) at the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery and became chief of Operations in June 2005, responsible for all Navy peacetime and deployed medical operations.

In May 2008, Smith became the Joint Staff Surgeon where he served as the chief medical advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, providing counsel to the chairman, the joint staff, and combatant commanders. In October 2010, Smith deployed as the International Security Assistance Force-Afghanistan (ISAF) medical advisor and Chief, Joint Medical overseeing medical care and health development for the Afghan theater of operations. Prior to retiring from the Navy as a Rear Admiral, upper half, in October 2012, he was Director, Medical Resources, Plans and Policy Division on the Chief of Naval Operations staff where he developed and evaluated plans and policy for medical support to current and future Navy and Marine Corps operations.

Gen. Telita Crosland who is retiring as the Director of the Defense Health Agency (DHA), with its headquarters in Falls Church, Virginia.

Crosland is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, and the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. In addition to her Doctor of Medicine, she also holds a Master of Public Health from the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences and a Master of Science in National Resource Strategy from the Eisenhower School.

Crosland entered the Army as a Medical Corps Officer in 1993. She is Board certified by the American Board of Family Medicine, a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians, and a recipient of The Surgeon General's “A” proficiency designator.

Crosland has served in a variety of leadership positions including: Officer in Charge, Camp Walker Health Clinic, South Korea; Officer in Charge, Bennett Health Clinic, Fort Hood, Texas; Associate Program Director, Department of Family Medicine, Fort Lewis, Washington; Chief, Soldier Care, Fort Lewis, Washington; Deputy Chief, Department of Family Medicine, Fort Lewis, Washington; Commander, U.S. Army Health Clinic, Grafenwoehr, Germany; Senior Medical Officer, Office of The Surgeon General, Falls Church, Virginia; Commander, U.S. Army Medical Department Activity, Heidelberg, Germany; Deputy Commander, U.S. Army Medical Center, Landstuhl, Germany; Medical Corps Branch Chief, U.S. Army Human Resources Command, Fort Knox, Kentucky; Commander, U.S. Army Medical Department Activity, Fort Campbell, Kentucky; Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, U.S. Army Medical Command (MEDCOM), Falls Church, Virginia; Commanding General, Regional Health Command-Atlantic, Fort Belvoir, Virginia. She most recently served as the Army Deputy Surgeon General and Deputy Commanding General (Operations) of MEDCOM.

Her awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit with two oak leaf clusters; Meritorious Service Medal with four oak leaf clusters, Army Commendation Medal with three oak leaf clusters, Joint Service Achievement Medal, Army Staff Badge and the Parachutist’s Badge. She is also a member of the Order of Military Medical Merit.

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