My Legacy of Service as a Dentist in the Military – Part 3
As my career has evolved, so has my understanding of what service truly means. What began as a desire to follow in my father’s footsteps grew into a lifelong commitment to leadership, education, and caring for others whether in uniform or in the clinic.
After returning home from deployment, I purchased the dental practice where I had been working, continued my monthly Army Reserve drills, and continued volunteering at Tufts School of Dental Medicine. Teaching started as a way to give back, but it quickly became a defining part of my professional identity. Guiding students through their clinical development reminded me that leadership is not about position or rank, but about investing in people and helping them reach their potential.
Balancing family life, private practice ownership, military service, and dental education was not always easy, but the Army had prepared me well. The values I learned such as discipline, adaptability, accountability, and teamwork, became my foundation. Those lessons shaped not only the dentist I became, but the husband, father, educator, and officer I strive to be.
In 2010, I was deployed to Kosovo in support of Kosovo Force (KFOR), a NATO-led international peacekeeping mission. Stationed at Camp Bondsteel, I served as the sole dentist for Soldiers from Greece, Italy, Finland, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, Switzerland, and Turkey. It was an extraordinary professional experience and a powerful reminder of the global impact of healthcare. Being able to preserve teeth, rather than extract them. This mission reinforced the importance of advanced training and access to care.
That deployment was deeply rewarding, but also personally challenging. My wife was pregnant at the time, and being away from my family was the hardest part of service. Daily Skype calls helped bridge the distance, but nothing compared to returning home and seeing my family waiting for me at Logan Airport, a moment that remains forever etched in my memory.
After returning, I joined the 455th Dental Company at Fort Devens, Massachusetts — a unit of more than 30 dentists. Today, I am honored to serve as the Commander of the 455th. Our monthly drills are more than training events; they are opportunities to mentor, learn from one another, and strengthen a community of professionals dedicated to service.
My role in dental education continued to grow as well. In 2012, I started to teach part-time at Tufts two days a week while maintaining my private practice three days a week. Teaching, clinical practice, and military leadership are no longer separate paths, they are interconnected, each reinforcing the other.
Looking back, service has never been confined to one uniform or one role. It has been a thread woven through every chapter of my life. My hope is that through leadership, education, and example, I leave behind a legacy that encourages others to serve with purpose, compassion, and commitment and to always strive to leave things better than they found them.