Wilma returns as interim director of public health, safety
FORT LEE, Va. – Army Col. Alisa R. Wilma is the interim director of the Defense Commissary Agency’s public health and safety directorate, announced Rogers E. Campbell, executive director of DeCA’s Store Operations Group. The appointment is effective Dec. 15.
Wilma temporarily fills a position left vacant by the departure of Army Lt. Col. Angela Parham, who is on leave as she prepares to retire Jan. 31. The agency is going through the selection process for Parham’s permanent replacement, who is expected to be on-site by mid-June.
Wilma initially served with DeCA from September 2016 to May 2019 before moving on to serve at the Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, as the deputy commander for DOD’s Public Health Command-Central. She will continue to serve in that position as she performs her DeCA responsibilities.
“Col. Wilma did a fine job leading our public health and safety team in her previous assignment with DeCA,” Campbell said. “Col. Parham did a magnificent job helping us provide a safe environment for our customers and employees during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Col. Wilma will help us stay the course until our next permanent health and safety director is online.”
As DeCA’s director of public health and safety, Wilma leads a staff in Asia, Europe and the United States that plans and implements the agency’s consumer and occupational safety and health programs.
DeCA’s food safety mission ensures all edible products destined for commissary shelves are inspected by military Veterinary Services personnel, who check items for documented place of origin, and ensure they are within appropriate temperature ranges and free of any pests or signs of contamination that could cause foodborne diseases.
In the area of occupational health and safety, agency specialists are charged with tracking U.S. federal requirements along with those governing the local national employees in the country where the store operates.
Before her first tour with DeCA, Wilma was commander of the 463rd Medical Detachment (Veterinary Service Support) from 2014 to 2016.
During her career, she’s served at varied places such as Fort Dix, New Jersey; Camp Darby, Italy and Fort Sam Houston, Texas.
Wilma has also served overseas in various assignments such as the command veterinarian for the Area Support Group-Kuwait at Camp Arifjan Kuwait, where she supervised all clinical and preventive veterinary services throughout Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates and Oman (2010 to 2012); and the U.S. Army Africa/Southern European Task Force, where she planned veterinary missions throughout Africa and supported the command’s food safety and preventive medicine mission (2012 to 2014).
From August 2014 to August 2016, while commander of the 463rd Medical Detachment, she deployed teams to Liberia in support of Operation United Assistance as part of the Ebola relief effort and to Kosovo as part of NATO’s international peacekeeping force. In July 2015, she also deployed the 463rd to Kuwait in support of Operation Spartan Shield, Operation Inherent Resolve and Operation Enduring Freedom. During this deployment members of her unit further deployed to Qatar, Jordan, Iraq and Afghanistan.
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About DeCA: The Defense Commissary Agency operates a worldwide chain of commissaries providing groceries to military personnel, retirees and their families in a safe and secure shopping environment. Commissaries provide a military benefit, saving authorized patrons thousands of dollars annually on their purchases compared to similar products at commercial retailers. The discounted prices include a 5-percent surcharge, which covers the costs of building new commissaries and modernizing existing ones. A core military family support element, and a valued part of military pay and benefits, commissaries contribute to family readiness, enhance the quality of life for America’s military and their families, and help recruit and retain the best and brightest men and women to serve their country.