Schmillen is commissary agency's new director of public health, safety
FORT LEE, Va. – Army Lt. Col. Angela M. Schmillen is the Defense Commissary Agency’s new director of public health and safety, announced Rogers E. Campbell, executive director of DeCA’s Store Operations Group. Schmillen’s selection is effective July 1.
Schmillen fills a position held since December 2020 by Army Col. Alisa R. Wilma, who served as acting director while also serving at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, as the deputy commander for DOD’s Public Health Command-Central. Wilma will continue in that position.
Wilma stepped in as acting director when the previous director, Army Lt. Col. Angela M. Parham, retired. Wilma had initially served as director from September 2016 to May 2019.
Schmillen comes to DeCA from Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, where she served as the deputy director for Force Health Protection Army Capability Manager – Army Health System at the Medical Center of Excellence. There she worked to identify issues and facilitate solutions as they impact operational force health protection capabilities.
“Lt. Col. Schmillen has a lot of experience supporting health and safety missions for commands around the world,” Campbell said. “We’re confident that under her leadership the agency will continue to maintain the safety of the products we provide along with the occupational health of our employees.”
As DeCA’s director of public health and safety, Schmillen 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.
“I am excited to be joining DeCA and being part of a team that provides such an outstanding service to our military and families around the world,” Schmillen said.
Schmillen has been a veterinarian for 16 years, graduating veterinary school in 2005 from the University of Florida. She subsequently entered active duty as a captain in the Army Veterinary Corps.
Her previous assignments included stops at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho; Mannheim, Germany; and Fort Hood, Texas, where she served as a veterinary preventive medicine instructor for the First Year Graduate Veterinary Education. There she taught and mentored three cohorts of newly commissioned Army Veterinary Corps officers in food safety, public health and their leadership responsibilities as an Army veterinarian.
Schmillen was later assigned to the U.S. Army Pacific (USARPAC) Surgeon’s Office at Fort Shafter, Hawaii, as the command veterinarian. There she provided guidance to USARPAC leadership on the usage of veterinary assets in the Pacific theater, along with working operational food safety and force health protection with all service components. At USARPAC, Schmillen also supported global health engagements through the command’s Theater Security Cooperation program to develop five-year health strategies for Indo-Pacific and partner nations.
Schmillen earned both her Bachelor of Science in Zoology degree (2000) and Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (2005) from the University of Florida. She also earned a Master of Public Health degree (2012) from Ohio State University. Schmillen is a board-certified Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine.
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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.