Major General Gale S. Pollock served as the Deputy Surgeon General of the United States Army from October 2006 to March 2007 and also as Chief of the Army Nurse Corp. She became the Acting Surgeon General of the United States Army for nine months following the retirement of her predecessor due to fallout from the Walter Reed Army Medical Center neglect scandal. She is the first woman and the first non-physician to hold the position. She has 30 years of service in the Army and is a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist.
When you first started your career/business, did you feel passion for your work?
I knew early on that I would be a nurse and can remember the first time I told my Mom what I was going to do. She had just asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up. Now I consider it quite an odd question for a four year old. I can still see where we were on the street and remember her surprise when I said I was going to be a nurse. I didn’t know any nurses; no one in the family was a nurse. She asked why…and I replied I had to care for God’s sheep. Then when I was about ten, we were visiting some friends of my parents and their daughter came home from work—she was a nurse and told me that nursing was changing and if I wanted to be a good nurse, I needed to go to college. That settled that, so I never had the usual trepidation about was I going to go to college—of course, I wanted to be a good nurse. No one in my family had ever gone to college, so my parents were not supportive; I knew I needed to get a scholarship to go to school. When I was a sophomore in high school, I read about an Army nursing scholarship program and decided that was how I was going to college. It turned out that about four thousand candidates applied and they interviewed the top 500 from around the country. My Mom drove me to Philadelphia for my interview. Colonel Barberi was the Army nurse who interviewed me and she asked why they should select me for the scholarship. I looked her right in the eye and told her that I was one of the brightest young women in America and if they did not scoff me up, someone else would. My Mom lectured me the entire drive home about the audacity of sounding my own horn. I patiently replied that it was a competition and none of the others were going to walk in and say, “Pick Gale.” My mother assured me they would not select me so I practically danced in the street when I got my acceptance letter. So I joined the Army when I was 17 and would do it again in a heartbeat! It was extremely easy for me to serve as an Army nurse because I understood the importance of bringing Soldiers home alive and in the best possible condition to those who loved them. I mentioned that my folks were not supportive of my goal, that is really an understatement. My father was a violent alcoholic and I often wondered if I would live to get out of there. My Mom did the best she could in that environment but it took all her energy to keep going, there was not much left for me. We lived by an Army base in New Jersey and as unbalanced as my Dad was, he would bring Soldiers home for Sunday dinner—my Mom was a fabulous cook! One of them, Robin Yount, was a bit older, in his mid twenties and he felt safe. I shared with him that I was afraid and thought I would be killed before I could get out of there. He assured me I would be fine and I would survive—I hung on to that reassurance like it was the knot at the end of a rope! Robin went to Vietnam and lost a leg. The men and women of the Army Medical Department brought him home alive and that was when I knew I would be an Army Nurse. Finding the scholarship just got me into the Army before I graduated from college. So every day that I served in the Army I understood the importance of what we were doing for the men and women willing to serve our Nation and defend our freedom.
When you first started were you able to visualize your final outcome?
Before I graduated from college, I told my classmates that I was going to be a General and Chief of the Army Nurse Corps, they just laughed. I was such a rebel.
What were your top three obstacles/challenges?
Top three, that’s funny. I feel like I have made a million mistakes, but that I persevered. I think the most difficult challenge was learning that I did not have to do battle over everything. It took me years to learn to pick my battles! I also had to learn interpersonal skills for the workplace and for relationships that I had not learned at home. I think that my decision to do counseling to learn relationship and communication skills was an excellent decision and highly recommend it. Another challenge was staying optimist and upbeat when I was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm. Very difficult surgery and then several months later I had a very bad infection in the bone they had cut out to do the surgery and in my epidural space. I was a sick puppy! Weeks of continuous intravenous antibiotics and another six months of oral antibiotics, but it cleared up and I was able to have a plastic plate inserted so I could stop worrying about banging my brain!
How did you deal with doubt, fear, and self-recrimination?
Fear, that’s easy—if I lived through the crazy house, what else was really going to hurt me? My Dad liked knives and guns, I have yet to see someone pull a knife or gun in the workplace—well, that is not true. I had a staff member take another staff hostage and demand to see the Commander (that was me)—but that’s another story! I guess living with my family taught me the thrill of adrenalin so I have always liked trying things—parachuting, motorcycle riding, jumping fences on horses, for example. I really don’t fear things. I don’t think that I doubt much, I just sit down and figure out a strategy and then stick with it. I also don’t think that I am perfect and accept the fact that I will make mistakes, the trick is to learn from them and not waste time beating yourself up for being human.
Did you feel that the traditional male dominated workplace affected you at all?
If so, what did you do about it? I actually thrive in a male environment. I am a decision maker and am not afraid of risk, so I fit right in. Only 15% of the Army is women! I only really struggled with it one time, I was physically assaulted by a male physician—but that was many years ago when physicians were “allowed” to be abusive towards nurses. Fortunately, that nonsense is over.
Did you have mentors?
Yes, in the sense that I respected people and wanted to be like them. I did not have anyone that I went to for advice or counsel. I simply figured it out myself. After I became more senior in the Army, what we call “line” officers, those who are in the infantry did start to mentor me and I was grateful for their perspective and their guidance,
Do you feel you were traditional in terms of your steps to your Optimal Level?
No, I laugh and tell people I can’t keep a job. I started as an intensive care nurse and then went on to an anesthesia-nursing program. Felt like I needed to keep learning, so got a masters in business, then a masters in healthcare administration. I wanted to understand the other military services better, so I took a two-year distance-learning program about the Air Force. Got another masters degree, National Security and Strategy. Was the Chief Nurse Anesthetist at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, faculty at a university, in a think-tank, on a congressional commission, then the army selected me as one of the first nurses to be the equivalent of a CEO. My first CEO position was at an ambulatory care facility, and then I moved to a large community hospital in a similar role. Since I still am a rebel, it was fun to be selected as a "detective" for the Commanding General of the Army Medical Department during the deployment of a new electronic health record. From there I became the 22nd Chief of the Army Nurse Corps and the Commanding General (again, think CEO) for a tertiary medical center in Honolulu. Next stop was Washington DC were I was the Deputy Surgeon General for the Army Medical Department and then after the problems identified at Walter Reed, became the first women and non physician to fulfill the responsibilities of the Army Surgeon General (I was also the first in this position for any of the military services)
As you look back, what is the one thing you wish you knew when you started?
I wish I had known how much public speaking I would do and would have done Toastmasters training!
Any regrets?
No, I would do it all again in a heartbeat.
Do you believe luck had something to do with your rise to where you are now?
Do you feel you paid a price to be as successful as you are now? No, I do not think it was luck. It was constant work to make myself the best I could be so that I would be capable of the responsibility I sought. Yes, there was a price to pay. My husband, Doug—the love of my life—and I have not had as much time together as we wanted. We have lived in separate places in seven of the last nine years so that I could pursue my dreams. He wanted them for me as well. I would not have been successful and happy if he had not also wanted me to succeed. I can’t adequately explain how much his support has meant to me.
What is the best piece of advice you have for other women on their way to their Optimal Level?
Follow your heart. We spend so much time in our careers that it is foolish to spend that time on something we do not enjoy. I look around and so many people are unhappy in their work but they are unwilling to make a change. I guess they are just not unhappy enough to invest the energy to change their behaviors.
Do you have any other tips for career or business women?
I think that a desire to continuously learn and grow is essential. We also need to learn how to communicate clearly. I remind myself often of a statement by Abe Lincoln, you can please some of the people all of the time, some of the people some of the time and some of the people none of the time. We are not going to make everyone happy with our decisions and that is OK.
What do you think is the biggest mistake career/business women make?
I think the mistake I have seen most often is that women want to be friends with the people who work for them. Therefore, they don’t do the “tough stuff” of holding people accountable or counseling them for unacceptable behaviors in the workplace. As leaders, we have a responsibility to be accountable and hold others accountable; needing to be friends makes that much more difficult.
Do you have any other tips for career or business women?
Always make time for yourself to recharge your batteries. Sustain balance in your life, all work and no play makes us dull and no fun to be around! Learn to say no, just because someone asks you to do something does not mean that the world will stop if you say no. Don’t insist on it always being done your way, there are multiple ways to complete a task or a project—people will delight you with their creativity. Have bodacious goals, challenge yourself!
What are your plans now that you have retired from the Army?
I tell people to have bodacious goals and I have them myself! I am moving to Pittsburgh as the Exec Director of the nation’s first Center for Ocular Regeneration and Vision Restoration—our goal is to help restore sight for those who have lost vision due to disease or trauma. I am sure that will provide wonderful opportunities to continue making a difference in people’s lives!
