Col. Mike Tarpey, U.S. Army Aeromedical Research Laboratory
Col. Mike Tarpey enlisted in the U.S. Army as a combat medic in 1989. He served as a medic with air defense artillery units in Germany and deployed as a medic with 1-7 Patriot missile battery in the first Gulf War. He later served as an evacuation NCO with 1-502nd Infantry, 101st Airborne Division.
Tarpey is a graduate of Stanford University with a Bachelor of Arts in political science. He earned a Doctorate of Medicine from the University of Illinois School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois. He completed a family medicine residency at Cook County Hospital in Chicago and a fellowship in family medicine obstetrics at CRDAMC, Fort Hood, Texas.
Tarpey’s previous assignments include battalion surgeon for 1-15 Infantry, 3rd Infantry Division; brigade surgeon for 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division; group surgeon for 3rd Special Forces Group; officer in charge of the Russell Collier Clinic, Fort Hood; division surgeon for the 82nd Airborne Division, commander, Tuttle Army Health Clinic, Hunter Army Airfield; corps surgeon for III Corps; and chief of clinical operations, Primary Care Service Line, Office of the Surgeon General.
He is a graduate of the AMEDD Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, and has completed a U.S. Army War College Fellowship at George Washington University.
Tarpey has deployed twice to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, three times to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and once to Iraq in support of Operation Inherent Resolve.
His awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal (3), Defense Meritorious Service Medal (2), Meritorious Service Medal (5), Joint Service Commendation Medal, Army Commendation Medal (5), Army Achievement Medal (3), Presidential Unit Citation, Joint Meritorious Unit Award (2), and the Army Superior Unit Award (2). Tarpey also earned the Combat Medical Badge, Expert Field Medical Badge, Flight Surgeon Badge, Parachutist Badge, Air Assault Badge, Australian Jump Wings, German Jump Wings, and the Order of Military Medical Merit. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Family Practice.