Col. Brian Lein symbolically receives command of Landstuhl Regional Medical Center from Brig. Gen. David Rubenstein with the passing of the flag Tuesday at Landstuhl. Lein replaces Col. Bryan Gamble, who will be taking over as command surgeon for U.S. Central Command in Tampa, Fla. (Ben Bloker / S&S)
Col. Brian Lein symbolically receives command of Landstuhl Regional Medical Center from Brig. Gen. David Rubenstein with the passing of the flag Tuesday at Landstuhl. Lein replaces Col. Bryan Gamble, who will be taking over as command surgeon for U.S. Central Command in Tampa, Fla. (Ben Bloker / S&S)
Col. Bryan Gamble, right, the outgoing commander of Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, dips his head as the crowd rises for a standing ovation Tuesday at the Landstuhl gym. Col. Brian Lein, the new LRMC commander, is at center. (Ben Bloker / S&S)
LANDSTUHL, Germany — Col. Brian C. Lein returned to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center on Tuesday — this time as the commander.
Lein assumed the top spot during a change of command ceremony in which Col. W. Bryan Gamble relinquished control after two years.
Lein comes to Landstuhl from 3rd Army/U.S. Army Central, where he served as command surgeon.
From 1993 to 1996, Lein was a general surgeon at Landstuhl and deployed from there to Bosnia-Herzegovina in support of Operation Joint Endeavor. Now he returns to the hospital that’s responsible for treating troops wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“I was ecstatic to find out that I was going to be able to come back here and command the organization that I was a part of and that my last son was born in,” Lein said. “It has very special meaning to my family to be able to come back here.”
During Gamble’s command, the hospital cared for more than 9,000 wounded troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, said Brig. Gen. David Rubenstein, commander of Europe Regional Medical Command.
“Bryan, thank you for showing us all how to command and for positioning Landstuhl’s people, medical center and clinics for success in the coming months,” Rubenstein said.
“You’ve done magnificently, and your upcoming move to become the command surgeon for the United States Central Command speaks volumes about your importance to the future of our nation’s military health care system.”
Gamble thanked the Landstuhl staff for its selfless service.
“We’ve been engaged in close combat daily against the wounds of war,” Gamble said. “You have performed brilliantly.
“Thank you for sharing our battlefield on the hilltop here with me. You have fought valiantly to defeat death and disease in those we have been entrusted to care.”
