COL Soliz enlisted in the Army as a Combat Medic in 1987. He later graduated summa cum laude with a 4.0 GPA from the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Physician Assistant Studies and was commissioned into the Army Medical Specialist Corps in 1998. He also holds a Master of Science Degree in Family Medicine from the University of Nebraska Medical Center. He also holds a Doctorate of Medical Science from the University of Lynchburg, VA. His military education includes the AMEDD Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, Army Command and General Staff College, Joint Combined Warfighting School, and the U.S. Army War College. COL Soliz is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE).
In 1996, he attended the Army’s Physician Assistant Training Program at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in February, 1998. His first assignment was as the Battalion Surgeon for the 1st, and later the 3rd, Parachute Infantry Regiments, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C. From July 2001 to July 2002, he returned to Fort Sam Houston as an Executive Fellow, Allied Health Staff Officer for the Surgeon General, Headquarters, U.S. Army Medical Command. Upon completing his fellowship, he served as Officer-in-Charge of the Combat Casualty Care Course at Camp Bullis, Texas. He later served as the Flight Surgeon for 3rd Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia.
In July 2006, COL Soliz served as the Physician Assistant to the President of the United States, and later as J-3, Operations Director, as a member of the White House Medical Unit, Washington, D.C. In 2011, he served as the Deputy Surgeon for Special Operations Command South (Airborne), Homestead Air Reserve Base, Florida. He was reassigned to the Pentagon as Aide-de-Camp to the Army Inspector General, Office of the Secretary of the Army, and later became the Chief, Orthopedic Surgery, at Kimbrough Ambulatory Care Center, Fort Meade, Maryland. COL Soliz then deployed as the Chief, Strategic Engagements Branch, U.S. Forces Afghanistan (USFOR-A) in Kabul, and then as Director, Prehospital Care, for CENTCOM’s Joint Theater Trauma System (JTTS) in Bagram, Afghanistan. From June 2015 to June 2017, COL Soliz commanded the California Medical Detachment and the Presidio of Monterey Army Health Clinic in Monterey, California. From July 2017 to June 2018, he was a War College Fellow at the Department of Health and Human Services. From July 2018 to July 2019, he served at the Pentagon as the Executive Assistant to the Army Surgeon General and Commanding General, U.S. Army Medical Command. From June 2019 to June 2021, he commanded the Joint Medical Augmentation Unit, Joint Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, N.C. COL Soliz served Chief of Staff, Regional Health Command-Pacific, from July 2021 to May 2022. Most recently, he commanded Tripler Army Medical Center from May 9, 2022 to 19 May 2023. He assumed command of Medical Readiness Command, Pacific on May 22, 2023 and serves as the Director of Defense Health Network Indo-Pacific.
Participating in multiple deployment operations throughout his career, his combat operations included OPERATION DESERT SHIELD/DESERT STORM, OPERATION PROVIDE COMFORT, OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM, OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM, and supported various worldwide joint special operations contingencies.
COL Soliz’s awards and decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit (2 OLC), the Bronze Star Medal, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal (1 OLC), the Meritorious Service Medal (3 OLC), the Air Medal, the Joint Service Commendation Medal (2 OLC), the Army Commendation Medal (6 OLC), the Joint Service Achievement Medal, the Army Achievement Medal (1 OLC), the Combat Medical Badge (2nd award), Expert Field Medical Badge, Senior Aviation Badge, Flight Surgeon Badge, Senior Parachutist Badge, Air Assault Badge, the Presidential Service Badge, the Army Staff Identification Badge, the Health and Human Services Identification Badge, and foreign parachutist badges from multiple countries.
Acknowledgments: This biography was written by LTC Amelia Duran-Stanton, MAJ Patrick Walsh, and COL Bill Soliz and was submitted to the Society in September 2017. The biography was updated March 2024. Photographs are courtesy of COL Soliz.
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Disclaimer: The authors’ views do not reflect the official policy of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.
