a fact that most women don’t know. The Army National Guard (ARNG) and the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association (AHA/ASA) are joining forces to battle this silent killer and urge every woman - to make a promise to love your heart!

We need your help! Let’s send dozens of virtual red roses to the American Heart Association by visiting the GO RED Heart Check Up online. For every 100 GO RED Heart Check Up surveys completed, one white rose will turn RED! Please tell everyone you know and check back frequently to monitor the participation by National Guard women and Families.

Please support the ARNG Decade of Health team and the American Heart Association to empower every woman by participating in the GO RED FOR WOMEN campaign, a nationwide movement celebrating the energy, passion and power we have to band together and wipe out heart disease.

Click here to take the GO RED Heart Check Up Survey!

Deputy Surgeon General for the Army National Guard

Major General Deborah C. Wheeling received her Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from Columbia University, New York City in 1975. During her nursing studies at Columbia she was enlisted in the Army Student Nurse Corps and was commissioned a first lieutenant upon graduation. She received a Master of Science in Nursing from Duke University in 1980 and was board certified as an Oncology Clinical Nurse Specialist in 1986. She graduated from the Army Command and General Staff College in 1989 and received a master’s degree in Strategic Studies from the Army War College in 2001.

Major General Wheeling served in a variety of clinical assignments within the Army Medical Department spanning all three Army components. Assignments at Fort Ord, Calif., Fitzsimons Army Medical Center, Colo., and Fort Bragg, N.C., provided clinical experience within Active Component TDA units where she served as Clinical Head Nurse in a variety of outpatient settings. While assigned to Womack Army Community Hospital, Fort Bragg, and Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, Texas, her expertise and experience enabled her to develop and implement the role of an Oncology Clinical Nurse Specialist, thereby establishing the template for advanced Oncology nursing practice at both of these facilities.

Major General Wheeling served with the U.S. Army Reserve, 312th Evacuation Hospital, Greensboro, N.C., and the 3264th Augmentation Hospital, Durham, N.C., during her graduate studies at Duke University. She joined the West Virginia Army National Guard upon release from active duty in 1984, and served as the State Chief Nurse, West Virginia Army National Guard for five years, overseeing the medical deployment of West Virginia National Guard forces in support of Desert Shield/Desert Storm. She transferred to the New York Army National Guard in 1991 and served in variety of command and staff positions to include State Chief Nurse and Deputy Commander, State Area Command Medical Detachment. She was selected in 1999 to serve a Title 10 AGR tour as Chief of Clinical Services, Chief Surgeon’s Office, National Guard Bureau where she was responsible for the development, interpretation and implementation of medical operational, medical training and healthcare policy for the Army National Guard. In October 2002, she was selected as the Assistant Surgeon General for Mobilization, Readiness and National Guard Affairs, Office of the Surgeon General. In October 2005, Major General Wheeling was selected as the Deputy Surgeon General for the Army National Guard.

In her civilian role, Major General Wheeling has worked as an Oncology Clinical Nurse Specialist, Southern West Virginia Clinic, Beckley, W.V., and as an Oncology Nursing Consultant, lecturing extensively in both professional education and community health education forums.

Major General Wheeling’s awards and decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal (with two oak leaf clusters), Army Commendation Medal (with one oak leaf cluster), Army Good Conduct Medal, Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal (with silver oak leaf cluster and bronze oak leaf cluster), National Defense Service Medal (with two bronze service stars), Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal (with silver hourglass), Army Superior Unit Award, the Order of Military Medical Merit, and the hallmark of clinical and academic expertise, the Surgeon General’s 9A proficiency designator.