© Nancy Molter
Barbara Renee (Bonine) Holcomb was born on 21 November 1964 in Miles City, MT, into the Richard (“Dick”) and Jane Bonine family which includes nine brothers and three sisters. After graduating from Sacred Heart High School in Miles City, she attended Seattle University where she earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing. While working as a clerk typist in the Military Science Department, she learned about and applied for a Reserve Officer Training Corps scholarship becoming the 1987 distinguished graduate of that program.1
After completing the Officer Basic Course, she was assigned as a staff nurse in post-anesthesia recovery and in the emergency department of Madigan Army Medical Center, Fort Lewis, WA. In 1990, she married SGM Alvah (Max) Holcomb. Six weeks later, she deployed with the 47th Combat Support Hospital (CSH), the most forward-deployed facility during Operation Desert Shield/Storm. As a valued member of the CSH’s emergency medical team, she gained important deployment experience.2
After completing the Officer Advanced Course, Holcomb’s follow-on assignment was as a staff nurse and head nurse in a medical surgical unit as well as the Troop and Family Care Clinics at Ft. Huachuca, AZ. Subsequently, she transferred to Fort Sam Houston, TX, to work as the Officer Basic Course nurse advisor and as commander, A/187th Medical Battalion. She thus became the third Army nurse ever to hold a command position. Moreover, she would command at every rank thereafter. She has stated that the most rewarding part of leadership was watching people succeed.3
Holcomb then attended the Command and General Staff College (CGSC) in residence in Fort Leavenworth, KS. In this educational environment she learned more self-awareness in her interactions with others through sharing and receiving feedback about her command philosophy. She so enthusiastically studied military tactics that her instructor presented her a coin as the first Army Medical Department officer to embrace tactical studies so conscientiously. These were skills that strongly contributed to success in her future assignments. After graduation from CGSC, she completed her master’s degree in nursing with concentration in nursing administration at the University of Kansas in 2000. Holcomb received additional training in 2013, when she completed master’s level certification in Emergency and Disaster Management from the American Public University System.4
After completing her advanced studies, Holcomb returned overseas as chief nurse of the Department of Outlying Health Clinics at the 67th CSH and Wuerzburg Medical Activity, Germany, where she was responsible for ten multi-service clinics. During this time, she volunteered for a six-month rotation as medical detachment commander at Camp Able Sentry, Macedonia, increasing her knowledge of international medical care and military contracts.5
Continuing her growth as a leader, Holcomb subsequently held varied positions. She served as chief nurse and executive officer, 14th CSH, Fort Benning, GA. On assignment to Fort Sam Houston, TX, she worked as commander, Special Troops Battalion; director of the Base Transformation Office, responsible for implementing the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure recommendations; and chief, ambulatory nursing, Brooke Army Medical Center. In 2007, she completed the Army War College by correspondence where she earned an additional master’s degree in strategic studies. Then, she moved to Fort Hood, TX, where she held the position of Chief, Nursing Administration, Darnall Army Medical Center. She next commanded Medical Task Force 21 in 2010 when the 21st CSH deployed in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn. The unit operated in a split-based configuration at three sites providing healthcare and performing an advise and assist mission.6
Holcomb assumed greater responsibilities in her next positions as Chief, Army Nurse Corps Branch, Human Resources Command, Fort Knox, KY, where she also managed the colonel and nurse scientist positions. This assignment lasted only for ten months, because in 2012, she was activated to command Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Landstuhl, Germany. During this assignment, she became the first nurse to be selected for promotion to brigadier general who was not chief of the Corps.7
Her next assignment was as command surgeon, Forces Command, Fort Bragg, NC. In November 2015, MG Holcomb assumed command of Regional Health Command – Central, Fort Sam Houston, TX. From December 2015 until May 2016, she acted as deputy commander for operations of the Medical Command. Her final position was commanding general, Medical Research and Materiel Command at Fort Detrick, MD. During these last three assignments, Holcomb concurrently served as Chief, Army Nurse Corps, from 2 November 2015 until 1 July 2019.8
Holcomb, assisted by three different deputy corps chiefs9, guided the Corps throughout the integration into the Defense Health Agency (DHA). Difficult decisions were made when determining what nursing specialties to eliminate, and at what ranks to adjust. The Nurse Midwife Area of Concentration (AOC) was removed as part of this process, but the 66G AOC for obstetric/gynecologic nurses was retained. She worked to standardize a nursing practice model, which was based on the Patient Caring Touch System, in the DHA. She also focused on civilian nursing pay issues, developed anesthesia nursing practice guidelines across the federal service, and determined nurses’ and medics’ critical skills for a multidimensional domain combat environment. Establishing an Emergency Nurse Practitioner Program, which provides officers with the skills to fully substitute for family practice doctors and physician assistants in Role 1 and 2 environments, expanded the value of these practitioners. Moreover, she increased tuition caps for Army Enlisted Commissioning Program, master’s, and doctoral program recipients. Additionally, she worked with the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences to develop courses to more thoroughly prepare nurses for harsh environments. Another undertaking spearheaded by Holcomb resulted from the lack of a DHA chief nurse executive. Congress directed five executive positions but did not include nursing. At the end of her tenure, she successfully lobbied incoming and outgoing DHA directors to create a temporary nurse executive position.10
MG Holcomb received numerous awards and decorations throughout her 33-year military career. Most notable was the accolade included in the Congressional Record, “the example of leadership that she has set for so many will leave a lasting impact on the quality of this nation’s Army Nurse Corps.” Since June 2020, she is enjoying retirement with her husband in Texas.11
1 Barbara Holcomb to Nancy Molter, email message with attachment, 20 July 2021.
2 “47th Combat Support Hospital Facebook Page,” Facebook, n.d., accessed on 9 August 2021, https://touch.facebook.com/147thFH/about; Barbara R. Holcomb interviewed by Lewis Barger, 7 June 2019, in San Antonio, TX, transcription, AMEDD Oral History Program, Army Medical Department Center of History and Heritage, Fort Sam Houston, TX; Barbara R. Holcomb, LinkedIn, n.d., accessed 2 August 2021, https://www.linkedin.com/in/barb-holcomb/.
3 Barbara R. Holcomb interviewed by Lewis Barger, 7 June 2019, in San Antonio, TX, transcription, AMEDD Oral History Program, Army Medical Department Center of History and Heritage, Fort Sam Houston, TX; Barbara R. Holcomb, LinkedIn, n.d., accessed 2 August 2021, https://www.linkedin.com/in/barb-holcomb/.
4 Ibid.
5 Ibid.
6 David Lynn and Robert De Lorenzo, “"Advising and Assisting an Iraqi Army Medical Clinic: Observations of a U.S. Military Support Mission," Military Medicine, 176, no. 9 (September 2011): 998-999; Barbara R. Holcomb interviewed by Lewis Barger, 7 June 2019, in San Antonio, TX, transcription, AMEDD Oral History Program, Army Medical Department Center of History and Heritage, Fort Sam Houston, TX; Barbara R. Holcomb, LinkedIn, n.d., accessed 2 August 2021, https://www.linkedin.com/in/barb-holcomb/.
7 This was the first time in history that three Army nurses, LTG Horoho, MG Keenan and BG Holcomb, held the rank of general. Barbara R. Holcomb interviewed by Lewis Barger, 7 June 2019, in San Antonio, TX, transcription, AMEDD Oral History Program, Army Medical Department Center of History and Heritage, Fort Sam Houston, TX; Barbara R. Holcomb, LinkedIn, n.d., accessed 2 August 2021, https://www.linkedin.com/in/barb-holcomb/.
8 Barbara R. Holcomb, interviewed by Lewis Barger, 7 November 2019, in San Antonio, TX, transcription, AMEDD Oral History Program, Army Medical Department Center of History and Heritage, Fort Sam Houston, TX; Barbara R. Holcomb, LinkedIn, n.d., accessed 2 August 2012; https://www.linkedin.com/in/barb-holcomb/.
9 COL Richard Evans, COL Melissa Hoffman and COL Lozay Foots
10 Barbara R. Holcomb, interviewed by Lewis Barger, 7 November 2019, in San Antonio, TX, transcription, AMEDD Oral History Program, Army Medical Department Center of History and Heritage, Fort Sam Houston, TX; Rhonda Carpenter, “Interview: Major General Barbara R. Holcomb,” Defense Medical Network, 17 May 2019, accessed 2 August 2021, https://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/major-general-barbara-r-holcomb-commanding-general-us-army-medical-research-and-materiel-command-fort-detrick-md-chief-us-army-nurse-corps; Barbara Holcomb to Nancy Molter, email message with attachment, 20 July 2021.
11 U.S. Congress, Senate, Tribute to Major General Barbara R. Holcomb, 22 July (Calendar Day, 22 July), 2019, 116th Cong., 1st sess., 2019, S Doc 4963, 165.