BG Michael B. Cates

Background Information
on Brigadier General Michael B. Cates

Brigadier General Michael B. Cates assumed command of the U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine (USACHPPM), Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, on September 23, 2004. He is also serving as the 23rd Chief, U.S. Army Veterinary Corps.

Brigadier General Cates is a native of Frisco, Texas, and a 1975 graduate of Frisco High School. He graduated from Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine, with his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree, in August 1980, and was commissioned a Captain in the United States Army Veterinary Corps one month later. He also holds a Master of Public Health Degree from the University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, Texas, and is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine.

BG Cates has served in various U.S. Army Veterinary Corps positions at Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Kaneohe, Hawaii; Bayonne, New Jersey; Seoul, Korea; and Heidelberg, Germany. He served on the staff of U.S. Army Veterinary Command Headquarters in San Antonio. His previous commands have included Tennessee Valley District Veterinary Command, Fort Campbell, Kentucky; Great Plains Regional Veterinary Command, San Antonio, Texas; 100th Medical Detachment (Veterinary Service Headquarters), Heidelberg, Germany, and 30th Medical Brigade (Rear), Heidelberg, Germany.

His awards and decorations include Legion of Merit (with oak leaf cluster), Meritorious Service Medal (with four oak leaf clusters), Army Commendation Medal (with oak leaf cluster), Navy Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, the Order of Military Medical Merit, and the Surgeon General’s "A" Professional Proficiency Designator in Veterinary Preventive Medicine.

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