Coordinating Director of Operations & Plans
Office of Preparedness and Emergency Operations
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
| Michael Vineyard was selected in April 2012 to serve as the Coordinating Director of Operations & Plans for the Assistant Secretary Preparedness and Response within the Department of Health and Human Services. In this position, he oversees various Branches including the Secretary’s Operations Center, International Response Programs, Response Operations, Field Operations, the Fusion Cell, Training, Exercises and Lessons Learned, and the Planning and CBRNE Branches. In this capacity, he serves as a Senior Advisor, Emergency Operations to the Deputy Assistant Secretary and the Assistant Secretary on issues related to the operational effectiveness of the HHS planning and response to medical and public health emergencies, management of the SOC, which is the primary Headquarters-level branch involved in situational awareness, analyzing incoming information and identifying potential impacts and trends that may indicate need for federal involvement and/or asset deployment and key operational and policy issues requiring leadership decisions, leading the development of HHS-level operations-related concepts, policies, and procedure and developing and execution of training, exercises, and lessons learned activities. |
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Michael Vineyard previously served from 2007-2012 as the Deputy Director, Operations with HHS as well.
Professional History
Prior to HHS, Mr. Vineyard retired after serving 27 years, predominantly as a Plans and Operations officer, in the Unites States Navy. During his final tour, Mr. Vineyard served as the Senior Medical Advisor, Medical Emergency Preparedness, within the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense. In that capacity he planned, coordinated and provided technical guidance on the Department’s medical policy development related to Defense Support to Civil Authorities involving major public health and medical responses.
His homeland security work includes an assignment as the Department of Defense representative to the Homeland Security Council as a Director, Biodefense Policy for the Pandemic Planning Team. He was a pivotal player in developing a nationwide Implementation Plan for the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza. One of his major projects for the Department of Defense was in assisting in creating overall planning scenarios to provide top leaders representative scenarios to guide the analytic community in determining the nature/scale of the Department’s capabilities, to include surge, required to execute Homeland Defense missions as they relate to public health and medical.
Mr. Vineyard’s work includes serving as a hospital based disaster preparedness officer, as a Federal Coordinating Center within the National Disaster Medical system, providing foreign disaster assistance support and training, and in multiple military medical operational positions from the tactical to the strategic levels. He has provided guidance for natural disaster events throughout the Pacific as well as for those that involve strictly military medical response for potential contingencies within the region.
During his military career, he held a variety of positions. He served as the Director, Contingency Operations and Global Health, the Senior Strategic Medical Plans and Operations Officer within the Joint Staff, and the Pacific Command and the Medical Operations lead for the Special Operations Command, Pacific. Other assignments include time as the Program Director for Mobilization and Contingency Operations as one of the Department of Defense’s lead for the National Disaster Medical System, as the Senior Medical Plans and Operations Officer for the Pacific Fleet, the Medical Administrative Officer on the USS KITTY HAWK (CV-63), as a professional/technical readiness inspector for the Medical Inspector General, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, Washington, D.C. and as the Assistant Officer in Charge of the Medical Evaluation and Treatment Unit that oversees the medical care of the President of the United States. He initially joined the Navy as a Corpsman serving in a variety of positions including being an emergency medical technician and a medical technologist and was initiated as a Hospitalman Chief in 1988. He is a Fellow in the Academy of Medical Administrators.
Awards
His personal awards include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Joint Commendation Medal, four Navy Commendation Medals, two Navy Achievement Medals and the Good Conduct Medal with Bronze Star.
Education and Training
He is a graduate of the Harvard National Preparedness Leadership Initiative, the Marine Corps Amphibious Warfare School and the U.S. Naval War College.
Mr. Vineyard received an Associate’s in Medical Technology, a Bachelor’s in Liberal Arts, and a dual Master’s in Management and Human Resources Development.