Dr. Eric D. Kendle, Chief of Staff for El Paso VA Health Care System (EPVAHCS)
Eric Kendle M.D., currently serves as the Chief of Staff for the El Paso VA Health Care System in El Paso, Texas. As an Air Force Veteran, Dr. Kendle was most recently served as the Chief of Staff of the Texas Valley Coastal Bend VA for four and a half years. He also recently completed a detail as interim Chief of Staff at the Phoenix VA. Prior to the Texas Valley Coastal Bend VA, Dr. Kendle wore multiple hats as the Assistant Chief of Surgery, Clinic Director and Assistant Clinical Professor of Surgery for the Southern Arizona VA in Tucson while serving in the Arizona Air National Guard.
Dr. Kendle was born and raised on military bases as an Air Force dependent. He graduated from Hahn American High School, Hahn Air Base, Germany in 1980. He received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology from Grand Canyon University, Phoenix, Arizona in 1987 and later graduated from the University of Arizona College of Medicine in 1991.
Dr. Kendle decided to follow in his Father’s footsteps by serving in the military. He began his Air Force career with a direct commission into the Arizona Air National Guard in May of 1992. He joined the 162nd Fighter Wing as a General Medical Officer and then completed the Aerospace Medicine Primary Course in November of 1993 while simultaneously continuing his General Surgery Residency which he completed in 1996. In 2004, he was one of the first Air National Guard Flight Surgeons to report to the Baghdad Expeditionary Medical Support (EMEDS) facility at Sather Air Base where he served as Flight Surgeon and Trauma Surgeon proving the worth and value of Air National Guard Flight Surgeons in theatre. In 2005, he was selected as the Chief of Aerospace Medicine, 162nd Medical Group. In 2007 he served a second tour in Iraq as the Chief of Aerospace Medicine at the Sather Air Base EMEDS. In February 2010, he was assigned to become the 162nd Fighter Wing’s Medical Group (MDG) Commander. He led the MDG to Vigilant Guard Guam, a FEMA Joint forces mass casualty and disaster preparedness exercise in August 2010. This proved the capability of the ANG staffing of the EMEDS concept for rapid deployment and sustainable provision of Expeditionary Medical Service in times of imminent need. Dr. Kendle spent 12 years in private practice as a Trauma and Acute care surgeon prior to joining the VHA in 2008.
After 22 years of honorable service Dr. Kendle decided that after a rewarding career it was time to hang up the uniform. He retired from the Air Force in December 2014 as a Colonel, logging over 820 hours of flight time in the F-16 aircraft and over 1000 total flying hours with 72 combat sorties in multiple airframes.
He is a member of several groups including: the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine, Alliance of Air National Guard Flight Surgeons, Red River Valley Fighter Pilots Association, Association of American Indian Physicians and the American Board of Surgery.