Leadership
COL Jennifer M. Gurney, MD, FACS, MC, USA
Chief, Joint Trauma System, DHA
COL Gurney has worked with JTS since 2012 in one capacity or another. She has dedicated her career to improving care of the combat casualty, making her an ideal candidate to lead JTS.
COL Gurney helped run the world-renowned Burn Care Unit as the Deputy Director, where she is the go-to expert for Burn Care and a teacher to residents. She provides strategic guidance to the JTS trauma care delivery team as Chief of Trauma Systems Development. She chaired the JTS Defense Committees of Trauma, leading over 150 subject matter experts in prehospital, surgical, and en route care in a multidisciplinary and tri-service collaboration to guide DoD trauma care.
COL Gurney has led efforts to better surgical practices and procedures across the globe, from working with Honduran surgeons to share knowledge to reviewing combat mortalities in South CCMD to assessing the African CCMD trauma system through surveys of Role 1 and Role 2 care and onsite visits. As the Army State representative to the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma, COL Gurney supported the development of the military-civilian partnership guide. She helped develop the Combat Readiness metrics for deploying surgeons. Referred to the Joint Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Project, COL Gurney has been a leader in establishing the detailed expectations for expeditionary surgery. She was first to evaluate the epidemiology and trends of injury among U.S. female service members in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
COL Gurney joined the U.S. Army while at Boston University Medical School. She was Chief of General Surgery at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany from 2011 to 2013 and the William Beaumont Army Medical Center from 2007-2009. She deployed seven times, serving as the Theater Trauma Director in Operation Inherent Resolve in her last deployment to Iraq. Her tenure resulted in the Central Command's most comprehensive analysis of whole blood utilization in combat trauma and directly led to the adoption of whole blood use in the prehospital setting in several civilian regional trauma systems.
COL Gurney received a Legion of Merit with a 'C' (combat) device, three Bronze Star Medals, a Combat Action Badge, and the Defense Meritorious Service Medal for wartime service. She has had the opportunity to work at every level of care after Role 1 in the deployed battlefield trauma system.
Dallas Burelison, MBA
Chief Administrator, Joint Trauma System, DHA
Mr. Burelison serves as the Chief Administrator of the Joint Trauma System (JTS). His portfolio includes human resources (recruiting and hiring, pay and leave, labor relations, performance management, work-life, telework), manpower (JTD/JMD, total force – (military/civilian)), resources (financial management, contract management, lifecycle management) policy and publications (congressional inquiries, taskings, reports to congress) and day-to-day operations.
Mr. Burelison previously served at JTS, from 2014-2017 as Director of Education, leading the design and implementation of the JTS' education program to increase utilization, awareness of capabilities and resources, and enable the vision of JTS to improve combat casualty care. He coordinated daily with DoD and NATO trauma subject matter experts to identify performance improvement measures to efficiently deliver medical education training programs for combat casualty care on the battlefield.
He holds an MBA in Healthcare Management from the University of Scranton and a BA in Business Administration from St. Leo University.
Mr. Burelison enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 2004 and has deployed twice: the first was to Iraq in 2004 as a Corpsman with 2nd BN 2nd MARDIV and the second was with JTTS in 2010 to Afghanistan.
MCPO Justin A. Wilson, USN
Senior Enlisted Advisor, Joint Trauma System, DHA
Master Chief Wilson serves as the Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Joint Trauma System, aiming to improve trauma readiness and outcomes of the combat wounded through evidence-driven performance improvement.
Master Chief Wilson joined the Navy in Aug 2002. Before joining the Navy, he earned degrees as a Physical Therapist Assistant and Surgical Technologist. He is a Fleet Marine Force Independent Duty Corpsman that has deployed eight times with special operations forces. He has deployed to Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Philippines during the Global War on Terror.