Capt. Leslie Riggs is the Chief, Armed Services Blood Program at the Defense Health Agency, Falls Church, Virginia. As Chief, Riggs directs 20 blood centers, 47 transfusion services, eight contingency depots and is the military blood representative to NATO.
A George Washington University graduate, Riggs was commissioned in 1998 and was assigned to Naval Hospital Okinawa. In 2001, as Administrative Director, Detainee Compound, Guantanamo Bay, he transitioned medical assets to Joint Task Force 160. In 2003, he opened the Camp Lejeune Blood Center, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, which supplied blood for Operation Iraqi Freedom, contingency stockpiles, and the U.S. fleet. As Laboratory Head and Command Emergency Manager, Naval Hospital Cherry Point, he supported joint exercises, hurricane response efforts, and two major events. He graduated from the DOD Blood Bank Fellowship in 2009 and deployed as embedded advisor to the Afghanistan National Army.
In 2012, as Deputy Director, Armed Services Blood Program, he represented DOD on four national blood task forces. In 2014, as Navy Blood Program Director, he directed 20 transfusion services, seven blood centers, and three contingency depots. In 2016, as blood consultant and headquarters company commander, 2d Medical Battalion, he successfully demonstrated deployer screening to support walking blood bank operations. In 2019, he implemented first use of whole blood for trauma patients at a Navy military treatment facility.