Feb. 12, 2026 | By Defense Health Agency Communications
FALLS CHURCH, Va. — Vice Adm. Darin K. Via assumed the role of director of the Defense Health Agency on Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, setting a new, warfighter-focused course for the military’s vast health enterprise. He most recently served as Navy Surgeon General and chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. Via is the fifth DHA Director since the agency was established in 2013.
“The Defense Health Agency, in its entirety, is a combat support agency. Everything we do, clinical care, education, training, logistics, research, information systems, enterprise management — exists for one reason and that is to support warfighter readiness,” said Via to an all-hands gathering of the DHA workforce Feb. 6.
This new ethos, "Delivering for the Warfighter," pivots the entire organization — from the clinic and the lab to the server room — towards a single purpose: to generate and sustain warfighter readiness and serve as a lethal force multiplier for the joint force.
Via also remarked on DHA’s mission in his first message to the agency workforce, writing, “DHA delivers the full spectrum of health services in garrison and during combat operations to ensure warfighters are medically ready to deploy, fully supported throughout operations, and rapidly returned to duty. As the foundation of an integrated health enterprise, DHA provides joint medical capabilities across a mission-ready health system worthy of the Department of War, geographic combatant commands, the military services, their families, and all beneficiaries.”
Via’s strategy is built on four lines of effort: delivering medically ready warfighters; delivering medical warrior currency; delivering joint warfighting capabilities; and delivering high-quality health care services to all beneficiaries. His framework is designed to forge a culture that delivers "predictable, lethal, world-class warfighting readiness every single day" to meet the challenges of a new era of global competition.
A native of Illinois, Via’s distinguished career is built on a foundation of service that began when he enlisted in the U.S. Navy Reserve as a hospital corpsman in 1985. He earned his doctor of medicine from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and holds a master’s of health care delivery science from Dartmouth College. His career includes extensive operational and leadership experience, including commanding the NATO Role 3 Multinational Medical Unit in Kandahar, Afghanistan, and serving as command surgeon for both U.S. Pacific Fleet and U.S. Central Command.
See Via's comments during the all-hands here.
