Dr. Kirk is the Chief of Foresight and Strategy Management Branch for Strategy Integration Group at the Defense Health Agency (DHA), Falls Church, Virginia. The mission of the DHA is to support our Nation by improving healthcare and building readiness – managing all Military Treatment Facilities throughout the world and managing nearly 10 million beneficiaries through the TRICARE Program. The mission of Strategic Foresight is to inform and advise senior healthcare leaders on how to best prepare today for the most likely future 10 or more years into the future.

Dr. Kirk is an experienced social scientist and healthcare executive with over 30 years of experience in counseling, educating, mentoring, and coaching. His area of expertise is in developing a winning strategy for military and civilian organizations. He is a retired Colonel from the Air Force where, as a Medical Service Corps Officer, he held a variety of command and staff positions. He served in Afghanistan and accomplished a fact-finding mission in Iraq. He was instrumental in establishing medical capabilities in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

In addition to 11 years as a traditional Guardsman managing and commanding medical groups, Dr. Kirk entered the Air Force full-time in 1998 to support the Air National Guard. He served as Director of the Air National Guard’s Expeditionary Medical Support (EMEDS) Training site sponsored by the Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine, Chief of Medical Readiness for the Air National Guard (ANG), and then ANG Advisor to the Air Force Surgeon General. After retirement in 2014 he worked as a program manager, research psychologist, and then the President of an Alaska Native owned for-Profit Healthcare Corporation for four years and then joined the Air Force Medical Service Strategy Team as a civil servant in May 2018. He moved to the DHA Strategy Integration Group as a GS-15 in March 2023.

Dr. Kirk earned a Masters and Doctorate in Psychology from California Coast University, a master’s in healthcare services from St. Joseph’s College and a Doctorate in Teaching, Administration, and Research from Regents University. He is on the faculty at two universities as an adjunct professor in healthcare administration. He is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives and a certified Professional Futurist. He is married and has one daughter. He is an avid reader and loves to travel.