Salute to Service: Honoring Pharmacy Alumni Who Served in Uniform

In the second iteration of this story, we highlight several alumni and their unique connections to the uniformed branches of service

Story by Emma Ives | Photos provided by Alan Hess, Steve Moore, Jim Minor | Published March 25, 2025

North Carolina has a deep-rooted and multifaceted relationship with the US military and other branches of the uniformed services. The state ranks in the top five states with the most active duty/reservist military service members and is home to two of the largest military installations in the United States. In this second installment, we highlight several UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy alumni and their unique connections to the uniformed branches of service. Click here for our previous story highlighting students with military connections. 

Alan J. Hess, BSPhar, MS Pharmacy Practice, MBA 

Lt Col (ret.), USAF

Alan J. Hess received his draft notice four days after his graduation with his BSPhar from the Albany College of Pharmacy in 1972. However, he appealed in order to gain the necessary hours to qualify for his board exams. In addition, he completed all necessary training and physical exams to volunteer for US Air Force (USAF) service, following the footsteps of his father and uncle. He commissioned in 1973 as a Second Lieutenant.

While on active duty, he was selected as part of the Air Force Institute of Technology program to attend the UNC School of Pharmacy to complete his MS in Pharmacy Practice and Residency Training in 1980. During his time in the Air Force, he served as a pharmacy officer in a variety of Air Force Clinics, hospitals, and medical centers, including a deployment with an Air Force Air Transportable Hospital in 1990-1991 to the Middle East to support Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm. “A major differentiation for active-duty military is that you are subject to the needs of the service,” explains Alan. “You do not have the option to decline assignments up to and including possible deployment to combat zones during international engagements.” However, there are a variety of administrative and clinical opportunities, not unlike civilian service.  

When asked about his advice for students, Alan explained military service is a great career opportunity, or even a great transitional career path to allow individuals to gain experience, maturity, and confidence in their abilities as pharmacists. Alan shares, “Military service was the single best career decision I ever made.” It provided opportunities for advancement in leadership, obtaining an advanced degree, and experiencing a variety of cultures. “It provided me with great personal satisfaction for being able to serve my country in a meaningful way,” says Alan. “And it provided a solid foundation for senior executive roles with Micromedx, Facts and Comparisons, and MediSpan following my military service.” 

Steve Moore, BSPhar, MPH, FASHP, FRSPH, CPHP 

CAPT (ret.), USPHS 

Upon graduating from the UNC School of Pharmacy in 1970, Steve Moore commissioned in the US Public Health Service (USPHS). During his time at the School, he was a member of the Kappa Psi fraternity. “During this time, there were virtually no commissions available in the military health field,” shares Steve. “So many pharmacists were commissioned in the USPHS while the military draft was in effect.”

The mission of the USPHS is to “protect, promote, and advance the health and safety of the nation.” Officers are assigned to a wide variety of federal agencies that include, amongst others: the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Indian Health Service (IHS), Bureau of Prisons (BOP), Department of Defense (DoD), and Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Over the course of his career, Steve spent time assigned to the IHS, FDA, National Institute of Aging at the National Institutes of Health, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office of Pharmacy Affairs at Health Resources and Services Administration, Office of Minority Health, and Office of the Surgeon General. Steve explains, “Each of these offices has legislated and delegated authority unique to their mission and using applied pharmacy and public health knowledge.”

For students interested in this career path, due to the number of opportunities in the USPHS, research into the requirements and commissioning processes for each service is a necessity. Steve encourages students to think about these as well as pragmatic matters such as pay grades, geographic location and mobility potential, and retirement factors when making an informed choice.

James “Jim” Minor, BSPhar, PharmD 

CAPT (ret.), USPHS

Jim Minor commissioned upon graduation from the UNC School of Pharmacy in 1970. During his time at UNC, he was a member of the UNC Wrestling team as well as the Kappa Psi fraternity. The war in Vietnam had not concluded and was in the minds of many of the students in the School and at the Kappa Psi House. He was introduced to the USPHS through Dean George Hager Jr., who consoled him in the hall after his draft number had been called. “I would not have shirked that responsibility,” remembers Jim. “But I told Dean Hagar I did not know what to do.” He commissioned as a LT Junior Grade, after a meeting at the School with Rear Admiral Allan Brands, then a Chief Professional Officer for Pharmacists in the USPHS. Jim’s first duty station was at the Brighton Marine Hospital in Boston, MA, where he completed a one-year ASHP-accredited residency. 

His second duty station was a seven-year assignment in Long Beach, CA, serving in the USPHS Outpatient ambulatory care clinic. The population at this clinic was predominantly those with Hansen’s disease (also known more commonly as Leprosy). While at the clinic, Jim pursued his PharmD, with financial assistance from the USPHS, at the University of Southern California to gain advanced clinical training in allergy, immunology, and infectious diseases, which he completed in 1979. After another duty assignment at the USPHS Hospital in Seattle, WA, Jim was sent to Bethesda, MD where he was assigned as the Clinical Pharmacy Practitioner for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the NIH in October of 1981. Jim arrived the same week as two patients were admitted to the hospital with a mysterious, unknown progressive viral syndrome – later characterized as HIV. Jim worked as a member of the interdisciplinary research and patient care team, headed by Dr. Anthony Fauci, serving in this capacity until his retirement in 1996. He assisted with phase 2 and 3 clinical drug trials for antiviral medications used in HIV treatment. When asked what it was like to be a clinical practitioner when this disease epidemic was raging here in the US, and when treatment guidelines did not exist, Jim explains, “It was exciting, and it was intimidating, and it was challenging. For every question the team addressed and answered, there were ten more questions to solve.” Jim also admitted it was hard emotionally as many patients did not leave the NIH once admitted into research protocols there. However, after daily, formal inpatient rounds with Dr. Fauci, Jim would take it upon himself to return alone to the patient bedside after rounds, without his white coat and necktie, to more fully explain the protocol and its investigational medications to the patients and attempt to answer all their questions. “Those were very long days for all of us,” he recalls.

For students interested in working with the USPHS, Jim says to explore every opportunity available as there is a uniqueness of being a pharmacist in any of the uniformed services that exceeds the uniqueness in the private sector. His advice: “Regardless of what career track you pursue, seek out and learn from mentors that have had the experience you want to learn more about.”