This Veterans Day, we are proud to recognize Wilmer Eye Institute’s long association with and support of our servicemen and women. William Holland Wilmer himself made notable contributions to military ophthalmology and aviation medicine:

“[Wilmer’s] leadership of the Medical Research Laboratory at Mineola, Long Island (1917) placed him at the forefront of training for flight surgeons and in the classification of pilot candidates as they used novel devices and instruments to simulate high-altitude conditions. He pioneered efforts to produce oxygen delivery systems to pilots. His Air Service Medical Manual (1918) was the first US volume dedicated to medical aspects of military pilot selection. He directed the medical research unit of the American Expeditionary Forces 3rd Aviation Training Center at Issoudun in 1918. Earlier, he had patented military eye protection devices for attachment to combat helmets and took as his inspiration medieval armor in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.” – National Museum of Health and Medicine

According to Wilmer Director Peter J. McDonnell, many people have done their medical training at Wilmer and then gone on to military service, while others have served before coming to Wilmer — so many, in fact, that it would be impossible to name them all here.

The long corridor on the first floor of the Wilmer Building features photographs of all the residents and chief residents since the institute’s inception. Among them, looking quite distinguished in his uniform, is Chief Resident John Payne, who served in the U.S. Army in Panama before entering Wilmer for his ophthalmology training in 1964. Payne later became chairman of the medical board of the Eye Bank of Maryland.

Many Wilmer trainees, including those with a military background, have attained positions of leadership in the field. In 1952, Carl Kupfer was an intern and then assistant resident at Wilmer before serving three years in the U.S. Air Force. Following discharge, he returned to Wilmer as a research fellow. Kupfer went on to become the first director of the National Eye Institute. Kupfer’s directorship of the institute spanned six National Institutes of Health directors, as well as six occupants in the White House.

Paul Houghtaling completed a fellowship in cornea and refractive surgery at Wilmer before serving as chief of the refractive surgery division and chief of the Cornea Service at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, which performs LASIK on military patients, including U.S. Naval Academy midshipmen, special forces and aviators. Now in private practice, Houghtaling is an assistant professor of surgery at Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.

Today, service members can often be found among Wilmer’s students and faculty. Kraig Scot Bower, who joined Wilmer in 2012, is a retired Army colonel, Medical Corps. From 2001 to 2010, he was director of refractive surgery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and served as the Army’s refractive surgery subject matter expert, advising the Army surgeon general on laser refractive surgery and managing the Army’s Warfighter Refractive Eye Surgery Program. According to Bower, now an associate professor of ophthalmology and director of Wilmer’s Cornea Fellowship Program, Wilmer has trained 14 military fellows over the years in cornea alone.

Zachary Skurski completed a cornea fellowship at Wilmer in 2020 and is currently chief of ophthalmology and director of the Cadet Refractive Surgery Program at Keller Army Community Hospital at West Point. Skurski says he was drawn to Wilmer because of its excellent surgical training and world-class approach to anterior segment ocular disease. “Many of my mentors in the military also trained at Wilmer,” says Skurski.

According to Harry Quigley, Wilmer’s Glaucoma Fellowship Program has had two fellows from the Army Medical Corps, Travis Frazier and now Ranti Oguntoye — “both very fine docs,” says Quigley, who directs the program. “Frazier has stayed with the Army as a trainer and senior educator,” he adds. After completing her fellowship, Lieutenant Colonel Oguntoye plans to return to the Army as a glaucoma specialist, where she will treat active duty members, veterans and their dependents.

Lindsay Ciocco, an optometrist at Wilmer who specializes in comprehensive eye care for children and adults, served four years on active duty in the Army as an optometrist at Kimbrough Ambulatory Care Center in Ft. Meade, Maryland. She then completed a yearlong residency in ocular disease and surgical co-management. Ciocco says she is especially honored to serve other veterans and military families at Wilmer. “It makes my job more rewarding and meaningful to be able to care for those who have made the sacrifice to serve our country,” Ciocco says.