U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Lance Raney is the Commanding General, Medical Readiness Command, East, and Director, Defense Health Network East, Defense Health Agency.

Previously, Raney commanded Raymond W. Bliss Army Health Center on Fort Huachuca, Arizona, from 2013 to 2015 and Womack Army Medical Center on Fort Liberty, formerly Fort Bragg, North Carolina, from 2016 to 2018. His strategic staff assignments include Chief of Consultants to the U.S. Army Surgeon General, Office of the Surgeon General, U.S. Army; Surgeon for U.S. Army Central Command; Clinical Operations Chief for the COVID Testing and Diagnostics Task Force, Office of the Secretary of Defense; U.S. Army Liaison Officer for Military Health System Governance and Reform, U.S. Army Medical Command; and Command Surgeon for U.S. Army Forces Command.

Raney, a native of Texarkana, Texas, earned his degrees from Ouachita University and the University of Arkansas School of Medicine. He commissioned as a U.S. Army Medical Corps officer in 1993 and completed a residency in Family Medicine at Eisenhower Army Medical Center on Fort Gordon, Georgia. Raney, who is a board certified by the America Board of Family Medicine, holds a Doctor of Medicine and master’s in strategic studies.

After completing his residency, Raney served in a variety of medical staff, clinic chief, and department chief positions at Reynolds Army Community Hospital on Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and Ireland Army Community Hospital on Fort Knox, Kentucky. From 2003-2006, he served as the Brigade Surgeon for the 172nd Infantry Brigade at Fort Wainwright, Alaska, and deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Upon completing Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, he returned to Fort Knox, Kentucky, as the deputy commander for Clinical Services. In 2010, he was assigned to Heidelberg, Germany, and served as the hospital’s Deputy Commander and Chief of Clinical Operations for the Europe Regional Medical Command.

Raney is the recipient of the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Army Meritorious Service Medical, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Army Staff Badge and Army Combat Medical Badge.

Peder Swanson is a recently retired senior U.S. Army officer now working for Optum Serve, the federal-facing business unit of the world’s largest integrated health solution and healthcare delivery system, the United Health Group.  In his role, Peder is responsible for supporting federal clients to include the Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Health and Human Services, or others as they deliver on their mission by improving the health and well-being of those we collectively serve.

BG Swanson culminated his military career as the Deputy Commanding General, 3rd Medical Command (Deployment Support). He also served as Deputy Commanding General (Operations) for the 807th Medical Command (Deployment Support).  Previous to this position, he served as the Total Force Integrator for Policy & Programs in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs).  

BG Swanson received his commission in 1995 from Wheaton College’s (Illinois) ROTC program.  After graduating from the Officer Basic Course, he was assigned to the 67th Combat Support Hospital (CSH) in Wurzburg, Germany.  After serving for a year as the combined U.S. Army Medical Department Activity Wurzburg and 67th CSH Adjutant, BG Swanson deployed in support of the NATO peacekeeping mission in the Balkans, serving as a Medical Task Force S-1.  He subsequently served as Company Executive Officer and Company Commander for the 67th CSH.  BG Swanson then transitioned into a Chief of Healthcare Administration role with oversight for a network of ten primary care clinics throughout Bavaria.  Returning to the United States, he was assigned to the U.S. Army Recruiting Command with geographic responsibility for the recruitment of healthcare professionals in Northern California.  

In May 2001, BG Swanson separated from active duty to assume a position in Leadership & Organizational Development at Kaiser Permanente’s corporate headquarters in Oakland, California.  Soon after September 11, 2001, BG Swanson returned to service in the Army Reserve with Headquarters, 2d Medical Brigade as the Assistant Chief of Staff, Personnel.  Feeling compelled to return to active federal service, BG Swanson began serving in the Active Guard and Reserve program in 2003 as the S-3, 921st Field Hospital.  He served a second assignment with U.S. Army Recruiting Command and subsequently as the S-1 for the Western Medical Area Readiness Support Group.  

In early 2009, BG Swanson was assigned as the Chief of Plans, 30th Medical Command in Heidelberg, Germany and immediately deployed with the first theater-level medical command in Afghanistan.  In this role, BG Swanson was part of setting the theater for a surge of US and NATO forces and facilitating technical arrangements with allied partners for the care of U.S. Service members across Afghanistan.  Upon completing his assignment with the 30th Medical Command in Heidelberg, BG Swanson completed an Army War College Fellowship at the University of Texas, Austin before being assigned to Headquarters, Department of the Army in the Office of the Surgeon General.  He served as the Army Medicine G-3/5/7 Executive Officer and Medical Plans Officer.  After a unique opportunity with the Army Transition Team preparing a strategic assessment for the 39th Chief of Staff of the Army, BG Swanson served as the Army Reserve Advisor for the U.S. Army Warrior Transition Command and as Deputy Surgeon, Health Affairs & Policy in the Office of the Chief of the Army Reserve.

BG Swanson received his Bachelor of Science in Biology from Wheaton College (IL) and a Master of Human Relations from the University of Oklahoma.  He is a graduate of the Army War College, the Joint Forces Staff College (AJPME), the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, and the AMEDD Officer Advanced Course.  

Among his awards and decorations, he is a recipient of the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal, and the Expert Field Medical Badge.  He is also a member of the Order of Military Medical Merit.

From 2020-2023, Peder served as a Principal with Top Corner Consulting, LLC.  This firm specializes in strategic planning & integration within the U.S. Intelligence Community.  BG Swanson supported the organizational strategy of the National Reconnaissance Office in Chantilly, Virginia as well as strategic planning for the Central Intelligence Agency.

BG Swanson and his wife Sasha live in the National Capitol Region with their four children (Isaac, Aubrey, Esther and Ezra).

George Jackson is the vice president of events at GovExec – the largest and most-influential media company in the public sector marketplace. George joined GovExec in October of 2020 to enhance the scale of their events and audience experiences.

He graduated from The Ohio State University in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in English. In 2006, he earned his master’s in broadcast journalism from the University of Maryland, College Park.

George spent the first five years of his journalism career at WJHL-TV in Johnson City Tenn. – beginning as an overnight producer for the station’s 6 a.m. broadcast. He advanced to lead on-air reporter for WJHL’s 11 p.m. newscast.

As a reporter, George examined the earnings of two non-profit hospital systems, felony charges filed against a local sheriff, predatory paving companies, a health benefits backlog for local veterans, and a series of cold-case murder investigations. He received an honorable mention for Best TV Reporter in the 2011 Tennessee AP Broadcast awards and won a Best Investigative Reporting award from Media General in 2010.

George joined DC’s ABC affiliate WJLA-TV in 2012 to produce Capital Insider, which won him an Emmy award. One year later, he developed and recorded the pilot episode of Government Matters – a program about the business of government. It debuted as a weekly show on Sunday, August 4th of 2013. George led Government Matters through September of 2020, expanded its reach to a daily worldwide audience, and produced its first feature-length documentary “The Dawn of Generation AI.”

George is from Toledo, Ohio. He lives with his wife, twin daughters, and a pair of rescue dogs in Northern Virginia.