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Col. Suzanne L. Jones, commander, Fort Polk Dental Health Activity, and Sgt. 1st Class Angel M. SuarezMarques, senior enlisted advisor, case the unit colors during a deactivation ceremony Sept. 30 at the Joint Readiness Training Center and Fort Polk.
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Col. Suzanne L. Jones, commander, Fort Polk Dental Health Activity, and Sgt. 1st Class Angel M. SuarezMarques, senior enlisted advisor, case the unit colors during a deactivation ceremony Sept. 30 at the Joint Readiness Training Center and Fort Polk. The ceremony marked the inactivation of the unit and its realignment under Bayne-Jones Army Community Hospital.
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The Fort Polk Dental Health Activity color guard presents the colors during the unit’s deactivation ceremony on Sept. 30 at the Joint Readiness Training Center and Fort Polk.
Pictured from left: Pvt. Jennifer Ramirez, rifle bearer; Cpl. Michael Pacheco, U.S. flag bearer; Pfc. Jerardy Velasquez, unit guidon bearer; and Pvt. Gorgie Tedder, rifle bearer. Sgt. 1st Class Angel M. SuarezMarques, senior enlisted advisor, served as color guard NCOIC.
FORT POLK, La. —The Dental Health Activity at the Joint Readiness Training Center and Fort Polk cased its colors during a deactivation ceremony today, formally ending more than 70 years of dedicated dental support to Soldiers and Families on the installation.
Col. Stefan S. Olpinski, commander of Dental Health Command, West, presided over the ceremony and expressed appreciation to installation and community leaders for their support.
“The realignment of our dental commands is a forward-looking initiative to combine Army dentistry with Army medicine,” Olpinski said. “It allows us to better support the health of our ready force. The Soldiers, civilians and contractors here at Fort Polk have achieved mission success and set the standard across the region.”
Col. Suzanne L. Jones, commander of the Fort Polk Dental Health Activity, said the unit’s strength has always been its people.
“Through every name change and organizational shift, we have remained a dental family,” she said. “Our workforce of dentists, hygienists, technicians, assistants and support staff have been resilient and dedicated. Though the colors are cased today, the mission will continue under Bayne-Jones Army Community Hospital.”
A storied past and lasting legacy
Army dentistry at Fort Polk traces its roots back to the early 1950s, when the first dental detachment supported Soldiers training at what was then Camp Polk. By the 1960s, Fort Polk became one of the first installations to test panoramic radiograph technology—now standard for deploying Soldiers—and activated the 257th Dental Detachment, which deployed to Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. At the height of that conflict, six clinics and more than 70 dental officers supported the installation.
In 1977, the Army established Dental Activities, or DENTACs, as subordinate commands, and Fort Polk’s unit adopted the motto “Assess, Develop, and Assure.” Over the following decades, dental teams supported operations from Desert Storm to the Global War on Terror, ensuring thousands of active duty, Reserve and National Guard Soldiers were medically ready to deploy.
Today’s three modern clinics—Shira, Chesser, and the dental clinic inside Bayne-Jones Army Community Hospital—carry that tradition forward with advanced digital dentistry, implants, and cutting-edge imaging. Olpinski praised the Fort Polk team for maintaining dental readiness rates above 97 percent and completing critical wartime tasks at the highest levels across Dental Health Command, West.
“Your precision, discipline and compassion reflect the very best of the Military Health System,” he said. “Though the colors are cased, your legacy will endure in the confidence and readiness you’ve restored to Soldiers.”
As of Sept. 30, the Fort Polk Dental Health Activity is officially deactivated. Its mission, personnel and facilities will realign under Bayne-Jones Army Community Hospital, ensuring continuity of care for Soldiers and Families.
“This is not the end, but a new chapter,” Jones said. “We will continue to serve, no matter our name.”
Editor’s Note: On behalf of Bayne-Jones Army Community Hospital leadership and staff, we extend a warm welcome to our dental teammates. We recognize the pride, service and history of the Fort Polk Dental Health Activity and are honored to have their skilled professionals join our team. Together, we remain committed to providing world-class care to Soldiers, Families and the Fort Polk community.
