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Tiger for Life Podcast: Col. Andrew Landers ('92) & Michelle Franks Landers ('93)

Living lives in service to God & country

July 20, 2020 - Jon Merryman

Andrew and Michelle On this episode of the Tiger For Life podcast, we hear from Col. Andrew Landers ('92) and his wife Michelle Franks Landers ('93). COL Landers currently serves as Supervising Assistant Deputy for Health Affairs for the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Manpower & Reserve Affairs) at the Pentagon after returning stateside from commanding the 549th Hospital Center & the Brian D. Allgood Army Community Hospital at Camp Humphreys in the Republic of Korea. COL Landers was a distinguished military grad at Ouachita and a commissioned ROTC graduate before receiving his Doctor of Medicine degree from Tulane University. In his 24-year career with the army he has received numerous awards and decorations including several bronze stars and the valor award, served in special operations and been deployed all over the world. Michelle is an attorney and 24-year senior U.S. Army spouse. She enjoyed an extensive career in law, politics and federal defense contracting and now focuses her time and passion on supporting military families for which Michelle has been honored numerous times.

In addition to their military service, Andrew and Michelle share about their time at Ouachita including meeting each other on a blind date for Roommate Roundup, Michelle's performance in the EEE skeletons Tiger Tunes show and how Ouachita prepared them both for a life of travel and service.

Ouachita Alumni Relations · COL Andrew Landers ('92) & Michelle Franks Landers ('93) | Living Lives in Service to God & Country

Here are some additional details about COL Landers’s military service:

Much of COL Landers’s service time has been spent off the grid in special operations. He is now allowed to speak about this time because he was publicly named as a special operations commander in 2014. He commanded the Special Warfare Medical Group at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School on Fort Bragg (home of Green Berets, DELTA Force, etc.) which trains all special operations combat medics for all branches of the military (Green Beret, Ranger, Navy SEAL, etc.). Those who have seen the movie "Lone Survivor," will know about Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell who is a graduate of the Special Warfare Medical Group training program that Andrew commanded. Andrew deployed constantly with special operations, and at one point was in charge of all special operations medical operations for the Central Region of the globe, which included the Middle East.

As mentioned in the podcast introduction, COL Landers is multi bronze star recipient and a valor award recipient (a rare thing for a physician) for his heroic actions while serving in Iraq with the 82nd Airborne in 2006. His heroic actions are briefly discussed in the book "Fighting Blind" co-authored by Green Beret Ivan Castro and Jim DeFelice. Jim DeFelice is also the co-author of "American Sniper" with Navy SEAL Chris Kyle. "Fighting Blind" was a best seller in its book category, and may be made into a movie in the future.

In May of 2021, COL Landers will take command of Landstuhl Regional Medical Center (LRMC) in Germany. LRMC is the largest US military hospital outside the continental United States. It is the nearest treatment center for wounded soldiers coming from Iraq and Afghanistan and serves as a stop-over for serious casualties from Iraq and Afghanistan before being flown to the United States. LRMC is also known for its Post Isolation Support Activities and Hostage Reintegration Team that treats service members and civilians returning from captivity, which was recently depicted in Season 8 Episode 1 of the hit TV show "Homeland." In addition, LRMC serves military stationed throughout Europe and Africa, as well as their family members.

As mentioned in the podcast, COL Landers is the namesake and grandson of Lt. Col. Robert L. Hite, Air Force pilot, Doolittle Raider, and Japanese POW. Lt. Col. Hite spent 40 months in captivity, enduring trial in Japan, the execution of 3 of his fellow Raiders, and death of 1 from disease, as well as unspeakable torture from his captors. On the OSS (early special operations) team that parachuted in to rescue the four surviving Raiders was a military physician. Lt. Col. Hite credited much of his recovery to military medicine and served as the inspiration for COL Landers' career path. Lt. Col. Hite flew from Arkansas to North Carolina to meet COL Landers' bus in the middle of the night when COL Landers returned from his first tour in Iraq. Lt. Col. Hite and the Doolittle Raiders are the subject of countless books and movies, specifically but not limited to "Four Came Home," "30 Seconds Over Tokyo," and "Pearl Harbor." Lt. Col. Hite and his wife Portia were strong advocates of Christianity and invested in teaching COL Landers about Christ and taking him to church.