After just over a year on the job, the Navy relieved Capt. Mathew Loe, the commanding officer of Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command Lemoore, the service announced on Friday.
Citing the pro forma “loss of confidence in his ability to command,” Loe was relieved of his command by Rear Adm. Kevin Brown, commander of Naval Medical Forces Pacific, per the release.
Loe served as the NMRTC commanding officer beginning in July 2025 and has since been temporarily reassigned to NMFP. Capt. Robin Bennet will serve as the interim commanding officer.
The Navy noted that the “relief of the CO does not impact the command’s operational readiness.”
Based in California, Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command Lemoore delivers healthcare to more than 32,000 active duty, retired military, and civilian beneficiaries from shore-based and operational commands, according to the Navy’s website.
According to his biography, the Texas-born Loe completed his Bachelor of Science in Nursing at The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, in 1995 and his Master of Science in Nursing at The University of Texas Health Science Center Houston, Texas, in 2001. In 2012, he completed his Doctor of Nursing Practice at the Texas Tech University Health Science Center.
After a civilian nursing career, Loe joined the Navy and deployed to Afghanistan in 2008, where he embedded as the training team leader responsible for all forward operating base departments that supported over 3,000 Afghan Army and 400 NATO personnel. Before serving as NMRTC’s CO, Loe worked as the officer-in-charge of the Branch Health Clinic Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort.
His awards include the Meritorious Service Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal and the 2009 Association of the United States Navy Bea Ratner Nurse Corps Junior Officer of the Year.
Claire Barrett is an editor and military history correspondent for Military Times. She is also a World War II researcher with an unparalleled affinity for Sir Winston Churchill and Michigan football.
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