Dr. Kugler is currently the Deputy Chief Medical Officer within the Office of the Chief Medical Officer at the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs/TRICARE Management Activity. He retired from the Army as a Colonel in the Medical Corps in 2009. During his Army career he served as the US Army's Consultant to the Office of the Surgeon General for Family Medicine. He is board certified in Family Medicine and Geriatrics. His research interests include health services research, medical ethics, graduate medical education, geriatrics, and sports medicine. He was previously stationed at TMA as the Deputy Medical Director within the Office of the Chief Medical Officer and previous to that he was stationed at Dewitt Army Community Hospital, Ft. Belvoir, Virginia as the Chief of the Department of Primary Care and Community Medicine. Previous assignments have included Deputy Commander for Clinical Services at Ft. Belvoir (1999-2001) Chief of the Family Practice Residency Program at Ft. Belvoir (1994-1999), Director of the Faculty Development Fellowship at Madigan Army Medical Center(1990-1994), Director of Research at the Ft. Ord Family Practice Residency at Ft. Belvoir (1988-1990), and Residency Director of the Family Practice Residency at Ft. Belvoir (1982-1986).

As the Deputy Chief Medical Officer at TMA, Dr. Kugler supervises the Office of the Chief Medical Officer and advises Senior MHS leadership on major policy issues concerning the TRICARE benefit and key initiatives within the MHS dealing with the access, quality and safety of healthcare services. For the past year and a half he has championed the Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) for DoD at the HA/TMA level by leading a Tiger Team which has provided several recommendations guiding current MHS Policy and actions concerning the PCMH.