COL. Lough was born into a military family. His father served for over 40 years in the US Army, which included three years of service as a battalion commander in the European Theater of Operations during World War II. COL. Frederick Lough was educated at the United States Military Academy, commissioned in the Corps of Engineers and completed Airborne and Ranger qualifications. He received his Medical Degree from The George Washington University School of Medicine. This was followed by training as a General Surgeon and as a Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeon at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. His military assignments included service as a general surgeon at the 121st Combat Support Hospital in Korea and as Chief of Thoracic Surgery at Letterman Army Medical Center at the Presidio of San Francisco. He then dedicated himself to the field of Cardiac Surgery in the civilian setting. He was the Chief of Cardiac Surgery at the Reading Hospital and Medical Center in Reading, Pa, for 16 years followed by nine years as the Director of Cardiac Surgery at the George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C. He has participated in over 15,000 open heart procedures. COL Lough was commissioned in the US Army Medical Corps Reserves in 2007. He volunteered for deployments in Afghanistan as a combat surgeon in 2010 with the 82nd Airborne Division and 2012 with the 173rd Airborne Brigade. COL Lough returned to active duty as a US Army Medical Corps Officer in 2013. He is currently the Director of the DoD Medical Ethics Center (DMEC).