The Surgeon General's Uniform and Title ?

I recently watched the US Surgeon General on TV, and I noticed he was wearing a military uniform and had the rank of Vice Admiral.

I thought the office of the surgeon general was "civilian" in nature, so why all the military related uniforms and titles?

As a side note, you would think if the Surgeon General had a military title, it would be "general" rather than "admiral" ... but what do I know?

Thanks.

I don't really know either, but the Surgeon General leads the Public Health Service, whose members are commissioned nonmilitary officers, they are considered active duty. They all probably report to the Department and Secretary of Health, rather than to Defense, but they are a branch like the Army or Navy. But I seem to recall learning that the Public Health Service arose from the U.S. Marine Hospital Service, or something to that effect. And their uniforms are suspiciously similar to Navy uniforms, maybe if comes from being Marines a long time ago. Boy that public health degree really came in handy today! (unlike every other day...)

I would suspect the General part of Surgeon General is more general in nature, like Attorney General, rather than Army General in origin, but I got nothing to back that up with.

daloosh