File:Defense Health Programs (House Armed Services Committee 2004) (IA 20040318DEFENSEHEALTHPROGRAMS).pdf

Testimony Of VADM Michael L. Cowan, Medical Corps, Surgeon General, United States Navy Before The Subcommittee On Total Force  House Armed Services Committee, United States House Of Representative.

As is Naval Medicine's tradition, wherever our Marines and Sailors at the tip of the spear are, we are, as we provide operational support in the Global War on Terrorism, achieving the lowest-ever disease and combat casualty rates on the battlefield.  The lessons we've learned from previous wars have predicated Naval Medicine innovation toward a new agility and capability.  Today, Expeditionary Medical Units - complete lightweight tent hospitals - can be airlifted on site within days, and smaller units, Forward Resuscitative Surgery Systems, can be deployed to the action and made ready for patient care almost within hours.  They, staffed with their "Devil Docs," have proven to be lifesavers for injured and sick Marines.

In defense of more bio-terror attacks on our Nation, Naval Medicine's Naval Medical Research Center, a recognized world leader in infectious disease detection, has moved forward toward developing even better rapid analysis and confirmation of the presence of dangerous diseases, an important step in protecting deployed service members and Americans who are fighting a war in their own back yards.

Naval Medicine also provides the most visually recognizable healthcare facility in the world - the military treatment facilities Comfort and Mercy aboard the distinctive white with red-crossed hospital ships.  These ships are symbols of life saving and caring that also send a clear message to our enemies:  We are committed to our mission, and are prepared to take care of the casualties we are willing to suffer to accomplish it.

To ensure Naval Medicine's ability to execute its mission under any circumstances, Naval Medicine established its own office of Homeland Security, which has executed strategic plans to ensure highest emergency preparedness in our Naval Military Treatment Facilities; enhanced emergency training for medical personnel; emergency preparedness assist visits; and pharmacy emergency preparedness, to include stockpiling of essential medications.

The primary focus of these actions - and the focus of all of Naval Medicine's actions - is Force Health Protection, which are summed up in four umbrella categories: 

Preparing a healthy and fit force that can go anywhere and accomplish any mission that the defense of the nation requires of them,

Go with our men and women in uniform to protect them from the hazards of the battlefield,

Restore health, whenever protection fails, while also providing outstanding, seamless health care for their families back home, and

Help a grateful nation thank our retired warriors with TRICARE for Life.

Naval Medicine balances all these actions to make force health protection work and see that all our beneficiaries get the outstanding healthcare they deserve.

Naval Medicine does face challenges, such as expanded healthcare benefits that do not necessarily influence readiness, the unpredictable growing use of TRICARE by our retirees, fencing of sector funds that don't necessarily provide the most economical use of DHP dollars, and the struggle to fully man critical communities within Naval Medicine. But with your continuing support, I know that we can ensure that we provide world-class healthcare to our service members and their families while maintaining vigilant stewardship of the taxpayer's dollars.