File:The State of Navy Medicine (Senate Appropriations Committee 2009) (IA 10055C41HSSGSACD18Mar2009MedicalHearingFinal).pdf

Statement of Vice Admiral Adam M. Robinson, USN, MC, Surgeon General of the Navy Before the Subcommittee on Defense of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

"Navy Medicine is built on a solid foundation of proud traditions and a remarkable legacy of Force Health Protection. Our focus has not changed and every day in Navy Medicine we are preparing healthy and fit Sailors and Marines to protect our nation and be ready to deploy.

Navy Medicine is playing a major part in supporting the Maritime Strategy. You will find us at home and around the world providing preventive medical care; health maintenance training and education; direct combat medical support; medical intelligence; and operational planning mission support. Our Navy Medicine teams are flexible enough to perform a Global War on Terror mission, a homeland security mission, a humanitarian assistance mission, and a disaster relief mission; while at the same time provide direct health care to our nation’s heroes and their family members at home and overseas.

In spite of all of the missions we are currently prepared to participate in, we are continuously making the necessary changes and improvements to meet the requirements of the biggest consumer of our operational support efforts -- the Marine Corps. Currently, we are realigning medical capabilities to support operational forces in emerging theaters of operation. We are working on enhancing our strategic ability, operational reach, and tactical flexibility. As Marine Corps forces shift their efforts to Afghanistan, Navy Medicine stands prepared to make the necessary adjustments to provide the highest quality combat medical support. Since the global operations to combat terrorism began, Navy Medicine’s combat medical support has proven exceptionally successful at bringing wounded service member’s home. We hope, through our ability to remain agile and flexible, to sustain those efforts -- like the record-high survivability rates -- and improve them wherever possible.

The Navy’s Maritime Strategy calls for proactive humanitarian assistance and disaster response efforts. These missions have been taking place since 1847, and have come a long way since then. The Navy’s Humanitarian Civil Assistance missions are now pre-planned engagements deployed from sea-based, land-based or expeditionary platforms to meet a great spectrum of medical needs. From basic medical evaluation and treatment, to optometry, to general surgery, and immunizations, our physicians, nurses, dentists, ancillary healthcare professionals, and hospital corpsmen are ready."