Army Force Health Protection: past, present, and future

Following the 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War, many service members reported health problems and believed these problems were associated with their military service in the Persian Gulf. A paucity of health and deployment data severely limited the ability to investigate the nature and causes of these illnesses. Based on the findings from a 2002 study, the Government Accounting Office recommended that the Secretary of Defense direct the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs to establish an effective quality assurance program that would help ensure that the military services comply with the force health protection and surveillance requirements for all service members. In November 2003, The Surgeon General of the Army tasked the US Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine (USACHPPM) with the development of a Deployment Health Quality Assurance Program for the Army. Since 2003, a team from USACHPPM has visited approximately one Army installation per quarter. Over time, there has been remarkable improvement noted in Army deployment health metrics and practices.