The First 75 Years Timeline of United States Army Preventive, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, and Public...

In 2017, the US Army Public Health Center (USAPHC) at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, celebrated its 75th Anniversary. The organization began in 1942 at The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland, as the US Army Industrial Hygiene Laboratory to provide Occupational Medicine, Industrial Hygiene and other Occupational Health services in support of the World War II military industrial base. In 1945, the organization moved to the Edgewood Area of Aberdeen Proving Ground and underwent organizational changes, mission changes and name changes. In 1960 it was renamed the US Army Environmental Hygiene Agency or AEHA, and under that name was widely recognized for significant accomplishments in Occupational and Environmental Health. In 1994, it became the US Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine (USACHPPM) and took on an expanded role in Public Health. A later reorganization brought in Veterinary services. In 2015, it became the USAPHC. This publication provides a timeline of important accomplishments, mission modifications, administrative changes, challenges and threats in the organization's first 75 years. To help readers put these events in perspective, abbreviated timelines of significant events in military and civilian Preventive, Occupational and Environmental Medicine and Public Health history, legal and regulatory actions related to Public Health and US military history are also included.