Unification of the Military Health System: A Half-Century of Unresolved Debate

Abstract

There has been long-standing debate regarding a unified military health system versus individual service medical systems. This paper reviews the history of the service medical systems, and major reports spanning more than fifty years on this issue. The preponderance of report conclusions urge unification of the military health system. The service medical systems' counter-arguments are also reviewed and analyzed. That debate, conducted throughout the period of the Cold War, has been fundamentally changed by our entry into a new geopolitical and economic era. Changes in the economic, security, and strategic landscapes, along with profound changes in the national mood, must drive different conclusions than those that impelled policy and organizational structure in the Cold War. To meet the strategic and security challenges of the next quarter-century, the service medical systems must unify under a single accountable command and control structure.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2001
Accession Number
ADA392242

Entities

People

  • D. E. Jones

Organizations

  • United States Army War College

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Climate Change
  • Employment
  • Geography
  • Health Services
  • Law
  • Medical Personnel
  • Military Hospitals
  • Military Medicine
  • Military Organizations
  • Organizational Structure
  • Personnel Management
  • Therapy
  • Warfare

Fields of Study

  • Medicine
  • Political science

Readers

  • Aviation Safety Risk Assessment.
  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.
  • Strategic Security Studies

Technology Areas

  • Fully Networked C3
  • Fully Networked C3 - Command and Control