Building Partner Health Capacity with U.S. Military Forces: Enhancing AFSOC Health Engagement Missions
Abstract
In 2009, the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) unveiled a new concept for a systematic approach to building health capacity in partner countries of strategic importance to the United States. The central premise of the concept is that rather than using U.S. military medical presence in developing countries to directly treat indigenous communities and supplement or replace inadequate local care, U.S. advisors would engage and train local health workers in a systematic and sustained way through health-focused security cooperation. The objectives of these efforts would be to improve the ability of local governments to deliver services, to obviate the need for outside assistance, to enhance the legitimacy of local authorities and providers in the eyes of their citizens, and to prevent the establishment of extremist groups that seek to exploit the absence of government services. The AFSOC concept acknowledges that the U.S. military, in association with other organizations, has a role in helping to improve health care in vulnerable communities in order to improve the security of those communities. In fall 2009, the AFSOC Surgeon General s office asked RAND to assist in the implementation of its concept. This report reviews Department of Defense guidance and the experience of other organizations and introduces a framework to help AFSOC and the theater commands it supports to plan for, assess, and enhance the effectiveness of building partner capacity in health to improve public health and the provision of health services. These efforts, in turn, can support the extension of good governance and efforts to counter insurgent and terrorist infiltration, recruitment, and exploitation of vulnerable populations. This report should be of interest to planners in combatant and component commands, the U.S. military medical community, and other U.S. military organizations involved in security cooperation and building the capacity of partner nations.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2012
- Accession Number
- ADA565571
Entities
People
- Anny Wong
- David E. Thaler
- Gary Cecchine
- Timothy Jackson
Organizations
- RAND Corporation