The Defense Health Agency is the nation’s medical Combat Support Agency, providing or augmenting medical capabilities of the Combatant Commands, the military services, federal partners and partners and allies around the world. As one of the Defense Department’s combat support agencies, DHA works to provide combat forces with capabilities they do not possess, or possess in insufficient quantity. In cooperation with the Joint Staff Surgeon and Military Department medical organizations, DHA leads the Department of Defense integrated system of readiness and health through a global health care network of military and civilian medical professionals, including more than 400 military hospitals and clinics around the world, to improve and sustain operational medical force readiness and the medical readiness of the Armed Forces.
Enhancing Military Readiness through Combat Support Capabilities
The DHA provides support for operating forces engaged in planning for, or conducting, military operations, including support during conflict or in the conduct of other military activities related to countering threats to U.S. national security. Among DHA’s most important combat support responsibilities is its work to increase readiness of U.S. forces to carry out their deployed missions.
- The DHA supports the medical readiness of military personnel – ensuring they are healthy and safe from potential health threats through activities such as its global network of hospitals and clinics and civilian health providers, medical surveillance to detect potential health threats.
- The DHA also supports a ready medical force – the physicians, nurses and other health professionals – who support operational forces in the field, through training and education and providing the clinical settings in which they build their skills for deployment.
The DHA fulfills its combat support responsibilities through capabilities including several components that provide crucial expertise and support to the Combatant Commands. Liaison officers within Combatant Commands enable direct contact with DHA, help the DHA better understand Combatant Command needs, and give the Combatant Commands better understanding of DHA capabilities.
The DHA is a critical enabler, working with the Military Departments to advance the health and readiness of U.S. forces and to manage the medical readiness platforms that keep the medical force ready to support operations worldwide. Working in close coordination with the Joint Staff Surgeon, the DHA provides medical-related combat support capabilities that apply across all phases of military operations, including:
You also may be interested in...
Article Around MHS
6/13/2022
As part of the U.S. Southern Command’s enduring partnership to Central America, Joint Task Force-Bravo executed a three-day Global Health Engagement in Comayagua, Honduras, June 1-3, working side by side with local military and Ministry of Health personnel.
Recommended Content:
Health Readiness & Combat Support
Article Around MHS
6/9/2022
Medics at David Grant USAF Medical Center on Travis Air Force Base, California, are being trained monthly during a week-long course on tactical combat casualty care in an Air Force-wide initiative to standardize medical readiness training for all service members.
Recommended Content:
Health Readiness & Combat Support | Health Readiness & Combat Support
Article
6/3/2022
This Army doctor finished at the top of his class at the Air Assault School at Fort Campbell. It's a 10-day course that is both physically and academically challenging, teaching soldiers the foundations of heliborne operations to include troop transportation, sling loaded cargo and equipment transportation, medical and casualty evacuation operations, and air assault operations.
Recommended Content:
Health Readiness & Combat Support
Article
6/2/2022
A first-of-its-kind study at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center is researching whether using facility therapy dogs in dentists’ offices could reduce patient anxiety and improve outcomes for military dental treatment programs.
Recommended Content:
Health Readiness & Combat Support | Total Force Fitness
Article
6/2/2022
Moving can be hard on military families, especially on children. Moving to a new home, going to a new school, finding new friends – it can be unsettling for kids of any age. Yet, there are things that service members can do to prepare for a permanent change of station move that can make for a smoother transition for the children.
Recommended Content:
Health Readiness & Combat Support | Total Force Fitness
Article Around MHS
6/1/2022
Air Force medical contingency response team members, with the 378th Expeditionary Medical Squadron, perform mock emergency medical care for a simulated casualty at Prince Sultan Air Base, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Recommended Content:
Health Readiness & Combat Support | Warrior Care
Article Around MHS
5/31/2022
A group of medical providers and medics recently spent two weeks at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Dive Center here learning how to treat patients who may have suffered a dive injury.
Recommended Content:
Health Readiness & Combat Support | Warrior Care
Article
5/27/2022
Corneal collagen cross-linking, known as CXL, the first and only treatment to date that is proven to stop Keratoconus, KCN, progression.
Recommended Content:
Health Readiness & Combat Support
Article
5/27/2022
Each dog has his or her own rank, service, and uniform and is inducted in an enlistment or commissioning ceremony. Today, the Facility Dog Program at WRNMMC includes Sully, a yellow Lab who was former President George H.W. Bush’s service dog.
Recommended Content:
Our History | Health Readiness & Combat Support
Article
5/25/2022
“No one is immune to burnout. Healthcare providers are very good at rescuing others. We train for it and practice it daily. Unfortunately, we often do so at the expense of our own health and wellness.”
Recommended Content:
Total Force Fitness | Health Readiness & Combat Support
Showing results 31 - 45
Page 3 of 38