Skip main navigation

Military Health System

Clear Your Browser Cache

This website has recently undergone changes. Users finding unexpected concerns may care to clear their browser's cache to ensure a seamless experience.

BARRIGADA, Guam (July 27, 2022) Sailors attached to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit Five (EODMU5), train with Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 25 (HSC-25), transporting a simulated combat casualty. HSC-25 maintains a 24-hour search and rescue and medical evacuation alert posture, directly supporting the U.S. Coast Guard, Sector Guam and Joint Region Marianas. HSC-25 ensures maritime peace and security in the U.S. 7th Fleet Area of Responsibility. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Neil Forshay)
Skip subpage navigation

Health Readiness & Combat Support

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 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 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...

Report
Jan 1, 2017

MSMR Vol. 24 No. 12 - December 2017

.PDF | 1.45 MB

A monthly publication of the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Branch. This issue of the peer-reviewed journal contains the following articles: Insomnia and motor vehicle accident–related injuries, active component, U.S. Armed Forces, 2007–2016; Seizures among active component service members, U.S. Armed Forces, 2007–2016; Brief report: Prevalence of ...

Report
Jan 1, 2017

MSMR Vol. 24 No. 10 - October 2017

.PDF | 1.16 MB

A monthly publication of the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Branch. This issue of the peer-reviewed journal contains the following articles: Measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella among service members and other beneficiaries of the Military Health System, 2010-2016; Update: Cold weather injuries, active and reserve components, U.S. Armed Forces, ...

Report
Jan 1, 2017

MSMR Vol. 24 No. 7 - July 2017

.PDF | 1.18 MB

A monthly publication of the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Branch. This issue of the peer-reviewed journal contains the following articles: Skin and soft tissue infections, active component, U.S. Armed Forces, 2013–2016; Age-period-cohort analysis of colorectal cancer, service members aged 20–59 years, active component, U.S. Armed Forces, 1997–2016 ...

Report
Jan 1, 2017

MSMR Vol. 24 No. 6 - June 2017

.PDF | 1.12 MB

A monthly publication of the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Branch. This issue of the peer-reviewed journal contains the following articles: Incidence of Campylobacter intestinal infections, active component, U.S. Armed Forces, 2007–2016; Incidence of nontyphoidal Salmonella intestinal infections, active component, U.S. Armed Forces, 2007–2016; ...

Report
Jan 1, 2017

MSMR Vol. 24 No. 11 - November 2017

.PDF | 1.52 MB

A monthly publication of the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Branch. This issue of the peer-reviewed journal contains the following articles: Pregnancies and live births, active component service women, U.S. Armed Forces, 2012–2016; Contraception among active component service women, U.S. Armed Forces, 2012–2016; Complications and care related to ...

Report
Jan 1, 2017

MSMR Vol. 24 No. 2 - February 2017

.PDF | 1.31 MB

A monthly publication of the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Branch. This issue of the peer-reviewed journal contains the following articles: Incident diagnoses of leishmaniasis, active and reserve components, U.S. Armed Forces, 2001–2016; Incidence rates of malignant melanoma in relation to years of military service, overall and in selected ...

Report
Jan 1, 2017

MSMR Vol. 24 No. 1 - January 2017

.PDF | 998.69 KB

A monthly publication of the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Branch. This issue of the peer-reviewed journal contains the following articles: Update: Malaria, U.S. Armed Forces, 2016; Diabetes mellitus, active component, U.S. Armed Forces, 2008–2015 introduction of the virus in the Western Hemisphere, 1 January 2016; Rates of Chlamydia trachomatis ...

Report
Jan 1, 2017

MSMR Vol. 24 No. 8 - August 2017

.PDF | 986.46 KB

A monthly publication of the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Branch. This issue of the peer-reviewed journal contains the following articles: Multiple sclerosis among service members of the active and reserve components of the U.S. Armed Forces and among other beneficiaries of the Military Health System, 2007–2016; Challenges with diagnosing and ...

Report
Jan 1, 2017

MSMR Vol. 24 No. 4 - April 2017

.PDF | 1.29 MB

A monthly publication of the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Branch. This issue of the peer-reviewed journal contains the following articles: Absolute and relative morbidity burdens attributable to various illnesses and injuries, active component, U.S. Armed Forces, 2016; Hospitalizations, active component, U.S. Armed Forces, 2016; Ambulatory visits, ...

Report
Jan 1, 2017

MSMR Vol. 24 No. 3 - March 2017

.PDF | 1.60 MB

A monthly publication of the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Branch. This issue of the peer-reviewed journal contains the following articles: Diagnoses of traumatic brain injury not clearly associated with deployment, active component, U.S. Armed Forces, 2001–2016; Update: Heat illness, active component, U.S. Armed Forces, 2016; Update: Exertional ...

Report
Jan 1, 2017

MSMR Vol. 24 No. 9 - September 2017

.PDF | 1.03 MB

A monthly publication of the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Branch. This issue of the peer-reviewed journal contains the following articles: Review of the U.S. military's human immunodeficiency virus program: a legacy of progress and a future of promise; Update: Routine screening for antibodies to human immunodeficiency virus, civilian applicants ...

Last Updated: February 08, 2024
Follow us on Instagram Follow us on LinkedIn Follow us on Facebook Follow us on X Follow us on YouTube Sign up on GovDelivery