United States Army Medical Command

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The U.S. Army Medical Command, known as MEDCOM, is a major command of the U.S. Army that provides command and control of the Army's fixed-facility medical, dental, and veterinary treatment facilities, providing preventive care, medical research, development and training institutions. The U.S. Army Dental Command, known as "DENCOM", is the major subordinate command of MEDCOM responsible for providing dental treatment to ensure the oral health and readiness of the force; provide a trained dental force for worldwide deployment; and structure DENCOM for evolving missions of the Army. The U.S. Army Veterinary Command, known as "VETCOM", is a major subordinate command of MEDCOM responsible for providing military veterinary services to include food safety and quality assurance, care of government owned animals, and animal disease prevention and control for the entire Department of Defense. Additional subordinate commands are the Army Medical Department Center & School, the U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion & Preventive Medicine, and the U.S. Army Medical Research & Material Command.

MEDCOM is currently commanded by the Army Surgeon General, LTG Eric Schoomaker. MEDCOM has command and control of two Army installations: Fort Detrick, located in Frederick, Maryland and the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C. MEDCOM headquarters is at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, the installation known as "The Home of Army Medicine".

When Army field hospitals deploy, most clinical professional and support personnel come from MEDCOM's fixed facilities. In addition to support of combat operations, deployments can be for humanitarian assistance, peacekeeping, and other stability and support operations. Under the Professional Officer Filler System (PROFIS), up to 26 percent of MEDCOM physicians and 43 percent of MEDCOM nurses are sent to field units during a full deployment. To replace PROFIS losses, Reserve units and Individual Mobilization Augmentees (non-unit reservists) are mobilized to work in medical treatment facilities. The department also provides trained medical specialists to the Army's combat medical units, which are assigned directly to combatant commanders.

Many Army Reserve and Army National Guard units deploy in support of the Army Medical Department. The Army depends heavily on its Reserve component for medical support—about 63 percent of the Army's medical forces are in the Reserve component.

MEDCOM maintains day-to-day health care for soldiers, retired soldiers and the families of both. Despite the wide range of responsibilities involved in providing health care in traditional settings as well as on the battlefield, the Army Medical Department's quality of care compares very favorably with that of civilian health organizations, when measured by civilian standards. Many Army medical facilities report on their own quality-of-care standards on their individual World Wide Web sites.

MEDCOM is divided into Regional Medical Commands that oversee day-to-day operations in military treatment facilities, exercising command and control over the medical treatment facilities in their regions. There are currently six of these regional commands: Europe Regional Medical Command, Great Plains Regional Medical Command, North Atlantic Regional Medical Command, Pacific Regional Medical Command, Southeast Regional Medical Command, and Western Regional Medical Command.

See also

• Army Medical Department (United States), the "AMEDD"
• Army Medical Department, Fort Sam Houston, TX
• Army Dental Command, Fort Sam Houston, TX
• Army Veterinary Command, Fort Sam Houston, TX