First, it’s important to understand the structure of Navy Medicine. The foundation of Navy Medicine is force health protection and direct support to the war-fighter. It’s what we do and why we exist. Navy Medicine operates forward and is globally engaged, no matter what the environment and regardless of the challenge. Whether it is on the sea, above the sea, below the sea, on the battlefield or on the homefront, Navy Medicine enables our sailors and Marines to carry out their mission. Wherever a sailor or Marine goes, Navy Medicine goes with them. From the most advanced medical suites and staffs serving on amphibious ships to the flight surgeons supporting the naval aviation enterprise, to the independent duty corpsman serving in submarines or to the Navy corpsman embedded with Marines or special forces, Navy Medicine enables the war-fighter. No Marine ever takes a hill without his corpsman in his sight.

ZOWLA, Togo (Sept. 17, 2012) Lt. Cmdr. Kelly Larson, left, and Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Edward Lopez test a Togolese villager for malaria during an Africa Partnership Station 2012 health fair. Africa Partnership Station is an international security cooperation initiative, facilitated by the commander of U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa, aimed at strengthening global maritime partnerships through training and collaborative activities in order to improve maritime safety and security in Africa. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Donald R. Allen/Released)

Next, in executing our force health-protection mission, all Navy Medicine active duty and reservists, government civilians and contractors are engaged in all aspects of expeditionary medical operations in support of the war-fighter. The care we provide includes all dimensions of physical and mental well-being. Nowhere is our commitment to force health protection more evident than in our active engagement in military operations in Afghanistan and overseas. As our involvement in overseas contingency operations has evolved, we have experienced a burgeoning demand to provide expeditionary combat-casualty care in support of joint operations. The Navy Medicine team of physicians, nurses, corpsmen, dentists and mental-health providers is working in tandem with the Army and Air Force medical personnel and coalition forces to ensure the physical and mental well-being of our troops and civilians alike.

Since becoming the Navy Surgeon General in November 2011, my priority has been to ensure that Navy Medicine is strategically aligned with the imperatives and priorities of the Secretary of the Navy, Chief of Naval Operations and Commandant of the Marine Corps, including programs aimed at achieving healthy outcomes for our beneficiaries including the 21^st century sailor and Marine. We are fully engaged in executing the operational missions and core capabilities of the Navy and Marine Corps — and we do this by maintaining war-fighter health readiness, deploying forward and delivering the continuum of care from the battlefield to the bedside while protecting the health of all those entrusted to our care. My focus remains in alignment with our Navy and Marine Corps leadership as we support the defense strategic guidance.