Army Medical Command Releases First Ever Health Of The Force Report

By U.S. Army Public Affairs, Office of the Surgeon General, Army Medical CommandDecember 10, 2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ARMY MEDICAL COMMAND RELEASES FIRST EVER HEALTH OF THE FORCE REPORT

OFFICE OF THE ARMY SURGEON GENERAL, Falls Church, Va. -- The Office of the Army Surgeon General has released the inaugural Health of the Force (HOF) report which provides a snapshot of the health of active duty Soldiers on U.S. based installations in 2014.

Readiness is the top priority of Gen. Mark Milley. In his first message to the force upon becoming Chief of Staff of the Army, Milley stated, "We must ensure the Army remains ready as the world's premier combat force. Readiness for ground combat is -- and will remain -- the U.S. Army's #1 priority. We will always be ready to fight today, and we will always prepare to fight tomorrow." Another of Milley's priorities is taking care of the troops. "Our collective strength depends on our people -- their mental and physical resilience is at our core," he said.

The report summarizes and provides leaders a transparent view of population-level information that serves as the foundation for personal readiness. Specifically, key Performance Triad measures of sleep, activity, nutrition, and Leading Health Indicators that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services tracks across the Unites States were collected. This first effort is in its infancy and looked at injuries, behavioral health, chronic disease, obesity, tobacco, sleep disorders, hospital admissions, and other health measures across 30 Army installations. The result was the creation of an overall Installation Health Index.

A major intention is to provide the Army a better understanding in the variation in metrics and health practices across installations. Ultimately, leaders must have the knowledge and resources to influence cultural change that best facilitates personal readiness and environments where the healthy choice is the easy choice.

"The 'Health of the Force Report' is the Army's first attempt to review, prioritize, and share best health practices at the installation level. Senior Army Leaders now have the "Health of the Force" to track the health of the Army, installation by installation, and to share lessons learned for those installations on different ends of the health spectrum," said Lt. Gen. Patricia D. Horoho. This study was initiated during her tenure as Army Surgeon General and Commanding General, U.S. Army Medical Command. She is due to retire on December 15.

The report looked at health indicators at the following installations: Fort Belvoir, Va.; Fort Benning, Ga.; Fort Bliss, Texas; Fort Bragg, N.C.; Fort Campbell, Ky.; Fort Carson, Colo.; Fort Drum, N.Y.; Fort Eustis, Va.; Fort Gordon, Ga.; Fort Hood, Texas; Fort Huachuca, Ariz.; Fort Irwin, Calif.; Fort Jackson, S.C.; Fort Knox, Ky.; Fort Leavenworth, Kan.; Fort Lee, Va.; Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.; Fort Lewis, Wash.; Fort Meade, Md.; Fort Polk, La.; Fort Riley, Kan.; Fort Rucker, Ala.; Fort Sam Houston, Texas; Fort Sill, Okla.; Fort Stewart, Ga.; Fort Wainwright, Alaska; Schofield Barracks and Fort Shafter, Hawaii; Presidio, Calif.; and West Point, N.Y.

The entire report can be found at http://armymedicine.mil/Documents/Health_of_the_Force_Report_Nov_2015.pdf

MEDIA: For more information regarding this Health of the Force report please contact Maura D. Fitch at Maura.d.fitch.civ@mail.mil