JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The U.S. Army Medical Service Corps was formally established in 1947, however corps officers celebrate the anniversary of their corps on June 30, 1917.
The Medical Service Corps began with appointment of an Apothecary General during the American Revolution, and continued with establishment of an Ambulance Corps and U.S. Army Medical Storekeepers during the Civil War.
The anniversary comes from World War I, where the requirement for officers who were neither physicians, dentists, nor veterinarians resulted in the June 30, 1917 formation called the Sanitary Corps.”
This corps modernized the Medical Department with officers in a wide variety of administrative and scientific specialties, ranging from accounting, personnel, medical equipment repair, hospital design, medical supply, patient registrar, and adjutant; to bacteriology, parasitology, physiology, psychology, occupational therapy, sanitary engineering, x-ray, and nutrition. Positions included hospital command and sanitation detachments, motorized ambulance companies, and hospital trains.
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