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Regional Health Command – Pacific transforms to support Army Readiness

By Wesley ElliottOctober 19, 2022

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1 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Brig. Gen. Edward H. Bailey, Commanding General, Medical Readiness Command, Pacific and Command Sgt. Maj. Fergus J. Joseph, Command Sgt. Maj. Medical Readiness Command, Pacific survey the troops during the re-designation ceremony of the Regional Health Command – Pacific (RHC-P) to the Medical Readiness Command, Pacific (MRC, P) on October 18, 2022, on Fort Shafter Army Base. (U.S. Army Photo) (Photo Credit: Wesley Elliott) VIEW ORIGINAL
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2 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Brig. Gen. Edward H. Bailey, Commanding General, Medical Readiness Command, Pacific discusses the re-designation of the Regional Health Command – Pacific (RHC-P) to the Medical Readiness Command, Pacific (MRC, P) at a re-designation ceremony on October 18, 2022, at Fort Shafter Army Base. (U.S. Army Photo) (Photo Credit: Wesley Elliott) VIEW ORIGINAL
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3 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Lt. Gen. R. Scott Dingle, U.S. Army Surgeon General, and Commanding General, U.S. Army Medical Command, addresses the MEDCOM Army readiness mission to the audience at the re-designation ceremony of the Regional Health Command – Pacific (RHC-P) to the Medical Readiness Command, Pacific (MRC, P) on October 18, 2022, at Fort Shafter Army Base. (U.S. Army Photo) (Photo Credit: Wesley Elliott) VIEW ORIGINAL
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4 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Brig. Gen. Edward H. Bailey, Commanding General, Medical Readiness Command, Pacific and Command Sgt. Maj. Fergus J. Joseph, Command Sgt. Maj. Medical Readiness Command, Pacific uncase the colors during the re-designation ceremony of the Regional Health Command – Pacific (RHC-P) to the Medical Readiness Command, Pacific (MRC, P) on October 18, 2022, at Fort Shafter Army Base. (U.S. Army Photo) (Photo Credit: Wesley Elliott) VIEW ORIGINAL
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5 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Col. Edgar Arroyo, Commander of Troops holds formation at the Medical Readiness Command, Pacific re-designation ceremony on October 18, 2022, at Fort Shafter Army Base. (U.S. Army Photo) (Photo Credit: Wesley Elliott) VIEW ORIGINAL

HONOLULU -- Regional Health Command – Pacific (RHC-P) became Medical Readiness Command, Pacific (MRC, P) on October 18, 2022, at a re-designation ceremony on Fort Shafter Army Base, hosted by Lt. Gen. R. Scott Dingle, U.S. Army Surgeon General, and Commanding General, U.S. Army Medical Command.

The U.S. Army is modernizing medical care to provide sustained expeditionary, tailored, medical forces to support the Army against any adversary in the joint, multi-domain, high-intensity battlefields of the future and through the next pandemic.

One way Army Medicine is modernizing is by re-designating the regional health commands as medical readiness commands, said Dingle.

“My commitment is that Army Medicine from the foxhole to the fixed facility will be ready and relevant,” said Dingle. “The most powerful Army in the world, will have in parallel, the medical force to support its mission. MEDCOM is here to stay.”

In accordance with the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, the Army transferred its medical facilities to the DOD. Medical readiness commands are now essential to carrying out the MEDCOM mission of sustaining a trained and ready medical force and a medically ready force while ensuring access to world-class health care for our beneficiaries.

“This is much more than a simple renaming ceremony. Military medicine has been going through tremendous change over the last decade, and this restructuring is only a small piece of Army Medicine’s efforts to be ready, reformed, reorganized, responsive, and relevant,” said Brig. Gen. Edward H. Bailey, Commanding General, Medical Readiness Command, Pacific.

MRC, P will provide regionally ready, globally responsive medical forces, health service support, and force health protection to conserve the fighting strength of the Army. It will enable the readiness and health of the Army as well as health service support and force health protection to the Total Army.

Additionally, MRC, P will provide Command and Control to Medical Department Activities (MEDDAC), Medical Centers (MEDCEN), Dental Health Commands (DHC), Public Health Commands (PHC), and Soldier Recovery Units (SRU).

“The transfer of military medical facilities to the Defense Health Agency (DHA) enables us to focus on building readiness while synchronizing and integrating the medical effort in the INDOPACOM Area of Responsibility (AOR),” said Bailey. “Army Medicine has always insured medically ready forces when and where they are required. We will never forget that our purpose is to conserve the fighting strength.”

As part of the reform and restructure of Army Medicine the four Regional Health Commands are being restructured to better support Army readiness. “The new name showcases Army Medicine’s commitment to sustaining a ready and responsive medical force to support the Army,” said Dingle.

Bailey closed the ceremony with, “Our Command motto, “Na koa imu” means “Warriors go forth” and here in the Pacific as we support U.S. Army Pacific and all Army Forces in the AOR, Army Medicine is Army Strong!