The U.S. Department of Defense and Global Health
The U.S. Department of Defense and Global Health
S e p t e m b e r 2012
U.S. GLOBAL HEALTH POLICY
S e p t e m b e r 20 12
Josh Michaud
Kellie Moss
Jen Kates
Acknowledgments: The authors would like to recognize the contributions of Rebecca Katz and
Derek Licina during the researching and drafting of this report. In addition, the authors thank all
of the interviewees who kindly shared their time and input.
Acknowledgments: The authors would like to recognize the contributions of Rebecca Katz and
Derek Licina during the researching and drafting of this report. In addition, the authors thank all
of the interviewees who kindly shared their time and input.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive Summary .......................................................................................................................................................................... 1
Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 4
Methods............................................................................................................................................................................................ 4
History and Context .......................................................................................................................................................................... 5
Evolution of DoD’s Global Health-Related Activities .................................................................................................................... 6
Organizational Structure and Approach ........................................................................................................................................... 9
Leadership and Planning ............................................................................................................................................................ 11
Key Components ........................................................................................................................................................................ 11
Office of the Secretary of Defense ........................................................................................................................................ 12
Organization of the Joint Chiefs of Staff................................................................................................................................ 13
Combatant Commands ......................................................................................................................................................... 14
Military Departments ............................................................................................................................................................ 15
Coordination with USG Agencies and Other Partners ................................................................................................................ 19
USG Interagency Coordination .............................................................................................................................................. 19
Coordination with Other Organizations ................................................................................................................................ 21
DoD’s Global Health Focus Areas .................................................................................................................................................... 21
Force Health Protection and Readiness ..................................................................................................................................... 22
Medical Research and Development .................................................................................................................................... 22
Health Surveillance ............................................................................................................................................................... 23
FHP Education and Training for U.S. Personnel..................................................................................................................... 23
Medical Stability Operations and Partnership Engagement ...................................................................................................... 24
Medical Stability Operations ................................................................................................................................................. 24
Partnership Engagement ....................................................................................................................................................... 25
Threat Reduction ....................................................................................................................................................................... 26
DoD Policy and Guidance Documents Relevant to Global Health ................................................................................................... 26
DoD Budget and Funding for Global Health-Related Activities ....................................................................................................... 28
DoD Budgeting and Appropriation Process ................................................................................................................................ 28
Funding for Global Health-Related Activities ............................................................................................................................. 28
Policy Issues .................................................................................................................................................................................... 33
Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 35
Appendix A. Detailed Timeline........................................................................................................................................................ 36
Appendix B. Acronym List ............................................................................................................................................................... 38
Sources ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 40
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Department of Defense (DoD), the largest and oldest agency of the U.S. government, has a long
history of supporting health and medical activities around the world. While DoD itself does not typically
define these efforts as part of “global health,” they do indeed have an impact on the health of
populations throughout the world, including those in low- and middle-income countries. DoD possesses
and utilizes unique and substantial assets for such activities, such as a tremendous geographic reach,
long-standing and influential partnerships with foreign governments and militaries, an ability to rapidly
mobilize significant resources, and expertise in scientific and technical areas including research and
development. In addition, the recent trend in DoD policy of adopting a more balanced approach to its
use of military medical assets (so they perform their more traditional support functions of ensuring the
health of the warfighter while contributing to its efforts to prevent conflict and promote stability) has
made global health-related activities more prominent now than in the past. As a result, DoD has been
increasingly seen – both by some within the department as well as those working outside of it – as part
of the U.S. government’s larger global health enterprise. This view has been bolstered by the emphasis
placed on global health as a tool of soft power and important component of U.S. national security during
the post-9/11 era, which has been marked by U.S. government recognition of HIV/AIDS as a national
security threat, growing concerns about emerging and pandemic disease threats, and U.S. engagement
in nation-building activities in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Even so, DoD is not a development agency, and improving global health is not one of its core objectives;
rather, its primary mission has always been, and continues to be, providing the military forces necessary
to promote and protect the security of the United States. This has led to some ambiguity and tension
regarding the role of DoD in this area, with many in the global health community having reservations
about DoD’s efforts but lacking a full understanding of its work, and DoD at times failing to give due
consideration to the methods and principles that define successful global health programs even as it has
increased its attention to such activities. Adding to misunderstandings and difficulties are differences in
approach, organizational culture, and vocabulary between DoD and others working on global health.
To help provide new information on DoD’s work in this area and contribute to the discussion about its
role in global health, this report presents the first comprehensive description and analysis of DoD’s
organizational structure, activities, strategy, policy, and budget for its activities related to global health.
Overall, the report finds:
DoD’s evolving views on and engagement with global health-related work should be considered
within a broader national security context. Over the past decade, DoD has increasingly stressed
a balance between maintaining traditional military-to-military warfighting capabilities and
developing capabilities that support the prevention, mitigation, and resolution of conflicts, as
evidenced by recent policy guidance elevating “stability operations” to the same level of
importance as combat operations. In the future, further changes in approach to its health
activities may result from ongoing shifts in national security and defense budgets and priorities,
such as a move away from large-scale “nation-building” activities and a move toward paying
greater attention to Asia.
DoD’s current global health activities can be categorized into three main, interrelated “focus
areas”: force health protection and readiness (medical research and development, health
surveillance, and training and education in global health), medical stability operations and
partnership engagement (technical assistance and activities designed to build trust, prevent
Further consideration and analysis of DoD’s work related to global health may help DoD to
develop a clearer vision for how its global health-related programs relate to one another, how
these activities can best serve its broader organizational objectives, and whether DoD should
place more or less of an emphasis on them going forward, given the benefits and pitfalls. It also
might inform debates, such as whether DoD’s current approach can help improve health in
developing countries, and further discussion about the role DoD should play in U.S. global health
engagement more broadly.
Given the vast budget and influence of DoD, improved coordination with civilian U.S.
government partners in global health may promote more effective use of resources and ensure
U.S. government efforts in national security and in global health are not working at cross-
purposes or duplicative.
While the department has raised the policy importance of global health-related efforts, a
corresponding shift in funding and organizational support is not evident. Greater budgetary and
institutional support could help these new priorities to be more broadly and successfully
adopted by increasing their integration into routine planning and operations, but increasing
budget pressure may complicate such efforts.
Greater attention to, standardization of, and support for tracking and measuring the
effectiveness of DoD’s global health-related activities could assist the department in defining
benchmarks for success and in determining the contributions such activities make to its broader
strategic goals.
As part of the shift toward a more balanced approach and in response to a growing sense among U.S.
policymakers that global health is important for U.S. national security, DoD has increasingly emphasized
and engaged in global health activities, including medical research and development, technical
assistance and capacity building, health infrastructure support, and health service delivery. Yet, because
DoD is not a development agency and improving global health is not one of its core objectives, it has not
always been clear to those inside and outside the department how global health fits into its mission. In
fact, the department itself typically does not define its activities in this area as “global health.” Many in
the global health community have little knowledge of DoD’s work in global health and struggle to
understand what the department does in this area and how it intersects with the efforts of other U.S.
government agencies and global health actors. Exacerbating the misunderstandings have been
differences in approach, organizational culture, and vocabulary between DoD and the global health
community at large that have at times made communication and mutual understanding more difficult.
This report helps address these information gaps by providing the first comprehensive assessment of
DoD’s role in global health, looking across the entire department. It summarizes the history and current
policy context of DoD’s engagement with global health, identifies the components and elements within
DoD involved in global health-related activities, and describes the main types of activities that comprise
its work in this area. The report also examines how the department coordinates its activities with other
actors, identifies the policy and guidance documents that apply to its global health-related work, and
summarizes what is known about its budget for these activities. Finally, the report discusses key issues
to consider as policymakers – both inside and outside the department – gauge what steps should be
taken to improve the department’s efforts related to global health.
METHODS
Data used in this study were collected through a comprehensive desk review of official documents and
the literature, combined with semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders at DoD and other
organizations. Interviews took place through a two-stage process: an initial set of interviewees was
selected using purposeful sampling designed to ensure representation from all major components of the
department as well as perspectives from external experts, incorporating viewpoints that span policy,
planning and implementation of DoD’s global health-related activities; additional interviewees were
identified through the initial stakeholders. Overall, 32 stakeholders were interviewed, including 26 DoD
Since its creation, the overarching mission of the Department of Defense has been to “provide the
military forces needed to deter war and protect the security of the United States.”7 While its
fundamental mission has remained the same, the strategies, available resources, and activities the
department implements in pursuit of its mission have changed significantly over time, shaped strongly
by changing perceptions of the most critical threats to U.S. national security. For example, prior to and
during World War II, the emphasis of the department was on developing and deploying conventional
warfare capabilities and working with allies in countering the spread of fascism. In the Cold War period
that followed, the department prioritized containment of the Soviet Union, limiting the influence of
communism (a prime motivator for engagement in Korea and Vietnam), and nuclear deterrence.
More recently, the events of September 11th, 2001, and their aftermath have given way to yet another
period, fundamentally re-shaping the nation’s approach to national security, including the way in which
DoD carries out its mission. As the 2002 National Security Strategy stated: “Defending our Nation against
its enemies is the first and fundamental commitment of the Federal Government. Today, that task has
changed dramatically.”8 In the post-9/11 era, non-state actors in weak and failing states have been
emphasized as threats to U.S. national security, because “poverty, weak institutions, and corruption can
make weak states vulnerable to terrorist networks.”9 In the years after the 2001 attacks, the U.S.
became engaged in long-term, unconventional wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, conflicts that DoD
describes as “unlike those that came before,”10 and over this time period, DoD placed greater emphasis
on policies and activities to support counterterrorism, counterinsurgency, homeland defense, and
fostering stability in countries and regions around the world. By 2004, it was recognized that such non-
conventional operations had already become, and would continue to be, a significant component of
DoD’s work that required more departmental resources and attention.11
While the department remains heavily focused on combating terrorism (the most recent National
Defense Strategy, from 2008, portrays DoD’s role as “defined by a global struggle against a violent
extremist ideology”16), current domestic political and economic pressures, combined with changing
views on the national security environment (influenced by the Arab Spring protests, the U.S. military
withdrawal from Iraq and planned reductions in Afghanistan, and growing concerns about China and
Iran) have led the White House, Congress and the department to again reevaluate DoD’s strategy,
policy, and budgets. In January 2012, the White House and DoD issued a new high-level review of U.S.
defense strategy, one which noted an “increasingly complex set of challenges and opportunities” in the
global security environment “to which all elements of U.S. national power must be applied” while also
recognizing that the “balance between available resources and our security needs has never been more
delicate.”17 These new realities mean the department now faces, for the first time in over a decade, cuts
to its budget and personnel at the same time that it attempts to reposition itself to address the
country’s preeminent national security concerns.18
It is within this broader historical context that DoD’s changing role related to global health must be
considered.
Such efforts continued throughout the first half of the 20th century and into the post-World War II
period. The U.S. military established its first overseas medical research laboratory in 1945 in Guam (later
transitioned to Indonesia), followed shortly thereafter by others in Egypt and Thailand.20 DoD-supported
research led to the first vaccines for influenza and Hepatitis A and to new drugs for treating malaria. In
the late 1960s and early 1970s the military campaign in Vietnam featured a prominent role for health
engagement, including medical civic action programs (MEDCAPs), short-term health care delivery
training activities undertaken by military medical personnel overseas.21 At the conclusion of the Cold
War, DoD also began working with countries on containment of biological threats and dedicated more
Despite this long history, attention to DoD’s role in global health has increased in recent years, and DoD
itself has linked global health-related activities more often and more explicitly to achievement of its
objectives than at any time in the past. Part of the reason for this is that global health overall has been
increasingly linked to U.S. national security. There has been a growing perception among policymakers
that poor health conditions and lack of
health system capacity in other FIGURE 1. SELECTED TIMELINE25OF DOD GLOBAL HEALTH-RELATED
ACTIVITIES AND MILESTONES
countries can contribute to the
1898: Philippines military campaign adopts civil-military approach,
development of or be a symptom of including health projects
weak and failing states that threaten
1900: Army researchers show yellow fever is transmitted by
U.S. interests.26,27,28 An important mosquitoes
Prior to 1946
turning point in linking health to
1903: Army institutes first successful large-scale malaria prevention
national security came in the 1990s program in support of Panama Canal construction
and early 2000s, when the U.N.
1909: Army develops first typhoid vaccine
Security Council and the U.S.
1940s: Military scientists develop first inactivated influenza vaccines
intelligence community declared HIV a
national security threat and warned of 1945: First Navy overseas laboratory established (in Guam, later
moved to Indonesia)
potential societal and political
instability resulting from the 1959: First Army overseas laboratory established (in Thailand)
expanding HIV/AIDS epidemics in sub- 1960s-1970s: Vietnam war operations adopt civil-military approach,
Saharan African countries. 29,30,31,32
The including introduction of medical civic action programs
(MEDCAPs)
concept of emerging infectious
1946-2000
diseases as a security threat also 1985: Military researchers develop prototype Hepatitis A vaccine
began to take hold in the 1990s with 1989: New malaria drug Mefloquine, co-developed by military
researchers, licensed in the U.S.
the 1992 release of an Institute of
Medicine report warning about the 1991: Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program initiated
issue, followed by the 1997 release of 1994: Overseas Humanitarian, Disaster, and Civic Aid (OHDACA)
a related Presidential Decision funding authority instituted
Directive by the Clinton 2002: Military completes genetic sequencing of P. falciparum
Administration, along with other malaria parasite
33,34
documents. Adding to the mix of 2003: Army co-initiates largest ever Phase III HIV/AIDS vaccine trial
concerns and highlighting the links in Thailand
2001-Present
between terrorism, biological threats, 2005: DoD Instruction 3000.05 raises “stability operations” to same
and national security were the first level of priority as combat operations across the military
deadly bioterrorism attacks ever made 2007: International Health Division established within the Pentagon
on U.S. soil, when mailed anthrax 2009: Navy lab first in the world to identify human case of emerging
killed 5 people and infected 17 others H1N1 pandemic influenza
35
in 2001. The international spread of 2010: DoD Instruction 6000.16 elevates the military health service
SARS in 2002-2003, H5N1 avian support of “stability operations” to same priority as combat
operations support role
influenza (“bird flu”) starting in 2003,
and the H1N1 influenza pandemic in 2009 helped solidify infectious diseases as a national security issue
in policymakers’ minds, as these events illustrated how globalization and poor health conditions abroad
could threaten the health and economic security of the U.S. and its allies.36,37,38
These trends have had an impact on how DoD conceives of and implements its global health-related
activities, including its medical research and development, technical assistance and partnership building
BOX 1. EXCERPTS FROM NATIONAL SECURITY AND DOD STRATEGY DOCUMENTS RELEVANT TO GLOBAL
HEALTH
The overall trend in departmental policy has been toward adoption of a more balanced approach with
its military medical assets, so that they not only perform traditional support functions for ensuring the
health of the warfighter but also contribute more concretely to the department’s efforts to prevent
conflict and assist in transitioning unstable, conflict-prone environments to more secure “post-conflict”
and reconstruction environments.39 This has placed global health-related activities in a more prominent
role in military planning and so-called “stability operations” now than in the past. Most recently, this
policy change was codified in a 2010 DoD Instruction that declared Military Health System (MHS) assets’
Today, multiple organizational components and elements across DoD are involved in global health-
related work. Together their efforts fall into three main categories, or “focus areas,” of global health-
related activity: force health protection and readiness, medical stability operations and partnership
engagement, and threat reduction. These focus areas are discussed further below, following the
description of the organization and structure of DoD presented in the next section.
Importantly, there is no single DoD entity designated with primary authority over all of DoD’s global
health-related activities; rather, these activities are carried out by different offices and agencies across
the department, some of which are specifically charged with such efforts and others that carry them out
as part of a broader set of responsibilities. Even as DoD plans and carries out many “joint” activities that
share resources and personnel across the military departments and other components of the
department, organizational oversight and participation in DoD’s global health-related activities remain
diffuse and multifaceted. Figure 2 shows in one chart many of the key components and constituent
elements within DoD that are engaged in one way or another in global health-related work, offering a
sense of the scope and complexity of DoD ’s organizational involvement in this area. After a discussion
below of how DoD approaches leadership and planning, this section describes the principal components
and elements of DoD that are involved in global health-related activities (see Technical Volume for more
details).
Notes: USD - Undersecretary of Defense, ASD - Assistant Secretary of Defense, AFRICOM - Africa Command, CENTCOM - Central Command, PACOM - Pacific Command, SOUTHCOM - Southern Command, SOCOM - Special Operations
Command, TRANSCOM - Transportation Command, Dept. - Department. *Under the ASD (Health Affairs) is Force Health Protection and Readiness’ International Health Division, Global Civil-Military Medicine Division, and Medical
Countermeasures Division. Under the ASD (Special Operations/Low Intensity Conflict) is Partnership Strategy and Stability Operations’ Humanitarian Assistance, Disaster Relief and Global Health Directorate.
Although constituted as one department that ultimately requires all components to report to the
Secretary of Defense, DoD is perhaps better understood as an interrelated set of constituent
organizations, each overseeing a diverse set of activities. Each major organizational component with
DoD functions in a semi-independent manner, and each has its own history, purpose, objectives,
approach, culture, and personnel. While these DoD components share the same overarching set of
strategic and policy objectives as described above, since no single office or service is designated with
primary authority over all DoD global health-related efforts each of these components may take their
own approach and pursue their own set of activities. These activities may or may not be coordinated
with other departmental or external partners’ activities.
Thus, improvement of population health overseas in and of itself is not the central objective of DoD’s
efforts in this area. Better population health may be desired and seen as a welcome secondary outcome,
but DoD (as has been stated by its leaders) is not positioned nor intended to serve as a development
agency.43 At times this has meant the department’s on-the-ground health activities overseas have had a
focus on shorter-term, quick impact health projects aimed to contribute to the more immediate
objectives of DoD rather than a longer-term, more sustainable approach to health programs that is more
of a hallmark of traditional global health efforts, and decisions on research and development are made
with the protection of the U.S. warfighter in mind, not necessarily persons living in developing countries.
KEY COMPONENTS
For the purposes of this report, component is used to refer to the broadest organizational level within
the department, while element, office, unit and agency are used to describe constituent sub-
components.* U.S. Code identifies six components of DoD, and all are involved to some extent in
overseeing and implementing global health-related activities. However, most of these activities are
carried out under the direction of four principal components (see Figure 3):
*
While this report uses component as explained here for consistency, the term “component” is sometimes used by the military
to refer to a subordinate command, such as at a COCOM (e.g., the Navy “component” of AFRICOM).
Each of these four primary components has a unique and often complex organizational structure of
constituent elements (offices, units, and programs) that are assigned a range of roles and
responsibilities for planning, implementing, and collaborating on global health activities.
Notes: USD - Undersecretary of Defense. ASD - Assistant Secretary of Defense. *Under the ASD (Health Affairs) is Force Health Protection and Readiness’ International
Health Division, Global Civil-Military Medicine Division, and Medical Countermeasures Division. Under the ASD (Special Operations/Low Intensity Conflict) is Partnership
Strategy and Stability Operations’ Humanitarian Assistance, Disaster Relief and Global Health Directorate.
Figure 4 provides an organizational overview of the primary OSD elements whose responsibilities
include global health-related work. For example, the office of the USD for Personnel and Readiness is
responsible for policy and programs related to readiness and protection of DoD personnel in general and
oversees the activities of the ASD for Health Affairs (ASD-HA), who exercises primary policy oversight
responsibilities for the military health system. Under ASD-HA, key global-health related offices and
agencies include the DASD for Force Health Protection and Readiness (responsible for a variety of health
surveillance, international health, humanitarian and health missions including oversight of the
International Health Division, an office which develops policies and implements programs for the U.S.
military health system’s support of DoD stability operations) and the Center for Disaster and
Humanitarian Assistance Medicine (CDHAM), located within the Uniformed Services University of the
Health Sciences (USUHS). Under the oversight of the USD for Policy, the ASD for Special Operations/Low
Intensity Conflict (ASD-SO/LIC) serves as the principal civilian advisor to the Secretary of Defense on
counterterrorism, civil affairs, psychological operations, and counterproliferation of weapons of mass
destruction (WMDs). Within ASD-SO/LIC is the office of the DASD for Partnership Strategy and Stability
Operations, which oversees development of DoD capabilities in stability, security, transition, and
reconstruction operations and provides policy oversight of the humanitarian and civic assistance funding
authorities managed by the Defense Security
FIGURE 5. ORGANIZATION OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF Cooperation Agency (DSCA). DSCA, a DoD field
STAFF: ELEMENTS RELATED TO GLOBAL HEALTH agency, reports to the ASD for International
Security Affairs (under the USD for Policy) and
oversees partnership engagement accounts and
activities, including several humanitarian and civic
assistance funding vehicles used by DoD. Finally,
the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) is a
DoD field agency that funds and implements
international biological threat reduction programs
under the direction of the office of the ASD for
Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense
Programs (itself under the USD for Acquisitions,
Technology, and Logistics).
Key elements with global health-related responsibilities within the Joint Chiefs include the office of the
Joint Staff Surgeon and the Health Services Support (HSS) Division (see Figure 5). The Joint Staff Surgeon
serves as the chief medical advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the Joint Staff, and Combatant
Command Surgeons for issues related to operational medicine and force health protection. The HSS
Division, housed within the Logistics Directorate (J-4), is responsible for coordinating international
health assistance policies and operations across the military departments and COCOMs.
3. COMBATANT COMMANDS
DoD assigns primary responsibility for planning and conducting military operations around the world to
nine Unified Combatant Commands (COCOMs). Each COCOM, led by a Combatant Commander from one
of the Military Departments, functions with a high degree of autonomy and authority over all DoD
activities that occur within its designated area of responsibility (AOR). There are six COCOMs with
geographic AORs: Africa Command (AFRICOM), Central Command (CENTCOM), European Command
(EUCOM), Northern Command
FIGURE 6. GEOGRAPHIC COCOMS’ AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY
(NORTHCOM), Pacific Command
(PACOM), and Southern Command
(SOUTHCOM) (see Figure 6).45 The
other three COCOMs have functional
AORs: Special Operations Command
(SOCOM) oversees special operations
forces and operations worldwide;
Strategic Command (STRATCOM)
oversees nuclear, space, and cyber
capabilities (among other
responsibilities); and Transportation
Command (TRANSCOM) coordinates
transportation assets and oversees
movement of military hardware and
personnel.
Every COCOM designates its own priorities, plans, budget, and set of global health-related activities
(with input and guidance provided by OSD, the Military Departments, and Joint Staff). Geographic
COCOMs whose AORs include developing countries with significant disease burdens and/or a history of
medical engagement with the U.S. military may dedicate more staff and time to global health-related
activities compared to others. For example, AFRICOM, PACOM, and SOUTHCOM engage in many
exercises and operations every year targeted at health, reflecting the relative priority of such activities
While the organizational layout of each COCOM may differ, most have distinct offices with
responsibilities over global health-related work. For example, each COCOM has an Office of the
Command Surgeon responsible for developing and providing medical and force health protection
guidance to the Combatant Commander and senior staff. Geographic COCOMs have offices covering
Operations, Logistics, and Force Protection, responsible for ensuring that operations have adequate
logistical and force health protection support. Since health support is considered a key logistics element
of field operations, military health assets such as medical field units are requested and deployed to
support COCOM missions, and the Operations, Logistics, and Force Protection office provides policy and
technical support to these deploying health assets. Other relevant COCOM offices are those responsible
for Strategies, FIGURE 7. AFRICA COMMAND: ELEMENTS RELATED TO GLOBAL HEALTH
Plans, Programs,
and Policy, and
Partnership
Engagement,
Cooperation,
and/or Security
Assistance, which
focus on planning
and facilitating
communications
and operations
between the
COCOM, the
service
components,
countries, and
other partners. As
an illustrative
COCOM example,
Figure 7 shows AFRICOM’s key elements related to global health; other COCOMs may have slightly
different organizational structures. See the Technical Volume for more information on COCOMs’
relevant elements and organization.
4. MILITARY DEPARTMENTS
As outlined in U.S. Code, there are three Military Departments: the Department of the Air Force, the
Department of the Army, and the Department of the Navy (the U.S. Marine Corps is integrated within
the Department of the Navy). A brief description of key elements within these departments is presented
here, with more detailed information in Boxes 2-4 and in the accompanying Technical Volume.
Notes: --- line around a box indicates a joint activity across military departments with the Army as lead agent.
Many of the relevant Army offices are organizationally placed under the Army’s Office of the Surgeon General
or under the U.S. Army Medical Command (MEDCOM). Key elements related to global health under the Army’s
Office of the Surgeon General include:
U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC): Through USAMRMC, the Army’s
medical research is unified under a single major subordinate command of MEDCOM. As such, it is the
Army’s medical materiel developer, with responsibility for medical research, development, and
acquisition and medical logistics management.
Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR): As part of USAMRMC, WRAIR conducts biomedical
research that delivers products to prevent and treat health threats to U.S. Army personnel. WRAIR is
the leading military research unit for infectious disease product development and houses the Center
for Infectious Disease Research (this includes multiple research divisions such as the Division of
Retrovirology, which is home to MHRP’s efforts and undertakes HIV/AIDS research and vaccine
development; the Division of Malaria, which is home to the Military Malaria Research Program
(MMRP) and supports the development of malaria diagnostics, drug, and vaccine development efforts;
and the Bacterial Diseases Branch, which is home to the Multi-drug Resistant Organism Repository
and Surveillance Network (MRSN)). In addition, WRAIR is host to a number of joint military infectious
disease research initiatives, including the Joint Military Malaria Vaccine Initiative. WRAIR is also
responsible for oversight of the Army’s overseas infectious disease laboratories in Kenya (the U.S.
Army Medical Research Unit-Kenya, or USAMRU-K) and Thailand (Armed Forces Research Institute of
Medical Sciences, or AFRIMS).
U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID): Also under USAMRMC, this
institute conducts basic and applied research on biological threats, with the aim of producing medical
prevention and treatment solutions to protect military service members.
Notes: --- line around a box indicates a joint activity across military departments with the Navy as lead agent.
The Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC), which performs medical research, development, testing,
evaluation and surveillance, and also oversees the three laboratories the Navy maintains overseas –
known as Naval Medical Research Units (NAMRUs). The Navy laboratories are located currently in
Peru, Egypt, and Hawaii (a temporary location for NARMU-2 following the closure of its Indonesia
location in 2009). NMRC also oversees DoD’s Defense HIV/AIDS Prevention Program (DHAPP), which
works with African militaries to develop and implement HIV prevention and treatment programs
among African military personnel.
The Future Operations—Theater Engagement Office (also within BUMED) is involved in helping
coordinate the Navy’s involvement in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions with other
DoD components, other U.S. government agencies, and civil society.
Besides their connections to the headquarters The International Health Specialists program
under the Air Force Surgeon General’s office is
offices of these U.S. agencies and
unique among the Military Departments,
departments, DoD personnel also work in the selecting and training military personnel for
field with their staff. Procedures and positions related to global health across DoD.
guidelines for such field-level interagency
coordination may be facilitated through Falling under the U.S Air Force School of
Aerospace Medicine (USAFSAM), the Defense
formal agreements or partnerships between
Institute for Medical Operations (DIMO) helps
the organizations, but often the work
organize medical training missions and medical
overseas is done in a more informal and ad courses for military and civilian personnel, which
hoc way, depending on country circumstances often take place in partner countries.
and the direction of the U.S. Ambassador. The
Technical Volume contains further information about DoD’s interagency coordination, including more
details about points of contact with USAID.
Department of State: DoD has interacted with the Department of State in several ways. The first way is
through DoD’s representation on planning and working committees of the Global Health Initiative (GHI),
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID): DoD interacts with and collaborates with USAID in
a number of ways. One important point of contact is USAID’s Office of Civilian-Military Cooperation
(CMC), which in the last few years has served as a point of coordination on joint USAID-DoD activities in
Afghanistan and Iraq. DoD also interacts often with USAID’s Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA),
especially when preparing for and carrying out interagency overseas disaster response activities. OFDA is
the lead U.S. agency for overseas disaster response, but DoD is often involved, especially when there are
significant transportation needs or other military assets that need to be mobilized. To assist
communication and coordination between the two organizations, the Department of Defense assigns a
number of representatives to work at USAID, and USAID sends representatives to serve at various DoD
COCOM headquarters. According to GAO, in early 2012 there were a total of 12 USAID representatives
serving at five of the six geographic COCOMs (all but NORTHCOM).
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS): DoD’s key points of coordination with HHS include:
emerging disease surveillance and field epidemiology training program partnerships between the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Center for Global Health/Global Disease Detection
unit and the staff of DoD at its overseas laboratories and within the Global Emerging Infections
Surveillance and Response System (GEIS) Operations Division; the development of Memoranda of
Understanding (MOUs) and coordinated infectious disease research projects between HHS’s National
Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) and other DoD
medical research centers, DoD’s overseas laboratories, and the Army-led Military Infectious Disease
DoD interacts with several health-focused U.N. agencies, including the World Health Organization
(WHO). The U.S. Navy, for example, has assigned medical liaisons to be stationed at WHO, responsible
for improving coordination on information-sharing on epidemic and pandemic planning and response,
among other activities. On international disaster response and humanitarian assistance issues, DoD
personnel have worked with the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and other
UN agencies when coordinating, planning, and implementing DoD overseas relief operations.
DoD also interacts and coordinates with many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and civil society
groups through its health activities overseas, and has even developed and published a handbook with
guidelines for understanding and interacting with NGOs.52 At times, the department will work with
these organizations when planning and implementing humanitarian and disaster relief operations in the
field.53 For example, DoD has worked with a number of NGOs in Afghanistan and Iraq on health-focused
projects, and the department has frequently collaborated with NGOs during humanitarian aid missions,
such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake and the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004.54,55,56,57
Force health protection and readiness: activities such as medical research, prevention,
surveillance, care, treatment, and other DoD programs that keep its personnel healthy and
Within FHP, we identified the following key areas of DoD activity that are particularly relevant to global
health: 1) Medical Research and Development, 2) Health Surveillance, and 3) FHP Education and
Training. These are discussed below (also see examples in Box 5).
While its work on vaccines represents a very visible set of products relevant to global health, many other
kinds of health technologies have also benefitted from military investments, such as drug treatments for
malaria and leishmaniasis, repellents and other vector control tools, and disease diagnostics. Research
to support this kind of medical countermeasure development for FHP is a primary justification for Army
HEALTH SURVEILLANCE
A key part of FHP is maintaining awareness of the current status of and any potential or ongoing
changes to the incidence and prevalence of health threats of concern. To this end (providing early
identification of emerging diseases), DoD supports surveillance systems, advanced diagnostic capacities,
and communication systems to track the health of its personnel and general population health. The U.S.
military, in fact, developed one of the earliest
real-time surveillance systems to track BOX 5. FORCE HEALTH PROTECTION AND READINESS:
respiratory disease epidemics among its EXAMPLE ACTIVITIES
personnel due to the threat they pose to Medical Research and Development
force readiness.64 The ongoing relevance of The U.S. Army cosponsored the Phase III trial of an HIV
the military’s infectious disease surveillance vaccine in Thailand.
was recently underscored when a U.S. Navy
laboratory became the first in the world to The Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR)
and Military Infectious Disease Research Program
identify individuals infected with the newly
(MIDRP) fund research projects to help develop
emerging H1N1 pandemic influenza virus in vaccines, drugs, and other products to protect against
65
2009. As part of its FHP health surveillance malaria, dengue, and other infectious diseases.
efforts, DoD also funds and carries out
surveillance projects overseas. Through Health Surveillance
these, DoD develops systems and shares The Global Emerging Infections Surveillance and
Response System (GEIS) supports routine infectious
information in cooperation with other USG
disease surveillance and research projects that utilize
agencies and its foreign military and civilian DoD’s network of laboratories at home and abroad.
partners.66
The Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical
FHP EDUCATION AND TRAINING FOR U.S. Sciences (AFRIMS) conducts surveillance of drug-
resistant malaria along the Thai-Cambodia border with
PERSONNEL
local collaborators.
DoD devotes time and resources to FHP
education and training, including skills and FHP Education and Training
knowledge relevant to global health, for its The U.S. Air Force oversees the International Health
personnel. The department supports several Specialist program, recruiting military personnel for
medical schools, such as the U.S. Army specialized training and specialized global health-
focused deployments across DoD.
Medical Department Center and School, the
Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine, and DoD’s joint Uniformed Services University of the Health
the joint Uniformed Services University of the Sciences (USUHS) developed and implements a
Health Sciences, which are among the few specialized degree track in global health for military
institutions in the U.S. to offer courses and health professionals.
degrees in tropical medicine. Many elements
within DoD support medical and public health training for personnel, both through internal DoD courses
and by subsidizing education pursued by its personnel in civilian universities and other institutions.
Often, military medical personnel are assigned to military public health organizations, such as the U.S.
Army Public Health Command and the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Centers, where these
skills are applied and developed. In addition, DoD organizes a number of medical operations in foreign
countries for the explicit purpose of providing relevant field experience and a “real-life” training
These efforts take place in conditions that range from highly insecure areas of active conflict to conflict-
free environments in friendly countries. In areas where instability or conflict is present, activities in this
In areas free of conflict, MSO operations may include “health diplomacy” efforts (for example, planned
deployments of Navy hospital ships to provide health care to underserved populations in foreign
countries), military-to-military health training (for example, training African militaries about HIV
prevention within their armed forces), joint medical operations in the field with foreign military and
civilian partners (such as joint civilian health delivery exercises planned and undertaken with allied
militaries), military-to-civilian health engagement (for example, U.S. military health personnel providing
health care and training in foreign countries through MEDCAPs, dental civic action programs
(DENTCAPs), veterinary civic action programs (VETCAPs), and similar programs), and providing health
support during a disaster response (for example, the post-earthquake response in Haiti).79,80,81,82,83
PARTNERSHIP ENGAGEMENT
DoD often conducts activities that are designed to build partnerships with foreign governments and
strengthen the U.S. position and influence in countries and regions around the world, with the goal of
promoting greater stability and security. These activities are often leveraged to support COCOM country
engagement plans within their areas of responsibility. Partnership engagement can take many forms
and may include such activities as hosting conferences and technical training sessions in foreign
countries, donation of medical supplies and materiel, bringing foreign nationals to the U.S. to receive
specialized medical education and training, or conducting joint training sessions and medical operations
in the field. It can also take the form of longer-term relationships forged through facilities and
institutions built in partnership with host nations. The Army and Navy overseas laboratories, for
example, are often touted as anchors for country (and even regional) partnerships, and the relationships
developed through such institutions help forge bonds between the U.S. military and key allies.84 As local
nationals comprise the bulk of the staff at these laboratories, host countries develop ownership and a
sense of partnership through the facilities, leading to relatively stable relationships over time. The U.S.
Navy laboratory in Egypt, for example, has been in continuous operation and a point of contact between
the U.S. and Egypt since the lab’s founding in 1946 (and the only official U.S. facility in the country that
was not closed during the break in U.S.-Egypt diplomatic relations from 1967-1973).85
Working in conjunction with other parts of the U.S. government, DoD is often called upon to assist
foreign countries in responding to natural disasters (such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and hurricanes) or
other emergencies (such as large scale population and refugee movements),86 activities that are
encompassed within the Medical Stability Operations and Partnership Engagement focus area. DoD
participation in disaster responses are specifically authorized under U.S. Code and other legislation and
policy documents; according to Joint Staff policy, DoD may become involved such activities when the
need for relief is “gravely urgent” or the humanitarian emergency “dwarfs the ability of normal [non-
DoD] relief.”87,88
In its engagement with biological threat reduction, DoD seeks to prevent and prepare for biological
incidents, such as international and domestic infectious disease outbreaks and epidemics, whether they
be due to natural, accidental, or intentional causes. To these ends, the department focuses on
identification and containment of dangerous pathogens through improved detection and more secure
laboratories and medical practices. A particular emphasis of DoD’s biological threat reduction effort has
been bolstering foreign countries’ capabilities to safely identify and handle pathogens in their
laboratories, which DoD supports through training and equipping key governmental and military
partners overseas.90 For example, DTRA has funded the rehabilitation and expansion of the infectious
disease laboratory network in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia and has supported laboratory
biosecurity in Kenya and Uganda, among other locations.91,92,93
So, while no single global health strategy or authoritative global health guidance document has been
released by DoD, there are numerous related and relevant policy and guidance documents available that
direct and shape the department’s activities in this area. These range from the high-level national
security strategy documents that reference the strategic importance of global health (as described in the
History and Context section above), to Directives and Instructions issued by OSD, to Military
Department-specific handbooks on how to implement health projects on the ground. This study sought
to identify and collect information on as many of these key related documents as possible. A brief
summary of key documents is presented here, but further information may be found in the
For the purposes of this study, two main categories of relevant documents were defined: policy
documents and guidance documents. Policy documents were defined as those documents that assign
global health-related responsibilities and/or require action(s) on the part of one or more of DoD’s
elements related to global health; these policy documents include DoD Directives and Instructions and
National Security Presidential policy directives (considered “authoritative and directive”).96,97 Guidance
documents were defined as those that lay out strategies, frameworks, and other concepts to guide DoD
planners and decision-makers but do not typically require action or assign responsibilities. Examples of
guidance documents include national level strategies, Joint Publications from the Joint Staff, and
handbooks released by the Military Departments such as Army Field Manuals (considered “authoritative
but not directive”).
Overall, 67 documents relevant to DoD’s global health-related activities were identified. These include
26 policy documents and 41 guidance documents. Of these, we identified the following eleven as key
policy and guidance documents for the department:
Policy
Military Health Support to Stability Operations (DoD Instruction (DoDI) 6000.16, 2010): This
document establishes policies and responsibilities for how military health system assets support
DoD’s stability operations efforts, for the first time elevating its “non-combat” support role to
the same level as that of the “combat” role.
Humanitarian and Civic Assistance Activities (DoDI 2205.02, 2008): This document establishes
policy and responsibilities for the conduct of humanitarian and civic assistance activities
governed by section 401 and 407 of Title 10 of the U.S. Code.
Presidential Decision Directive/National Science and Technology Council-7 (PPD/NSTC-7) on
Emerging Infectious Diseases (1996): This document establishes policies and implementing
actions of U.S. agencies, including DoD, regarding support for domestic and international
surveillance and response capabilities against emerging infectious disease threats.
National Security Presidential Directive-44 (NSPD-44) on Management of Interagency Efforts
Concerning Reconstruction and Stabilization (2005): This document sets priorities and assigns
responsibilities related to U.S. government support for reconstruction and stability operations
overseas.
Geneva Conventions (1949): A set of international treaties that, among other things, require
that militaries of signatory countries (the U.S. is one), when occupying another country, provide
minimum levels of protection to local civilians against certain consequences of war, such as
disruption of public health services (article 56).
Guidance
National Security Strategy (2010): Drafted by the White House and Executive Agencies, this
document frames and outlines current U.S. national security priorities, objectives, and approach
at the broadest level. In the most recent release of the strategy, global health is emphasized as
critical to national security.
However, most global health-related activity budgets are not specified in appropriations bills, and the
information is not readily available. This is due to several reasons. First, identifying which DoD activities
should be considered “global health” is problematic, given the lack of standardization and absence of a
common definition across DoD components for such activities. In addition, support for global health-
related activities may comprise only a proportion of the funding in a given budget, and the specific,
project-level information needed to fully identify the global health portion is often not available.
Furthermore, such activities may be funded through more than one account or title, each of which may
be controlled by a different office or Military Department, making the funding picture even more
complex. Therefore, identifying, tracking, and arriving at a comprehensive total DoD budget for “global
health” is difficult.
funding streams primarily used to support global health-related activities, where amounts are
specified exactly or can be estimated (see Table 2), and
funding streams in which a portion is used for global health-related activities but where the
amounts supporting these health activities cannot be disaggregated, identified, or estimated
with currently available information (see Table 3).
In Tables 2 and 3, the funding streams are placed into the most relevant of the three DoD global health
“focus areas” defined earlier in this report (Force Health Protection and Readiness, Medical Stability
Operations and Partnership Engagement, and Threat Reduction).
In addition to these funding streams, DoD global health-related activities may be supported by funding
received from non-DoD organizations, such as the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of
Military Medicine, and through interagency transfers between U.S. government agencies and
departments, such as the $148.5 million in FY 2011 PEPFAR funding that was transferred from the Global
Health and Child Survival (GHCS)—State Department account (now part of the Global Health Programs
account).103
As shown in Table 2, DoD dedicated no less than $579.7 million in identifiable funding to global health-
related activities in the FY 2012 budget. The full amount the department dedicated to these activities is
likely much higher than this, taking into account the additional funding likely drawn from accounts
shown in Table 3, for which the health portion cannot be characterized. In comparison, this DoD global
health-related activities funding “floor” of $579.7 million is greater than both the CDC budget for global
health activities and the NIH budget for global health activities in the same year, which amounted to
$348.9 million and $511.5 million in FY 2012, respectively.104
Most of these accounts are administered either by COCOMs, Military Departments, or the Defense
Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA). The DoD components overseeing these funds are responsible for
determining which programs and activities best fulfill the missions ascribed to a specific funding stream
and for outlining the program-level objectives of these efforts. The missions, requirements, and project
planning and allocation processes for these funding streams may vary, depending on the account and
which office(s) has authority over the funding. For example, DSCA-controlled Humanitarian and Civic
Assistance (HCA) program funds permit DoD Combatant Commanders to carry out a range of
humanitarian projects at their discretion. On the other hand, some of the Army infectious disease
research funding is distributed through a peer-reviewed, competitive grant distribution process for
military medical researchers, based on prioritization of product requirements in military medical
countermeasure product development programs. Likewise, Global Emerging Infections Surveillance and
Response System (GEIS) funding reflects DoD’s prioritization of infectious disease surveillance efforts in
order to address threats to national security posed by emerging and reemerging diseases. Cooperative
Biological Engagement (CBE) program funding, in contrast, supports projects to assist partner countries
in meeting their health priorities, including helping them comply with the International Health
Regulations and properly manage dangerous pathogens and infectious disease surveillance information.
READINESS
Navy Laboratory Support – Medical Supports U.S. and overseas laboratories for medical research on vaccines for Malaria, Diarrheal
b Department of the
Development and Navy RDT&E Diseases, Dengue Fever; surveillance and outbreak response; and other efforts in support of $37.2m
Navy, NMRC
Infectious Disease Research Funding military medical importance.
PARTNERSHIP
ENGAGEMENT
Program (DHAPP) effective HIV prevention strategy as well as treatment and care programs. Navy
OPERATIONS AND
MEDICAL STABILITY
Overseas Humanitarian, Disaster, Supports military humanitarian efforts overseas, for example through transport of relief supplies Estimated Defense Security
e
and Civic Aid (OHDACA) and other humanitarian activities worldwide. $73.0m Cooperation Agency
Funds projects to assist partner countries to comply with World Health Organization’s (WHO)
Cooperative Biological Engagement USD – AT&L and the
International Health Regulations (IHR), consolidate dangerous infectious disease research to a
Program $259.5m Defense Threat
minimal number of secure facilities, and enhance awareness of infectious disease outbreaks of
THREAT
(CBE) Reduction Agency
natural and/or deliberate origin.
REDUCTION
Notes: Many of these funding streams are subject to OSD and Joint Chiefs’ guidance and oversight in order to ensure resources are used in appropriate ways that meet major personnel, material, and logistics
requirements. “m” means millions. R&D is Research and Development. RDT&E is Research, Development, Test, & Evaluation. O&M is Operations and Management. USUHS is the Uniformed Services University
of the Health Sciences. AT&L is Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics. WRAIR is the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. NMRC is the Naval Medical Research Center. USAMRIID is the U.S. Army Medical
Research Institute of Infectious Diseases. USD is Under Secretary of Defense. a This row is a consolidation of 7 Army RDT&E Budget lines focused on military medical research focused on HIV, infectious diseases,
and laboratory research related to global health, including but not limited to Basic Research – In-House Laboratory Independent Research, Basic Research – Medical Research in Infectious Diseases, Applied
Research – DoD Medical Defense Against Infectious Diseases, and Applied Research – HIV Exploratory Research. b This row is a consolidation of Defense Health Program funding support for Navy labs and a
Navy RDT&E budget line supporting malaria vaccine research. c Of $11.2 billion total for ASFF, health amount is amount designated for medical purposes. d Of $400 million total for CERP, health amount based
on proportion found to be dedicated to health in an analysis of prior years’ CERP funding by sector; see Johnson G, Ramachandran V, Walz J (2012). CERP In Afghanistan: Refining Military Capabilities in
Development Activities. PRISM Vol 3(2):81-98. e Of $107.7 million total for OHDACA, health amount based on proportion found to be dedicated to health in an analysis of prior years’ OHDACA funding by
sector; see Bourdeaux ME, Lawry L, Bonventre E, Burkle Jr FM (2010). Disaster Medicine And Public Health Preparedness; 4: 66-73.
31
TABLE 3. DOD FUNDING STREAMS USED TO SUPPORT GLOBAL HEALTH-RELATED ACTIVITIES BUT LACKING
106
AMOUNTS SPECIFIC TO SUCH ACTIVITIES
AGENCY/
OFFICE(S)
FOCUS FY 2012 WITH
AREA NAME DESCRIPTION FUNDING* OVERSIGHT
“Enables the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to act quickly to
support the Combatant Commanders when they lack the flexibility
Combatant
and resources to solve emergent challenges and unforeseen
Commander Joint Chiefs of
contingency requirements critical to joint war fighting readiness and $45.9m
Initiative Fund Staff
national security interests.” Funds may be used for humanitarian
(CCIF) and civic assistance, to include urgent and unanticipated
humanitarian relief and reconstruction assistance.
Exercise Related
Funds “unspecified minor military construction outside the United
Minor Joint Chiefs of
States in support of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Exercise program” $8.4m
Construction Staff
(through the COCOMs).
(ERC)
Foreign Military Secretary of
Supports the procurement of defense articles and services to $6.3b
Financing State, Secretary
enhance the capacity of foreign security forces. (inc. OCO)
(FMF) of Defense
MEDICAL STABILITY OPERATIONS AND PARTNERSHIP ENGAGEMENT
Global Security “Pools resources and expertise from the Department of State, DoD,
Secretary of
Contingency and U.S. Agency for International Development to provide security
$200.0m State, Secretary
Fund sector and stabilization assistance for emergent challenges and
of Defense
(GSCF) opportunities.”
Global Train and “Build[s] partnership capacity for time-sensitive, new and emerging‖ Defense
Equip counter-terrorist operations, or to participate in or support military Security
$350.0m
(“Section 1206” and stability operations in which the US armed forces are a Cooperation
funding) participant.” Agency (DSCA)
Humanitarian Permits Combatant Commanders to use Operations and
and Civic Maintenance (O&M) funds to carry out a range of humanitarian $14.9m Joint Chiefs of
Assistance projects that complement but do not duplicate other U.S. social or (FY2010) Staff
(HCA) economic assistance to beneficiary country.
International “Provides training on a grant basis to students from allied and
Military friendly nations” and “is a key component of U.S. security
Education (IMET) assistance” that “presents democratic alternatives to key foreign $105.8m DSCA
and Expanded military and civilian leaders.” The E-IMET program “exposes students
IMET (E-IMET) to the civilian community and its important democratic institutions.”
Navy RDT&E
Supports defense research sciences’ basic research in medical
Defense Department of
sciences and biology, including on infectious organisms of military $20.3m
Research the Navy
relevance.
Sciences Funding
“Provides unique partnership capacity-building capabilities to
Combatant Commanders and U.S. Ambassadors through
National Guard
partnerships between U.S. states, territories and the District of $13.2m
State Partnership
Columbia and foreign countries. The SPP supports U.S. national a National Guard
Program (FY2011)
interests and security cooperation goals by engaging partner nations
(SPP) via military, socio-political and economic conduits at the local, state
and national level.”
Operation “Provides military support to the Trans Sahara Counter Terrorism
Enduring Partnership (TSCTP) program. OEF-TS engagement in TSCTP focuses Africa
$52.2m
Freedom-Trans on overall security and cooperation rather than solely on Command
(OCO)
Sahara counterterrorism. The OEF-TS partnership comprises the United (AFRICOM)
(OEF-TS) States and ten African countries.”
PACOM Asia Pacific
Supports PACOM security cooperation activities such as
Pacific Regional $15.0m Command
humanitarian assistance.
Initiative (PACOM)
Notes: *exceptions in Fiscal Year are noted after funding amounts. “m” means millions, “b” means billions. a $7.1m from COCOMs, $6.1m
from National Guard Bureau. OCO is Overseas Contingency Operations funding.
These broad trends in the defense policy environment are sure to affect how the department engages in
activities related to global health going forward, and it is against this backdrop that a number of key
policy issues related to its engagement can be considered. These include a set of issues that are
primarily internal to DoD and a set of broader issues related to how the department’s activities fit within
and are coordinated with efforts of other global health actors.
Mission and priorities. Improving global health is not a primary mission for DoD, but the
department has increasingly connected its engagement on global health-related activities to
achievement of its core national security objectives. In considering the role and contribution of
these activities to DoD’s broader mission and strategic plans, some questions that may be
considered include: What are the benefits and pitfalls in prioritizing global health-related
activities even more explicitly or in shifting away from these types of efforts? Given recent shifts
in strategy and looming budget cuts, should the department place more or less emphasis on
these kinds of activities going forward? Does DoD’s engagement with global health in fact
support its operational and strategic objectives and national security goals? Does its approach
improve the health of populations in developing countries, and are these efforts sustainable?
Organization and strategy. Reflecting the size and decentralized structure of department,
multiple departments and offices within DoD have authority over the department’s global
health-related work, and multiple policy documents guide the department’s work in this areas.
This has led to some obstacles in coordinating across military departments, COCOMs, and other
components, meaning there is room for additional guidance that would help lay out a clearer
vision for how DoD’s various global health-related activities relate to one another and how
together they support DoD’s broader mandate and strategic goals.
Support and funding. The department has raised the policy importance of stability operations,
conflict prevention, and reconstruction missions that often incorporate global health-related
activities, but there has been little evidence of a corresponding shift in funding and
organizational support toward these mission sets. This has made it more challenging for DoD
components and elements seeking to adopt and integrate these activities into their operations.
More concrete support – in terms of budgets and staffing – could aid in this transition.
Moreover, the lack of clear information about and tracking of budgets and funding hinders the
department itself from a deeper understanding of its own investments in this area. Additional
data and analysis on how this funding is derived and how it is used could facilitate more
effective use of resources and support efforts to monitor and evaluate the department’s global
health-related activities.
DoD in the context of U.S. global health efforts overall. As mentioned above, DoD is not a
development organization, and improving global health is not its primary mission. Yet the
department has shown an increasing interest in this area and brings unique and sizeable
contributions to bear, such as an ability to rapidly mobilize significant assets, long-standing
relationships with many partner governments and militaries, and a reserve of scientific and
medical knowledge and capabilities. While there are a number of examples of successful and
productive DoD interagency work on global health efforts (such as HIV prevention programs in
PEPFAR countries and collaborative infectious disease research and development), in many
cases it remains an open question for policymakers inside and outside the department as to
where and when integration of DoD’s global health activities with other U.S. global health
efforts makes sense and can be additive.
Balancing national security and global health objectives. Global health practitioners outside
the department have expressed concerns that given the size and influence of DoD, national
security objectives at times become prioritized over the objectives of the global health and
development community, which can hinder progress toward health improvements.109,110 In
certain circumstances, such as Afghanistan and Iraq, NGOs have at times expressed reluctance
or refused to work with DoD, because they believe doing so negatively impacts their ability to
carry out their work and increases risks to their staff and programs in the field.111,112,113 To better
outline expectations, roles, and other issues, DoD and external groups working on the ground
might explore ways to improve meaningful and regular attempts at communication to better
support shared objectives and understand differences.
Interagency coordination and communication. Adequate communication and coordination with
U.S. civilian agency partners is necessary to promote the most effective use of resources and
ensure that U.S. government efforts are not working at cross-purposes in developing countries.
Recent evaluations by GAO of the extent and the quality of DoD’s interagency collaboration on
humanitarian assistance projects concluded the department needs to improve in this area.114
While DoD has conceded that interagency collaboration could be improved it has also reported
progress in addressing these concerns and maintained that at times lack of capacity on the
civilian side has contribute to coordination and communication difficulties.115,116,117
CONCLUSION
The Department of Defense, the largest and oldest U.S. government agency, has a long history of
engaging in activities that can impact global health. Its policies, strategic emphasis, and budget in
support of global health-related activities has shifted over time, often in parallel with broader changes in
perceptions about U.S. national security threats and the role of the U.S. military in countering those
threats. Recently, global health-related programs at the department have received greater attention
than in the past: this is partly because global health in general is seen as an increasingly important U.S.
national security issue and because the department itself has shifted strategy and policy, emphasizing
the importance and role of its global health–related activities to a greater extent.
This report shows that oversight and implementation of the department’s global health-related efforts is
complex and diffuse. Responsibilities for such activities are not centralized within a single DoD office,
but instead, like many DoD activities, these efforts are overseen by many offices across the department,
with all major components of the department (from the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the
Combatant Commands, the Military Departments, to the Joint Chiefs of Staff) playing a role. Although
the department has not issued an overarching policy to guide these components on global health-
related work, a number of policy documents provide some guidance and direction for such efforts. Still,
each component has tended to develop and implement global health activities in an independent way,
meaning these varied efforts may or may not be well-coordinated, monitored and evaluated, or
consistently integrated into the broader DoD strategic and military plans. This diffusion of oversight and
activity is a reflection of DoD’s size and overall organizational structure. From the department’s
perspective it remains an open question whether more integration and greater consolidation of its
global health-related activities would be beneficial to achieving its strategic objectives for these efforts,
let alone whether it would contribute to improving the global health impact of these activities.
The Department of Defense is in the midst of a period of significant transition, and over the next several
years, changes in the national defense context and pressures on the DoD budget may necessitate tough
choices about how to prioritize and most effectively utilize the military’s global health-related assets.
Against this backdrop, it will be important to consider whether the department’s engagement in,
approach to, and objectives for its global-health activities should be reexamined or clarified — including
the extent to which global health-related activities should be part of its work going forward.
For the wider U.S. global health community, examining and understanding DoD’s efforts in this area may
prove worthwhile, despite lingering reservations or potential challenges they may encounter in
partnering with DoD on global health. Given that the department has tremendous geographic reach,
long-standing and influential partnerships with governments and militaries, an ability to rapidly mobilize
significant resources, and a well of knowledge and substantial investments in scientific and technical
areas such as research and development, further efforts to understand how DoD fits into the larger
landscape of U.S. and international engagement on global health will be important, particularly since
any scaling back in DoD’s engagement may create a gap that other organizations might need to fill.
1961: Military scientists isolate 1961: Foreign Assistance Act assigns State Department the
rubella virus lead role in foreign military assistance programs
1963: Military “Medical Civic Action Programs” (MEDCAPs) 1965-1973: U.S. troop
implemented in Vietnam involvement in the Vietnam
War
1967: Army implements the Civil Operations and
Revolutionary Development Support (CORDS) approach in
Vietnam conflict, introducing integrated civilian-military
Provisional Advisory Teams (PATs)
1969: U.S. Army Research Unit – Kenya (USAMRU-K) founded
1976: Inaugural class at the Uniformed Services University of
the Health Sciences (USUHS)
1982: U.S. Army designated as lead agent for U.S. military
infectious disease research
1983: Navy Medical Research Unit 6 (NAMRU-6) founded in
Lima, Peru (initially as a detachment, made command level in
2011)
1985: Military develops prototype
1980s
Hepatitis A vaccine
1986: Military HIV Research Program (MHRP) created by U.S.
Congress
1987: Congress enacts Title 10 legislation; provides DoD with
authority to provide Humanitarian and Civic Assistance (HCA)
1988: Navy Medical Research Detachment–Cambodia
(NAMRU Det-Cambodia) founded (a part of NAMRU-2)
2004: First malaria vaccine candidate 2004: Congress provides first appropriated funds to CERP 2004: Indian Ocean (South
demonstrating efficacy, co- program in Afghanistan and Iraq Asian) earthquake and
developed by military, enters Phase tsunami
III trials in Africa
2005: DoD(I) 3000.05 states that DoD stability operations are
of the same level of importance as DoD combat operations
2006: Revised U.S. Army Counterinsurgency Manual
published
2006: In the National Defense Authorization Act, Congress
establishes “Section 1206” mechanism, allowing DoD to use
funds to train and equip foreign militaries for
counterinsurgency and stability operations
2007: DoD International Health Division established within
Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense-Health Affairs
2007: U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), a new DoD
geographic combatant command with responsibility for
operations across Africa, is created
2009: Thailand HIV vaccine trial, co- 2009: Indonesia forces closure of NAMRU-2 in Jakarta 2009: 2009-H1N1 influenza
sponsored by the military, provides pandemic
evidence of partial efficacy
2011: DoD-supported laboratory in Tblisi, Georgia opens 2011: Withdrawal of U.S.
combat personnel from
Iraq
SOURCES
1
Department of Defense (DoD),“About the DoD,” webpage, available at: http://www.defense.gov/about/.
2
G. Bonventre, K. Hicks, and S. Okutani, An Analysis of Global Health Engagement by the U.S. Department of Defense, Center for Strategic and
International Studies (CSIS), April 2009, available at: http://csis.org/publication/us-national-security-and-global-health.
3
White House, “Fact Sheet: U.S. Global Development Policy,” September 2010, available at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-
office/2010/09/22/fact-sheet-us-global-development-policy.
4
Department of State, Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review: Leading Through Civilian Power, 2010. available at:
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/153108.pdf.
5
DoD,“About the DoD,” webpage, available at: http://www.defense.gov/about/.
6
DoD,“About the DoD,” webpage, available at: http://www.defense.gov/about/.
7
DoD,“About the DoD,” webpage, available at: http://www.defense.gov/about/.
8
White House Archives, National Security Strategy 2002, available at: http://georgewbush-
whitehouse.archives.gov/nsc/nss/2002/nssintro.html
9
White House Archives, National Security Strategy 2002, available at: http://georgewbush-
whitehouse.archives.gov/nsc/nss/2002/nssintro.html
10
DoD, National Defense Strategy June 2008, available at: http://www.defense.gov/news/2008%20national%20defense%20strategy.pdf.
11
Defense Science Board, Transition to and From Hostilities, Report to the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Acquisitions, Technology and
Logistics, December 2004, available at: http://www.acq.osd.mil/dsb/reports/ADA438417.pdf.
12
DoD, “Stability Operations,” DoD Instruction 3000.05, available at: http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/300005p.pdf.
13
Department of the Army, Counterinsurgency, Field Manual 3-24, December 2006, available at: http://www.fas.org/irp/doddir/army/fm3-
24.pdf.
14
Department of the Army, Operations, Field Manual 3-0, available at: http://usacac.army.mil/cac2/Repository/Materials/FM3-
0(FEB%202008).pdf.
15
DoD, “Stability Operations,” DoD Instruction 3000.05, available at: http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/300005p.pdf.
16
DoD, National Defense Strategy June 2008, available at: http://www.defense.gov/news/2008%20national%20defense%20strategy.pdf.
17
DoD, Sustaining U.S. Global Leadership: Priorities for 21st Century Defense, January 2012. available at:
http://www.defense.gov/news/Defense_Strategic_Guidance.pdf.
18
DoD, Defense Budget Priorities and Choices, January 2012, available at: http://www.defense.gov/news/Defense_Budget_Priorities.pdf.
This report (#8358) is available on the Kaiser Family Foundation’s website at www.kff.org.
The Kaiser Family Foundation, a leader in health policy analysis, health journalism and communication, is dedicated to filling
the need for trusted, independent information on the major health issues facing our nation and its people. The Foundation is a
non-profit private operating foundation, based in Menlo Park, California.