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The History of the U.S. Army Medical Service Corps u.s. The History oft he Army Medical Service Corps by RichaTd VN Ginn ,\IIUTARY INSTRVCTION OFFICE OF THE SURGEON GENERAL AND CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY UNITED STATES ARMY WASHINGTON, D.c., 2008 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ginn, Richard V.N., 1943- The history of the U.S. Army Medical Service Corps / by Richard V.N. Ginn. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. United States. Army. Medical Service Corps-History. 1. Title UA223.G546 1996 355.3' 45'0973- dc20 96-19473 CIP First Printed 1997-CMH Pub 30-19-1 For sale by rhe U.S. GOWrtllllCIll Priming Onicc SUI~rinlCtltlcnl of Documellts. Mail SlOp: SSOI'. W'lshingl01l. DC 2U-I02·IJJ2K ISBN 0-16-045353-4 Foreword The United States Army Medical Service Corps is an important national resource with a long and distinguished history. Many thousands of officers have proudly served in its ranks, selflessly prosecuting the nation's defense missions in peace and war throughout the world. With varied academic backgrounds and disciplines, these officers have been widely recognized and highly regarded lead ers in their respective fields. They represent the growth in medical science and military medica1 operations and administration over two centuries. This work documents the history of the Medical Service Corps through the work of an active duty MSC officer who began researching and writing in 1983 when the corps assumed this task as its own project. The account is the story of the corps, told by the corps for its members, the Army, its sister services, and the nation it serves. The lessons of its history arc rooted in America's wartime expe riences, and they arc intended for those who will follow in the hope that our future leaders will learn from the past. It is also important that progress docu mented by this account continue, for the officers of the Medical Service Corps have by no means achieved their highcst goals. MACKC. HILL JOHN W. MOUNTCASTLE Brigadier General Brigadier General Chief, Medical Service Corps Chief of Military History v The Author Col. Richard Van Ness Ginn is a native of Miami, Florida. He was commissioned from ROTC as a Distinguished Military Graduate in 1965 upon graduation with a BA from Stetson University and entered active duty in 1966 after graduate study. He has an MA from Duke University and an MHA from Baylor University. Completion of the U.S. Army-Baylor University Program in Healthcare Administration in 1977 as the Distinguished Honor Graduate was followed by a residency in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs. In 1981 he was an honor graduate of the US. Army Command and General Staff College, where he also served as a student instructor. He is a 1990 graduate of the US. Army War College. His decorations include the Legion of Merit, the Combat Medical Badge, and the Senior Parachutist Badge. His principal assignments have included tours at medical platoon and com pany levels of airborne infantry units in Panama and Vietnam; Aide-de-Camp to the Commander, and Chief, Force Development Branch, U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command (USAMRDC), Washington, D.C.; Professional Services Administrator, Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, Texas; Personnel Policy Officer, Office of the Surgeon General (OTSG) and Special Assistant to the Chief, Medical Service Corps, the Pentagon; Deputy Commander for Administration, 196th Station Hospital, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, Belgium; Inspector General, 7th Medical Command, Heidelberg, Germany; Chief of Staff, USAMRDC, Fort Detrick, Maryland; Chief of Education and Training, OTSG, Falls Church, Virginia; and Chief, Health Services Division, Officer Personnel Management Directorate, US. Total Army Personnel Command, Alexandria, Virginia. Colonel Ginn is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and is listed in Whos Who il1 A1IIerica. In 1977 he became the first Army Medical Service Corps officer to win the Sir Henry Wellcome Medal, the oldest award of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States, and in 1982 he was the first recipient of the association's Young Federal Health Care Administrator Award. He is a member of the Order of Military Medical Merit. He wrote this book while stationed in Washington, Belgium, Germany, Maryland, and Virginia. Colonel Ginn retired in December 1995 and is currently Senior Vice President, Capital Health Services, Fairfax, Virginia. VI Preface The purpose of this volume is to present a history of the U.S. Army Medical Service Corps (MSC) from its origins during the American Revolution to its sta tus in 1994. With this objective in mind, it addresses several audienccs. First are the young MSC officers who may be unfamiliar with the historical underpinnings of their corps. For them, the evolution of the corps' past reveals insights into its future since the types of problems met and solved in the past are the ones most likely to recur in the years ahead. I am told that colonels are sup posed to read what captains write. This time a colonel wrote something for cap tains to rcad. A second audience is the scholarly community of historians. For these pro fessionals, the work adheres to established rules of historical research and serves as a tool for further analysis of the often baffling bureaucratic structure of our armed services. The third audience consists of those who served in the MSC or its precursors, as well as other members of the Army Medica.l Department and the public at large. For that group the book endeavors to elucidate the principal themes in this administrative history in which evolution rather than revolution has been an enduring characteristic. The book belongs to the Medical Service Corps, especially to those who will carry its legacy into the future. It also belongs to all the people of the Army Medical Department and the other branches of the Army. It should be of assis tance to anyone interested in how the Army provides medical support to soldiers and their families. Above all it belongs to American soldiers, those splendid, noble patriots whose support is the m;xoll detre of the MSC. I have attempted to provide enough Medical Department history, doctrine, and principal debates to illuminate how the MSC emerged from more than two centuries of American history. I hope that the book and its documentation of sources will serve those who will labor to understand how that process occurred so as to prevent repeating previous mistakes and to capitalize on earlier successes. The text ends in 1995, but appendixes have been updated to the time of printing. One editorial notc is in order. As a rule, the rank of an individual is cited as held at that point in the narrative. Generally, no attempt is made to document the final grade upon separation from the military. This work would not have been undertaken without the strong determina tion of two officers who decided to prosecutc and undcrwrite the initiative and served as successive chiefs of the Medical Service Corps: Brig. Gens. France F. Jordan and Walter F. Johnson. Their successors as chiefs of the corps maintained support for the project. It stands on the shoulders of many individuals who worked on earlier attempts at writing the history of the corps, beginning in 1953. Their accumulation of files and documents was of invaluable assistance, as was VII their foresight in pursuing the goal of documenting the MSC story. Ail chapters of the first draft were reviewed by former chiefs of the corps as well as by many others from varied backgrounds. Twelve of that group served as active readers during the initial drafting of the volume: Mr. Frank Boccia; Mary C. Gillett, Ph.D.; Brig. Gen. William A. Hamrick, FACHE, USA, Ret.; Brig. Gen. France Jordan, USA, Ret.; Col. John T. Leddy, O.D., USA, Ret.; Col. Roy D. Maxwell, Ph.D., USA, Ret.; Col. Douglas E. Moore, USA, Ret.; Brig. Gen. Manley C. Morrison, USA, Ret.; Brig. Gen. Andre]. Ognibene, M.D., USA, Ret.; Col. James E. Spiker, USA, Ret.; Mrs. Emily Ginn Van Orden; and Lt. Col. Joseph W.A. Whitehorne, USA, Ret. Their candid criticism kept the author in check and compelled a wider range of view. Mary F. Loughlin was the first editor. She helped shape the early drafts, but her participation was ended by her untimely death in 1992. Susan Carroll replaced her as editor in 1994. She was superbly professional, and did yeoman work in straightening out the manuscript and later in creating the index. Helen Wadsworth took the corps to heart and was faithful and patient as a talented photo researcher whose contributions continued into the printing of the book. Col. Timothy Jackman, MSC, was appointed assistant to the corps chief in the fall of 1989 and became a treasured help as my Washington connection while I was in Europe. Tim also served as a member of the U.S. Army Center of Military History (CMH) panel for the book. Ann Martens, the secretary to the chief during the time I was in Europe, was always helpful. I leaned heavily on the CMH staff from the beginning. Although the book had been dropped from the center's projects, its staff continued to provide me with assistance at every step of the way. Brig. Gen. William A. Stofft, and later Brig. Gen. Harold W. Nelson, as CMH commanders, were supportive and encouraging. Jeffrey ]. Clarke, Ph.D., CMH chief historian, became a guiding light as the head of the CMH panel that reviewed the manuscript. The members of his panel were most helpfitl, particularly Col. Robert]. T. Joy, M.D., USA, Ret., a long-standing mentor to whom I had turned for coaching when I was first tapped for this task. I am also grateful to Dr. Clarke and Albert E. Cowdrey, Ph.D., of the CMH staff, for coaching me during the final drafts of the manu script. Jeff's support was unflagging, and Bert was enormously giving of his time and considerable talent in shaping the text. My appreciation also goes to John Elsberg, CMH editor in chief, who oversaw the production of the volume, and to Steve Hardyman, Beth MacKenzie, and Catherine Heerin of CMH who shep herded the manuscript through its printing, adopting the book as their own. Special commendation is also due to Donna Griffitts, for twelve years, until her untimely death in 1986, the head of the Joint Medical Library of the Army and Air Force Surgeons General. Donna had an abiding faith in the Medical Department and a genuine love of its history. Her assistance was treasured by me and countless others over those years. She was a great help during the initial research phase of the book from 1983 to 1986. Donna symbolizes the many peo ple who gave of themselves to this project and who made it possible. Finally, computers were with me from the beginning as automation swept through the military, government, and industry. The solitary author in his study Vllt