Veterans and Military Service Organization Roundtable Meeting, April 13, 2004

The April meeting focused on two major areas. Rear Adm. Babb discussed the Commissioned Corps Readiness Force (CCRF) and Major Annmarie Amaral provided a briefing on the Army Medical Department and Public Health Service.

Rear Adm. Babb explained that the Office of the Surgeon General established the CCRF in 1994. The force is only open to active duty personal. CCRF has assisted the Department of Health and Human Services with the ability to respond to urgent public health needs, such as war or disasters. He highlighted some of the recent activities that CCRF has been involved with such as; Hurricane Isabelle, Tropical Storm Allison and the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. CCRF will become Corps Readiness and Response and change from an all-volunteer organization to an expected responsibility by all Corps officers. Readiness and Response may be used as a measure of promotion and career development.

Major Amaral explained in FY01, the authorization was given under the Floyd D. Spence National Defense Authorization Act to conduct a program to augment the Army Medical Department for the detailing of reserve commissioned officers of the Public Health Service not in an active status. Public Health Service provides volunteers to back-fill vacancies. Individuals must be willing to work a minimal of 31 days, but no more than 240. The volunteers tend to be rank heavy, which caused the expenses to be higher, but in turn the volunteers have more experience. In FY03, volunteers worked 1267 total man-days.

Dr. Kilpatrick discussed the current cases of leishmaniasis. As of April 13, 572 individuals from Iraq have been diagnosed with cutaneous leishmaniasis. The Army is treating these individuals with the investigation drug, Pentostam. Currently, all servicemembers diagnosed with leishmaniasis return to the United States for treatment. There has been an increased emphasis on unit commanders to brief about the preventative measures in place. The peak season for sand flies in Iraq is from April to September/October. Additionally, as servicemembers are returning, they are receiving cards with numbers to call should they develop any skin liaisons, because the incubation time can be anywhere from a few weeks to several months. Two individuals from Afghanistan were diagnosed with visceral leishmaniasis and have been receiving treatment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

The next VSO/MSO roundtable meeting is scheduled for May 20, 2004 at 10 a.m.