The Effect Of Medical Readiness On The Mission Of The United States Army

The mission of the United States Army is to fight and win the nations wars. The army accomplishes this by providing prompt and sustained combat operations on land utilizing Active, Reserve and National Guard Soldiers. Medical readiness is a key part to the army’s ability to accomplish this mission. Medical readiness effects the availability of the Soldier to deploy, attend schools, and the overall strength of the unit.
Deployable
A Soldier is non-deployable if they fail to meet specified requirements. A Soldier must have the ability to be under the direct operational control of the reporting unit with in seventy-two hours, or is otherwise considered non-deployable. There are many different deployment limitations caused by medical readiness. If a Soldier has a permanent profile and is processing through a medical evaluation board (MEB) or a military occupational specialty (MOS) retention board they are limited. Likewise, if a Soldier is pregnant or on a postpartum profile, they are limited. Even a dental readiness class of three will limit the deployment status of a Soldier. Lastly, Soldiers may be identified as deployable to some theaters of operations, but not deployable in others. Although the medical limitation of an individual
is documented and final, a unit must be conscientious of their deployment restrictions and limitations as it will directly reflect the unit’s readiness and deployability to specific areas. Thus, many medical readiness considerations must be taken into account to measure the deployability of a Soldier.
Schools
Another factor of the units overall readiness is schools. For a Soldier to be considered individually ready, they must be MOS trained, have obtained the proper professional military education (PME), and have completed the appropriate school(s) to be awarded any required additional skills identifiers (ASI). If Soldiers are unable to meet required standards they are unable to attend necessary schools. Many MOS schools will not allow Soldiers who have a permanent profile to attend MOS training without an approved waiver. A Soldier with a temporary profile cannot attend 12B, Combat Engineer, reclass. The army physical fitness test (APFT) has a tremendous effect on Soldiers attending PME schools. A Soldier’s medical readiness can be a key factor in their ability to pass the APFT and meet height and weight standards. The Soldier’s individual medical readiness has been, in my experience, one of the top two reason for not attending schools.
Strength
The unit’s strength is effected when Soldiers who are not medically ready have to be moved or counted as non-deployable on the unit’s unit readiness report (USR).
When a Soldier cannot deploy they effect the unit’s strength. In turn, a decrease in strength hampers the unit from providing meaningful training. A unit can have all the new and high-tech equipment in the army, but if only fifty percent of its Soldiers are deployable, they are ineffective. When a Soldier moves from a unit before a deployment and is replaced with a new Soldier this can cause problems in both training and unit cohesion. The Soldier’s medical readiness is an integral part to ensuring the unit has the strength that it needs to complete its
mission.
The availability of the Soldier to deploy, attend schools, and the overall strength of the unit is a key part to the Army’s mission. Without its units at full strength, its Soldiers trained in the correct MOS and PME, and the ability to deploy promptly units are not accomplishing their goals. The ramification that medical readiness has had on the APFT and height and weight is astounding to me. For units to overcome these deficiencies, the Soldier’s individual medical readiness will have to be a priority not only by the Unit but also by the Soldier.
Soldier Readiness
One of the most important factors in a Soldiers readiness is their medical condition. The Soldier’s medical readiness is their responsibility; however, the consequence of the Soldiers irresponsibility effects the unit. While working with Soldiers in trying to resolve medical issues through line of duty investigations, board actions or civilian doctors there has been one constant—Soldiers will procrastinate for as long as they can before resolving medical issues. Most reserve Soldiers are unable to go to the local troop medical clinic to resolve something as simple as an indeterminate medical readiness status. If Soldiers do not attend the scheduled medical readiness event provided by the unit, they have to go to their civilian doctor, the Department of Veterans Affairs, or wait for funding for the state to send them. While the Soldier is waiting to see their doctor or dentist the unit’s deployable strength goes down. Soldiers who are unable to train hinder the units overall training.
Conclusion
Medical readiness can have adverse effects on Army Operations by effecting every aspect of training, Unit Readiness, and overall Soldiers readiness. Medical Readiness ultimately influences training when Soldiers who have limitations placed on them are unable to train. Training standards required by Objective T not obtained when Soldiers are unavailable. Excessive amount training spent on Medical readiness. Medical readiness negatively affects a unit’s readiness when Soldiers are unable to deploy, attend Schools, or the unit’s strength is low. A Soldier’s individual readiness is ultimately their overall responsibility but their actions can have a far-reaching effect units overall operation.