The focus of the visit was to provide admiral Taylor additional insight into the mission and capabilities of Navy public health, including operational preventive medicine.

As a matter of background, NMCPHC command functions are transferring as part of the NDAA 19 section 7-11 following completion of beneficiary mission transfer in the Military Treatment Facilities to DHA later this year.

Taylor spent time meeting with NMCPHC leadership and shared his vision for public health transformation under the DHA “umbrella” once the transition of Army, Navy and, Air Force public health functions from their respective services is complete.

According to Taylor, the ultimate goal is to improve public health services across the MHS, including the standardization of services where practical.

“Of course the Services have variation in product lines, but much of what we do in public health across the enterprise overlaps nicely, so we’ll want to standardize where it makes sense,” said Taylor.

Taylor envisions a “future state” where each service is capable of developing a solution to another service’s public health issue.

“Once properly trained, it will only make sense to send a closer Air Force public health solution for an Army or Navy public health issue if one doesn’t already exist locally,” added Taylor. “What is most important is a proper solution set is identified, responds, and resolves the concern as efficiently and effectively as possible; the color of the uniform will not always matter.”

Although the transition of public health services under the DHA is still in its early stages, Capt. Brian Feldman, NMCPHC Commander, expressed his optimism for a smooth transition and gratitude that Taylor was able to take the time to sit down with Navy public health leaders and hear their concerns.

"We were honored to welcome Rear Admiral Taylor, the first DHA Public Health Agency Flag Officer, who is leading our efforts to come together to improve delivery of public health services, through standardization of policy, guidance, training, systems, and processes over 19 functional areas,” said Feldman. “On behalf of NMCPHC we are thankful for his advocacy and engagement as we provided an overview of the how the Navy team delivers the spectrum of public health services to the Fleet and Marine Corps, and our successes in joint collaboration which will serve as a foundation for future success."

Following his visit to NMCPHC headquarters, Taylor visited NEPMU-2 to learn more about Navy’s operational public health mission and get a first-hand glimpse into some of the Navy preventive medicine capabilities readily available to Fleet and Marine Corps customers.

“NEPMU-2 provides specialized force health protection support to Navy and Marine Corps operational units, enhancing mission readiness,” said Cmdr. Steve Schutt, NEPMU-2 Officer-in-Charge. “This visit was a great opportunity for us to showcase some of our unique capabilities that support the warfighter.”

A highlight of the visit to NEPMU-2 was a tour of their Forward Deployable Preventive Medicine Unit (FDPMU) static display. The FDPMU platform plays an invaluable role in providing key preventive medicine services in support of operational readiness and force health protection.

“I’m impressed with the capability nested within the NEPMU-2 and the well-designed process to mitigate exposure, protect the force, and enable operational decision making,” said Taylor. “Throughout the tour, each presenter was on their A-game; I could tell that this team really knows their stuff well.”

DHA’s public health over-arching goal is to detect and assess disease threats to the war-fighter before exposures and to prevent diseases from negatively affecting health and mission. DHA intends to continue enhancing integrated bio-surveillance and coordinating with Department of Defense mission partners to provide early detection and warning of potential threats in the operational environment and in-garrison locations.

The DHA Public Health directorate is comprised of over 320 leaders and experts assigned throughout the world, including liaison officers operating within the Northern, Southern, Indo-Pacific, and European Combatant Commands.

NMCPHC develops and shapes public health for the U.S. Navy and Marines Corps through health surveillance, epidemiology and analysis, disease and injury prevention, and public health consultation. Learn more by going to www.nmcphc.med.navy.mil. Follow NMCPHC on social media at https://www.facebook.com/NavyAndMarineCorpsPublicHealthCenter http://twitter.com/nmcphc and https://www.instagram.com/nmcphc/