Research for Medical Service Operation

In the future, medical support for Naval Expeditionary Forces will face different and perhaps more difficult challenges. Under traditional doctrine, medical support relies heavily on placing its assets on the beach, after an initial buildup of forces clears the area of enemy threats. In future operations, however, under the Operational Maneuver From the Sea Concept, there will often be no buildup of forces at a beach landing site. The warfighters will operate with great force and at a pace that allows them to dictate the terms of the conflict. They will act decisively, at multiple locations if called for, over large distances, keeping the enemy reactive and ineffective by applying strengths to enemy weaknesses. Small units will move independently, exploiting weaknesses that could not have been predicted before battle. This research memorandum addresses two questions: What are Navy medicine's alternatives for handling the greater need for information and communication in the new battle environment? And What are Navy medicine's minimum information and communication requirements for doing its job in such taxing conditions?

The Center for Naval Analyses (CNA) has performed formal studies of Navy medicine for over two decades. These studies have covered a wide range of topics and used many different research methods. Because these studies have been performed for many different Navy commands, they would be difficult to find without a centralized listing. This information memorandum is a bibliography with abstracts of all formal research conducted by CNA concerning Navy medicine. The studies are organized as follows: compensation, recruiting, entry standards, and attrition; cost and medical organization studies; data quality analyses; decision analysis; Operation Desert Storm/Desert Shield; peacetime medical requirements; TRICARE evaluation and support; and wartime medical requirements.