Defense Health Care: DOD Needs to Improve Force Health Protection and Surveillance Processes

Following the 1990-91 Persian Gulf War, many servicemembers experienced health problems that they attributed to their military service in the Persian Gulf. However, a lack of servicemember health and deployment data hampered subsequent investigations into the nature and causes of these illnesses. Public Law 105-85, enacted in November 1997, required the Department of Defense (DOD) to establish a system to assess the medical condition of service members before and after deployments. GAO reported on (1) the Army's and Air Force's compliance with DOD's force health protection and surveillance requirements for servicemembers deploying in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in Central Asia and Operation Joint Guardian (OJG) in Kosovo and (2) the status of DOD efforts to correct problems related to the accuracy and completeness of databases reflecting which servicemembers were deployed to certain locations. (Defense Health Care: Quality Assurance Process Needed to Improve Force Health Protection and Surveillance (GAO-03-1041, Sept. 19, 2003)) GAO was asked to testify on its findings regarding the Army's and Air Force's compliance with DOD's force health protection and surveillance policies. For its report, GAO reviewed records for statistical samples of active duty servicemembers at four military installations.