Navy Environmental and Preventive Medicine Unit Two Celebrates 75 Years of Excellence

Courtesy Story

Navy and Marine Corps Force Health Protection Command

The Navy Environmental and Preventive Medicine Unit Two (NEPMU Two) celebrates its 75th anniversary, March 30, 2024, on Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia. Established on March 10, 1949, the Fleet Epidemic Disease Control Units (FEDCUs), now known as the Navy Environmental and Preventive Medicine Units (NEPMUs), were born out of a necessity to address health concerns faced by Navy and Marine Corps personnel, particularly in the realms of environmental health and preventive medicine.

During the event, retired Cmdr. Leyton Turner, an industrial hygiene officer, previously with the Military Sealift Command, participated as a guest speaker for the event. Mr. Turner began by reflecting on the origins of the FEDCUs, as well as the industrial hygiene laboratories that were eventually consolidated into today’s Comprehensive Industrial Hygiene Laboratories (CIHLs) embedded in NEPMU Two and NEPMU Five.

Mr. Turner highlighted the legacy defined by innovation, excellence, and resilience, and summed-up the history by adding, “we continued to strive for better quality and better service year after year, and that’s the bottom line.”

When the FEDCUs were established in 1949, the U.S. Navy FEDCU One was established in Norfolk, Virginia, evolving from the World War II-era epidemiology unit 24. In 1971 the unit became the Navy Environmental and Preventive Medicine Unit Two. In its 75-year history, NEPMU Two has provided garrison preventive medicine support to Department of Navy (DoN) commands throughout the eastern continental United States (CONUS) and has deployed personnel to deliver advanced preventive medicine capabilities in all geographic combatant commands.

Over the next seven and a half decades, the NEPMUs would evolve to meet changing occupational, industrial, environmental, and vector-borne threats to the naval force. The NEPMUs incorporated increasingly complex and capable preventive and analytic equipment, adapting its mission to encompass a wide range of force health protection services. They would go on to expand their scope of disease prevention and mitigation, ultimately extending to broad and diverse areas as food safety, ship and shore water system safety, disease vector control, advanced chemical/biological/radiological threat detection, occupational health threat assessment, and industrial hygiene laboratory analysis – ensuring comprehensive protection for DoN and joint personnel in every facet of their service.

Today, NEPMU Two staffs, trains, equips, and deploys three of navy medicine’s six active duty Forward Deployable Preventive Medicine Units (FDPMUs), and continues to provide garrison preventive medicine consultation and response to DoN Installations, military treatment facilities, and operational commands throughout the eastern CONUS and U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) areas of responsibility.

“Mr. Turner reminded us of our rich history, where we came from, and why these units were established,” said Cmdr. John Owings, officer in charge of NEPMU Two. “He also taught us the names and faces of many individuals who essentially invented and built not only NEPMU Two and our Navy CIHLs, but our entire Navy public health enterprise. We all get caught-up in the daily grind, and we are very fortunate to have this opportunity to reflect on our long history, and to remember where we come from, why we come to work every day, and ultimately, that we do this to protect the Sailors, Marines, and civilians who have to be ready to fight, and be kept in the fight when it happens.”

Looking ahead to the future, NEPMU Two and its sister NEPMUs remain poised to continue their legacy of excellence and steadfast commitment to their mission. As it embarks on the next chapter, NEPMU Two reaffirms its dedication to innovation, readiness, and service, ensuring that the health and well-being of Sailors, Marines, and our Joint partners are protected for the next 75 years and beyond.