MEDCoE releases Army Health System Doctrine Smart Book

Story by Jose Rodriguez

U.S. Army Medical Center of Excellence

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO, TX-The U.S. Army Medical Cener of Excellence published MEDCoE pamphlet 4-02 Army Health System (AHS) Doctrine Smart Book on Jun. 6, 2024. The document was released in commemoration of the 80th anniversary of D-Day.

MEDCoE PAM 4-02 is a significant revision that includes information from Joint Publication 4-02 (JP 4-02), Joint Health Services, Army Field Manuals 3.0 (FM 3-0), Operations, and FM-3-94, Armies, Corps, and Division Operations, Army Techniques Publication 3-91 (ATP 3-91), Division Operations, ATP 3.91.1, The Joint Air Ground Integration Center, ATP 3-92, Corps Operations, ATP 3-93, Theater Army Operations and draft operational medicine doctrinal publications like FM 4-02, Army Health System.

The pamphlet begins with a foreword from Brig. Gen. Clinton Murray, commanding general MEDCoE. Chapter 1 includes an extensive update to the AHS Logic chart to bring it into alignment with the revised FM 3-0 published in Oct. 2022. Added additional figures to graphically depict roles of care, global health engagement and AHS contributions to multidomain operations. An updated AHS Operational Framework figure. Added information on operational medicine’s contribution to multidomain that includes unified action, casualty response, triage, and eligibility of care determination. Added updated definitions of medical command and control, Force Health Protection (FHP), and Health Service Support (HSS). Updated medical function tables and added draft information from FM 4-02.

Chapter 2 includes an extensive update to the AHS doctrine publications hierarchy, updated AHS publication by medical function and updates to several draft tables of content and added proposed completion dates to match updated production milestones.

Chapter 3 includes updated several task organization and military symbol figures to mirror Section 1 and table of organization and equipment data per FMSWeb and additional detailed information to the Theater Medical Command (TMC), Medical Brigade, and Multi-functional Medical Battalion (MMB).

Chapter 4 includes updated and aligned all medical function areas to the new Army strategic contexts of competition below armed conflict, crisis and armed conflict with the Oct. 2022 FM 3-0. Also added is a discussion and table for operational medicine’s contribution to the Army’s tenets of operations and imperatives and updates on all figures.

MEDCoE PAM 4-02 includes an appendix (Appendix A) for operational medicine specific terms, minor update to Appendix B, AHS Symbology to address Combined Arms Center changes to symbology that impacted medical, added a detailed list of acronyms and abbreviations commonly used within operational medicine and corrected minor grammatical errors and doctrinal terms, symbols, and graphics throughout.

This publication is not designed to make readers subject matter expert but will enlighten them on the basics and serve as a source for what doctrinal publication to go to for more detailed information. The intent is that this Smart Book be a living breathing command publication that will be updated every 180 days (normally in March and September), or as needed.

MEDCoE PAM 4-02 can be downloaded on MilSuite at https://www.milsuite.mil/book/docs/DOC-609342.