PUBLIC HEALTH COMMAND, WEST
The Public Health Command, West (PHC, W), headquartered at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, is a subordinate command to the U.S. The unit was redesignated on 3 October 2023 to Public Health Command, West from Public Health Command – Central to emphasize the broad region or responsibility to include [almost] everything in the contiguous U.S. “West” of the
Mississippi River. This change followed the larger scale redesignation of Regional Health Command – Central to Medical Readiness Command, West; and preceded the redesignation of PHC, W’s subordinate battalions to Veterinary Readiness Activities (Fort Carson and Fort Cavazos). Established from the former Public Health Command Region – South (PHCR-S), the unit realigned to MRC, W on 14 September 2015 from the former U.S. As a result, the PHC, W area of responsibility grew to encompass 20 Central U.S. States, Central America, and South America. Organized into a regional headquarters with technical public health capabilities, PHC, W has two subordinate Public Health Activity Commands headquartered at Fort Hood, Texas and Fort Carson, Colorado and two Department of Defense agencies, the DoD Food Analysis and Diagnostic Laboratory (FADL), Fort Sam Houston, Texas and the LTC Daniel E. Holland Military Working Dog Hospital, Lackland AFB, Texas. On 22 July 2011, the U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine (USACHPPM) and U.S. Army Veterinary Command (USAVETCOM) merged into the USAPHC, headquartered at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, with five subordinate regional commands. As a result of this transition, the former USACHPPM-South, Great Plains Regional Veterinary Command (GPRVC), Southeast Regional Veterinary Command (SRVC), DoD Military Working Dog Veterinary Services (DODMWDVS), and DoD FADL transformed into the PHCR-S, a robust organization with personnel located in 11 Southeastern U.S. States, Puerto Rico, Guantanamo Bay, and Joint Task Force-Bravo (JTF-B) Honduras. The PHCR-S mission expanded to include promoting health and preventing disease, injury, and disability in Soldiers and military retirees, their families, and Army Civilian employees; as well as providing full-spectrum veterinary services for the U.S. Army and Department of Defense
The legacy USACHPPM-South can be traced back over 50 years to the Fort McPherson Army Medical Laboratory. In 1974, the U.S. Army Environmental Hygiene Agency (USAEHA) took command of the public health and environmental resources of the Army Medical Laboratories and established regional USAEHA divisions. On 2 August 1994, USAEHA was re-designated as USACHPPM and the division headquartered at Fort McPherson, GA became the USACHPPM-South. In 2005, the Defense Base Realignment and Closure Commission officially recommended the closure of Fort McPherson. As a result, USACHPPM-South relocated to Fort Sam Houston, Texas. On 30 October 2009, following a $7.6 million renovation, the new offices of USACHPPM-South became fully operational and the Fort McPherson office was closed. The legacy Regional Veterinary Commands, DODMWDVS, and FADL can be traced back through the proud history of the U.S. Army Veterinary Corps established in 1916. In the early 1980s, the Army was named as the Executive Agent for veterinary services. Since then, veterinary support has been performed by Army Veterinary Corps personnel. In 1994, USAVETCOM was established as a major subordinate command of the U.S. Army Medical Command. On 28 May 2009, the DODMWDVS facility at Lackland AFB was formally dedicated to LTC Daniel E. Holland. In 2011, the GPRVC, SRVC, DODMWDVS, and FADL merged with USACHPPM-South to form PHCR-S. This dynamic organization is fulfilling its vision to be a unified and integrated public health team providing world class regional support as part of the public health enterprise. The PHC, W serves as the single point of accountability and technical expertise for public health in the Western area of operational responsibility. While this is an open forum, it's also family-friendly, so please keep your comments and wall posts clean. In addition to keeping it family-friendly, we ask that you follow our posting guidelines here. If you don't comply, your message will be removed:
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