The Armed Services Blood Program is the official blood program of the U.S. military. We are a joint operation that collects, tests, stores, transports and distributes blood products to military locations around the world, wherever and whenever it’s needed most.

From our establishment 70 years ago as a joint field operating agency in 1952 under President Harry Truman and becoming a fully operational blood program by 1962, the ASBP was a distinct program by the time the Vietnam War started, ready to support the military's blood product needs. Our decades long mission of providing lifesaving support for our warfighters carries on today.

Read the Armed Services Blood Program Fact Sheet to learn more.

Mission

Our mission is to provide quality blood products and support to military operations worldwide.

Armed Services Blood Bank Fellowship

The Armed Services Blood Bank Fellowship is an 18-month program founded in 1958 and mandated in 1972 by the Department of Defense with the mission of training the next generation of blood bankers in support of maintaining the military blood program.

This program has three objectives:

• Prepare armed services laboratory officers in their roles as military blood program officers
• Train these officers in all aspects of technical and administrative blood banking, thus preparing them for the Specialist in Blood Banking national registry exam
• Provide graduate credit for this intensive course work by way of affiliation with The George Washington University

This tri-service training program is specifically designed to prepare selected career officers to become managers of large military hospital blood banks, transfusion services, blood donor centers, area and joint blood program officers, and service blood program officers.

The Armed Services Blood Bank Fellowship at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs upon the recommendation of the Committee on Accreditation of Specialist in Blood Bank Technology and Transfusion Medicine. 

Read the Armed Services Blood Bank Fellowship Bulletin and SBB Certification to learn more.