Dr. Stephen Ferrara reflects on the Military Health System’s successes in 2025 and reinforces the critical role of medical support to warfighters to increase Joint Force readiness. Ferrara was the acting assistant secretary of war for health affairs from Jan. 20, 2025, to Jan. 12, 2026, and now serves as the principal deputy assistant secretary of war

Keith Bass, a retired U.S. Navy commander and health care leader, was sworn in Jan. 12, 2026, as the assistant secretary of war for health affairs.

When Maj. Gen. Joseph Ignatius Martin joined the U.S. Army in 1918, he began a military career that spanned 37 years, becoming one of the most influential leaders in military medicine.

New reforms to the Military Health System privileging process will allow providers to carry their privileges between any stateside and overseas military hospitals and clinics without repeating the process upon arrival. The updated policy will streamline the privileging process and bolster readiness across the MHS.

The military offers a variety of mental health support, therapies, advice lines, and telehealth to help service members address and succeed in their unique military lifestyle challenges.

When she found it hard to reconnect with family after a deployment, this military commander and mental health professional realized she too needed a helping hand.

In 2025, the Military Health System celebrates 30 years of providing data-driven evidence to help military leaders understand health trends and make informed decisions about who can serve and how to keep the force healthy and ready to win the fight

Air Force Capt. (Dr.) Laura Barrera shares her journey from enlisted senior airman to a flight surgeon and emergency physician. She credits her success to the Uniformed Services University’s Enlisted to Medical School Preparatory Program, or EMDP2 — which charts a course for enlisted service members to become doctors, including challenging coursework, ...

Air Force Capt. (Dr.) Lindsay Slimski has never let life’s challenges stop her from achieving her dreams of pursuing medicine. She shares her story of resilience in the face of challenges, and her unique approach to becoming a military doctor through the Uniformed Services University’s Enlisted to Medical Degree Preparatory Program.

Army Capt. (Dr.) Kristan Baird was a medic deployed in Afghanistan. Once home again, juggling family life and figuring out what’s next, she decided to become a military doctor. Her journey began in the Enlisted to Medical Degree Preparatory Program, or EMDP2, at the Uniformed Services University.

MSMR publishes a monthly summary of reportable medical events documented in the Disease Reporting System internet by Military Health System care providers and public health officials.

This report provides cumulative seasonal influenza hospitalization rates of service members, stratified by sex, age group, race and ethnicity, branch of service, recruit site, and location, both in the U.S. and overseas.

This study developed predictive models to forecast future long COVID diagnoses and compared each model prediction to observed diagnoses.

This report describes associations between prior body mass index and prior physical fitness performance with COVID-19 hospitalization, adjusting for age, race and ethnicity, vaccination, and comorbidities.

This report provides updated data and analysis on measles, mumps, rubella and varicella cases from 2019 through 2024, describing trends among U.S. Military Health System beneficiaries and stratifying cases by immunization status.