2025 marks the 30th anniversary of the Medical Standards Analytics and Research program, the Department of War's premier analytical capability, providing policymakers with actionable data to shape evidence-based medical standards and support military health and performance.

In 1995, the U.S. Army Surgeon General established the Accession Medical Standards Analysis and Research Activity to improve the health, readiness, and resilience of service members by transforming complex data into actionable insights to guide policy. With its mission expanded, it is now known as the Medical Standards Analytics and Research program, or MSAR, and is housed in the Statistics and Epidemiology branch at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. The program continues to deliver science-based recommendations to optimize recruitment and retention and enhance warfighter readiness.

“The standards for accession into the U.S. military are high, uncompromising, and clear,” wrote Secretary of War Pete Hegseth in an April 2025 memo emphasizing that “Young Americans seeking to serve in the greatest fighting force in history must be physically and mentally capable of performing their duties in the harshest conditions.”

Data-driven support for these rigorous standards makes MSAR’s key capabilities even more imperative, as MSAR generates knowledge products tracking that service members are physically and medically fit to meet the demands of military service.

With physicians, epidemiologists, statisticians, and data analysts at the helm, MSAR oversees large-scale epidemiological analyses, predictive modeling, and biostatistical assessments to evaluate medical standards by examining the impact of medical conditions, occupational exposures, diseases, and injuries on military service.

"MSAR's core mission is to validate, standardize, analyze, and transform complex data into actionable insights,” said Dr. Natalya Weber, director of the WRAIR’s Statistics and Epidemiology branch and chief of MSAR. “Our work empowers leaders to make informed decisions regarding medical standards, recruitment, and warfighter health and readiness.”

Over the last 30 years, the team has generated dozens of reports, above 60 peer-reviewed journal publications, and countless other products to provide valuable insights into medical readiness, adverse attrition, and disability evaluations.

Guided by the Offices of the Assistant Secretary of War for Health Affairs, Health Services Policy and Oversight, and Under Secretary of War for Personnel and Readiness Military Personnel Policy, MSAR provides continuous data-driven assessments, evaluating the rigorousness of medical standards and service-specific waiver decisions. The offices oversee data provision to MSAR and direct the depth and breadth of its programmatic tasking. This is just one example of leadership’s dedicated efforts to foster a data-driven culture across the department, which helps inform decisions at all levels.

“The MSAR focus is on ensuring that we fulfill our mission with precision and uphold the highest standards of data integrity,” said Caitlin Rushin, deputy chief of MSAR. “We ensure that our analytic datasets are accurate, actionable, and expertly analyzed to provide the insights necessary for informed decision-making.”

Evidence-based medical standards make sure service members can perform their duties effectively and safely — directly contributing to mission success. By proactively enforcing clear medical standards, the DOW reduces long-term health care costs, optimizes personnel availability, and supports veteran care. 

For 30 years, MSAR has provided critical epidemiologic and analytic support to the Accession and Retention Medical Standards Working Group, providing numerous analyses detailing accession, waiver, disqualification, retention, and disability evaluation trends. The team’s systematic generation of critical data metrics and comparative analyses has allowed the working group to address medical readiness more efficiently and adjust when needed. This approach maximizes cost benefits, workload, and time, all while advancing readiness.

“MSAR’s value isn’t just in describing medical trends, but in predicting potential challenges to warfighter readiness,” said Army Maj. Jared Egbert, the associate director of WRAIR’s Statistics and Epidemiology branch and associate chief of MSAR. “Ultimately, our work ensures policy isn't reactive, but anticipatory, safeguarding our nation’s fighting strength.”

Notably, MSAR follows service members who enter service with medical waivers to examine their attrition, deployability, and health care utilization in comparison with those fully medically qualified. MSAR also identifies medical conditions that are most often waived, rarely approved, or frequently associated with high attrition and cost. These important indicators keep senior leaders informed regarding where policies might need to change and estimate impact of the changes.

U.S. Army soldiers with the 524th Division Sustainment Support Battalion, 25th Division Sustainment Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, compete in an Army Fitness Test, May 21, 2025, at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. To enhance warfighter readiness, the Medical Standards Analytics and Research program delivers science-based recommendations fueled by data. Evidence-based medical standards help ensure that service members can perform their duties effectively and safely — directly contributing to mission success.

The data collected directly informs the DOW’s medical standards policies, particularly DoDI 6130.03 Volumes 1 and 2 which are instrumental for maintaining a strong and lethal military. By identifying these trends, the MSAR team improves efficiency and saves time, money, and effort in the recruitment and medical screening process.

Accession and retention medical standards ensure service members can perform their duties without posing undue risk to themselves or others. These standards provide clear guidance for military health care providers, line officers, and other officials to determine whether a service member can continue service.

Without standards, the consequences could be dire.

“Without solid accession and retention medical standards, we would have a military that is likely not medically ready to perform routine service duties and support our nation in the event of a conflict,” said Tim Powers, MSAR’s senior statistician.

With a focus on readiness, MSAR continuously reevaluates standards and concludes that Service Medical Waiver Review Authorities strike an appropriate balance between managing adverse attrition and meeting the unique needs of each service. MSAR findings validate the effectiveness of its data-driven approach, confirming that medical standards are upheld to align with dynamic operational requirements and applied within the established evidence-based framework.

For more about MSAR’s work and to access recent research and reports, visit WRAIR’s website.