For the Military Health System, the last decade has been defined by monumental change, arguably the most transformational period in modern MHS history.

This era of change began in 2013 with the creation of the Defense Health Agency as the U.S. military’s newest combat support agency and the subsequent creation of military medical markets to improve regional resource sharing. Transformation accelerated between 2018 and 2023, when more than 800 hospitals and clinics, along with tens of thousands of civilian personnel, were transferred from the military departments to the DHA under a congressionally mandated reorganization. The U.S. Army, the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Air Force medical departments undertook their own service-unique worldwide restructurings. Concurrently, the MHS deployed its new electronic health record across the globe, and implemented major changes to the TRICARE Health Plan and Pharmacy programs.

And all while navigating the once-in-a-generation COVID-19 pandemic.

Richard H. Breen Jr. watched all of this unfold from his perspective as director of strategic communications and public affairs for the MHS, the Office of the Assistant Secretary of War for Health Affairs, and the Defense Health Agency since 2012. And what he saw was opportunity.

“The success of these changes hinged on the incredible work of thousands of talented professionals,” said Breen. “For someone in my business, that is storytelling at its finest — to be a force multiplier through communication and explain to our audiences what we are doing, why, and the impact — the value these changes bring to improve the MHS so it can better support the warfighter and their families.”

Breen retires in April 2026 after a career spanning 50 years in military, government, nonprofit, and corporate communications. He completed 30 years in the U.S. Army at the rank of colonel and became the top MHS communications official in 2012, advising successive DHA directors and politically appointed assistant secretaries.

For leaders tasked with steering massive enterprises, he believes that giving communicators a "seat at the table" is the key to aligning the organization, building trust, and ensuring major initiatives succeed.

What’s equally crucial, Breen noted, is ensuring that strategic communication is not seen as a secondary function to explain decisions after the fact — but as an essential tool for leaders.

“From a strategic communication standpoint, you have to identify why you are doing each mission, what your messaging is, and what the impact will be,” Breen said. “Leaders also need to ask, “What are my key critical messages? How do we align everybody to stay on those messages?’”

‘Seat at the table’ to create effective communication

For Breen, who has won numerous awards for his work including being inducted into the United States Army Public Affairs Hall of Fame, strategic communication must be built into planning from the start.

Communication is not something leaders do after decisions are made. It is part of how change succeeds in the first place. He explained with a system as large and diverse as the MHS, strategic communication helps turn policy into action by giving people clarity, context, and confidence.

That is why Breen sees communication as a force multiplier for commanders and senior leaders.

“You have to have a leader who believes in communications and has the trust and confidence in communications,” he said. “We always say we need to have a seat at the table. Communicators must be included as part of the leadership decision-making team.”

That seat is critical, Breen said, because communicators should not be brought in only to draft announcements or react to major decisions after the fact. They need to be in the room to shape how leaders explain intent, sequence information, anticipate resistance, and talk about the desired outcome.

Consistency creates credibility

“You’ve got to go to the leaders throughout the organization and show what you can do,” he said. “And that way those leaders become your advocates.” His point is that communication teams do more than distribute information — they have to understand the background and context, become trusted advisers and credible guides. He stressed that a proactive approach is essential to getting the right message out at the right time.

“You’ve got to encourage leaders to think at the strategic communication level and not just the operational level, tell them how communication can support their vision, and how communication impacts everyone at all levels,” Breen said. “What are your strategic priorities, and where are you going? Then your communications team can be a combat multiplier.”

That is especially true in military medicine, where enterprise decisions can land very differently across the workforce. That role becomes even more important during major reform, Breen noted, when organizations face competing messages and pressure from many directions. Communication teams do more than publish information; they help leaders frame it, prioritize it, and deliver it clearly enough for people to understand it.

Consistency, Breen said, is one of the most important principles.

“It matters in an enterprise as large as the MHS. Consistent messages from trusted leaders steady an organization,” he said, explaining that mixed messages can slow progress, manifest distrust, and create confusion.

Evolving communications in a digital age

Breen said the future of military health communication will depend on stronger audience targeting and smarter digital strategy. The old model of sending one broad message to everyone is no longer enough.

A modern communication strategy, he noted, has to account for how people actually consume information. A workforce spread across military hospitals, clinics, headquarters, continents and operational settings cannot be reached through a single channel.

“From a digital standpoint, you’ve got to identify No. 1: who is the target audience,” Breen said. “Then, identify how can you reach that audience through your digital communications.”

For Breen, digital communication should be intentional, and digital strategies should go directly to where the audience you are trying to reach consumes information. It does not mean abandoning traditional channels, “it means becoming more precise and intentional.” A good digital strategy coupled with solid traditional channels equals success.

Breen underlined that communication teams must continue to prove the value of their work. Planning and execution matter, he said, but they are not enough by themselves — especially when measuring impact.

“There are four phases of communications — research, planning, execution, and evaluation,” Breen said, “We have a tendency, in military communications and public affairs, to focus on the planning and the execution phases, because quite frankly we are very good in those lanes. But there has to be time for both research and evaluation. The challenge is always time especially in the evaluation phase because most times we are moving on to the next mission.”

What may lag behind, he said, is the evidence.

“The analytics and the evaluation are the things that you can show to leaders,” he said. Without them, “you’re not going to demonstrate mission success.”

Storytelling through strategic communications

Yet while distribution channels are key, an organization needs to identify how to share their story and why it matters, Breen emphasized.

“Storytelling is always the key to strong communication and is not just information delivery. How do you get your public affairs teams to tell that story?” he said.

“You have to pitch a story, and it’s hard. But this is where the creative part of our craft can become the magic sauce to unique and compelling stories.”

In military health, this means linking real stories of warfighters, doctors, nurses, medics, innovation, research, with others who support patient care, efficiency, modernization, and, ultimately, readiness.

Breen said the next phase of digital communication will also depend on trusted voices.

“The future of digital platforms is not how do you grow your audience,” he said. “It is really about how we grow our influencers. The influencers are those leaders at all levels who can effectively deliver the message through the magic of storytelling. That is the key bit — they have to be trained and developed to be most effective.

Breen stressed leaders cannot afford to treat strategic communication as an afterthought, especially in a system defined by continual change. Leaders must “consistently repeat the message and show it and prove what the value add is to the organization.”

He said one of his favorite phrases is “there's no kind of promotion like shameless self-promotion.” The real meaning: Use strategic communications as the tool to communicate the value of the MHS mission, its impact, who it serves, and why.

“Strategic communications isn’t about promoting yourself — it’s how you sell and promote your work,” he explained. “Get out there, show off, and brag about it because you're bragging about the service, you're bragging about the team. You are telling warfighters and families and other audiences how the MHS supports them and how the MHS supports the nation — you're bragging about the value.”

He encourages leaders at all levels to proactively tell their story. “The MHS is, hands down, one of the best missions I have ever had the privilege of supporting. Every day, tens of thousands of teammates work in service to others. That means there are tens of thousands of great stories that communicate what we do and why. That, to me, is the greatest value to offer.”