About AMEDD - AMEDD Innovations Since Desert Storm

Before Operation Desert Storm, Army medical treatment facilities lacked centralized management and oversight of practice standards.

In 1992, the Army surgeon general directed a study that resulted in the establishment of U.S. Army Medical Command, a major Army command. Under this command, management and oversight of medical treatment facilities was consolidated. The surgeon general became dual-hatted—the surgeon general's traditional responsibility as senior medical advisor on the Army staff was combined with command authority over the Medical Command and all its subordinate units. When this occurred, the separate staffs of the Medical Command and the Office of the Surgeon General consolidated. The combined "One Staff" resulted in a 40 percent decrease in the headquarters staff.

In 2003, the Army's Major Command Realignment Task Force designated the Medical Command a direct report unit of the Army surgeon general, rather than an Army major command. Implementing instructions for this designation have not been published.