Medical Planning for Military Operations Other Than War: Is a Paradigm Shift Required?

Military operations other than war are increasing in frequency and, as one might surmise present unique challenges to the operational commander and the medical planner. Over time and by necessity the U.S. military has developed a logistical support system with unprecedented capability. This logistical system includes a medical system that is increasingly called upon to provide care to people outside the normal scope. Increased participation means Navy assets will be tasked to provide care to U.S. troops, U.N. troops, multinational troops, NGO personnel, and the civilians that precipitated the need for intervention in the first place. The current planning paradigm is, rightfully, focused on combat support. This thesis will investigate the necessity of breaking away from that paradigm when planning MOOTW. There is no standardized guidance, methodology, templates, matrices or even a set of guiding principles for the medical planner to use when tasked with planning a medically complex contingency operation. This thesis will compare the Navy planning method with Army methods and, combined with primary source interviews, and the knowledge acquired in this graduate program, provide the reader with planning guidance unique to the medical aspects of MOOTW.Naval Postgraduate School Monterey CA is the author of 'Medical Planning for Military Operations Other Than War: Is a Paradigm Shift Required?' with ISBN 9781423511236 and ISBN 1423511239.