Military Health Checkups Ensure Optimal Performance - Essay Sample

Introduction

Being medically healthy puts us in a position to give our best at work. It helps us direct all our synergy towards the goals of the organisations or the individual businesses that we work for. This is not any different with the men in uniforms - the Navy, Army and the Air force. As a standard procedure, the United States of America's forces have embraced the use of medical condition checkup reports to plan for the deployment of the soldiers to various parts of the world for various missions that arise at a relatively fast rate. Ready soldiers are cleared for deployment, but the unfit ones are still left to improve on their health conditions. From the previous leadership, Medical Readiness was directed as task and not explained to its entirety; we should not mindlessly guide our soldiers through its process; instead, we should mentor and educate individuals on the importance of medical readiness and how it applies to the overall mission.

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The U.S Army has been on the forefront in the application of Medical Readiness concepts in attaining its mission of providing the required soldiers for deployment. The deployments are always given short deadlines, owing to the fast pace at which conflicts spread. Making a good number of soldiers ready for deployment will always help in addressing the deficiencies in the number of deployable soldiers in the force. In addition, the sickly or the soldiers whose medical conditions have not yet been established with ultimate precision can be subjected to periodic checkups thereby enhancing predictability, better determination of access-to-care requirement at the Military Treatment Facilities (MTFs), and for more accurate projections on the readiness of the forces for their operations and missions that are globally run (Cronk, 2016).

The Army has had all its soldiers each assigned to a Medical Readiness Classification (MRC) of four different classes or levels. Those with MRC 1 can easily be deployed as compared to the other classes in the increasing order, with the holders of MRC 4 ranking the lowest. The latter group is made up of all the soldiers whose medical and dental conditions not known. In implementation phase is the Army-wide reset operation to ensure that all the MRC 4 ranked soldiers (more than 144000) as well as about 55000 soldiers who have their periodic health assessment slated for dates within the next year take an assessment that will be used to gauge their health conditions. Further in collaboration with its headquarters, the Army Medicine is continuously extending its efforts to obtain and asses the feedback from the field as far as the health conditions of the soldiers are concerned (SSG Michael, 2019). These are but the few interventions to make the unseasoned soldiers in today's army be aware of and understand the importance of medical readiness. As such, the Army leaders have been urged to enlighten those under them continuously.

Also key to this discussion is the efforts of Army Medical Command (MEDCOM) to come up with tools that enable the leaders of various groups to assist their soldiers about medical readiness. In particular, the unit has developed and rolled out an online platform called 'My Medical' the enables the soldiers to check their Individual Medical Readiness (IMR) status from wherever they are situated (U.S. Army Medical Command, 2016). They also encourage the soldiers to honour their medical appointments so as not to cause congestion, a move that can end up denying their fellows from accessing the services.

A game-changer in this entire fight is the dissemination of the correct and adequate information about Physical Health Assessment (PHA) to the lower enlisted soldiers. During such assessments, the soldiers can confirm their health on a wide range of issues since the Medical specialists usually check the vision, hearing, dental and hearing of the soldiers for any abnormalities. Blood work and immunisations are also undertaken with serious cases given additional attention by providing follow up services with the military and community healthcare workers. During such sessions, the soldiers' behavioural health is catered for as well. This entails the handling of issues that are beyond their working environments so that they can be socially healthy (Cronk, 2016). Pertinent issues tackled include addictions, communication, conflict resolution methods, and many other topics that focus on the personality of the soldiers. The training contributes to their overall preparation for deployment.

The Army management is out for full attendance of the PHAs by the soldiers. That explains the efforts to help the soldiers in appreciating and understanding the benefits of the procedure. Further, iteration and spreading out of the activities and units scheduled for the PHAs throughout the year has been promoted to ensure that each soldier sees medical personnel at their convenient time without adversely affecting their ongoing training or missions. Even if the trainings are undertaken within limited durations, say on the weekends for the drills, the organisers of the events ensure that each gets the adequate focus and attention desired. There are also plans to boost the speciality and primary appointments in the Army medical centres to bolster access to medical care.

It is unfortunate that many recruits and the junior enlisted officers in the force miss chances that are pegged on medical readiness because they do not effectively understand the concept well. As a fact, all should be enlightened on the importance of the procedure, not only for their physical health but also for their mental and behavioural wellbeing. As such, they should be encouraged to open up to their medical assistants for any symptoms for help (Cronk, 2016).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the role of medical readiness in ensuring that the forces produce adequately prepared soldiers for various missions cannot be disputed. Therefore, the proper implementation of all the associated procedures and programs should be fast-tracked so that the benefits can be felt. Adequate investments should always be provided to help in boosting the nature of medical research and development carried out in the military research facilities to develop the best solutions to help in controlling chronic health conditions not only among the soldiers but also the civilian body. Appropriate and up to date training of the medical personnel should also be ensured to ensure that they can contain the ever-evolving health complications. Although gains have been realised, all the branches of the military should realise that proper care is the key to readiness. Accessibility of medical care in the military world is what has treated a key issue. Deliberate and well-thought interventions should, therefore, be instituted to guarantee the much anticipated 100 per cent access to medical services. In response, we will always get the best from our forces in terms of quick responses to emergencies and disasters.

References

Cronk, T. M. (2016). Surgeons General Say Medical Readiness aligns with overall Readiness. Retrieved from https://dod.defense.gov/News/Article/Article/689460/surgeons-general-say-medical-readiness-aligns-with-overall-readiness/

SSG, Michael, C. (2019). Medical Readiness is Key for Being Prepared. Retrieved from https://www.army.mil/article/217961/medicalreadinessiskeyforbeingprepared

U.S. Army Medical Command. (2016). Medical Readiness (MRC) 4. Retrieved from https://www.army.mil/standto/2016-12-08