WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, today chaired a hearing examining the readiness of the military health system.

In his opening statement, Chairman Wicker discussed the “peacetime effect” on military medical readiness, suggesting that there has been an erosion of physician capability and expertise that could result in unnecessary casualties during wartime. The Chairman encouraged an open conversation about reforms to the bureaucracy and policy changes that could improve the standing of military medical readiness before a major military conflict.

Read Senator Wicker’s hearing opening statement as delivered below.

The hearing will come to order.

The committee has convened this hearing to discuss the state of the military health system. We hope to shine a light on the challenges facing that system and begin working toward solutions.

Our witnesses are experts in the field of military medicine. Dr. Douglas Robb is a retired Air Force Lieutenant General and the former director of the Defense Health Agency (DHA). Dr. Paul Friedrichs is a retired Air Force Major General and the former Joint Staff Surgeon. And Dr. Jeremy Cannon is a retired Air Force Colonel and trauma surgeon who currently serves on the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

I look forward to their testimony. I want to hear their recommendations about what Congress and the Department of Defense should do to provide long-term stability to the military health system.

Military medicine often follows a familiar but regrettable cycle. During peacetime, medical teams focus on the treatment of ordinary illnesses. When conflict erupts, military medicine is frequently caught unprepared, resulting in unnecessary casualties.

This interwar erosion of our unique military medical skills is known as the “peacetime effect.” To disrupt the “peacetime effect,” Congress enacted sweeping reforms of the military health system. These reforms, now nearly a decade old, were designed to refocus military medicine on its primary purpose: combat casualty care and medical readiness.

We elevated the Defense Health Agency to a combat support agency and tasked it with administration of all military hospitals and clinics, relieving the military departments of that mission. The goal was to have the military services focus exclusively on the medical readiness of their forces. These ideas were recommended by an independent, bipartisan commission embraced by Pentagon leadership, and signed into law in 2017.

Unfortunately, opponents of these reforms have delayed implementation and undermined the effectiveness of the legislation. For example, in 2019, the military departments implemented drastic cuts to military medical personnel on the faulty assumption that it would be easy for DHA to hire civilians to take their places.

This assumption was misguided, which became evident during the COVID pandemic. During that crisis, the existing national physician shortage accelerated. To this day, private sector health systems seek out and hire away doctors from the military, not the other way around.

We've all seen this in our states. In 2020, Congress ordered a halt to any additional military medical reductions, but it was too late. A significant number of reductions had already occurred, severely reducing the capability of military hospitals. In many locations, the private sector was unable to handle the additional patients, sending more service members to private sector care. This has proven more expensive and has sapped the military doctors’ experiences that are vital to maintaining proficiency.

Even worse, DOD has refused to request adequate funding for DHA, which would allow DHA to staff adequately and equip its hospitals and clinics. Since 2015, the budget for military hospitals has decreased by nearly 12 percent. The water damage at Walter Reed this January is an example of the antiquated infrastructure that military medical teams work with around the world.

In addition to the problems I've just explained, I would like our witnesses to highlight how bureaucratic delays within the Department of Defense have prevented the military health system from preparing for the next potential conflict.

Combat casualty care is the primary purpose of the military health system. When service members are exposed to danger or are injured, they need to know that they will receive the best care possible. We know that troops in combat are more comfortable taking the risks necessary to accomplish their mission if they have confidence in military doctors.

We cannot go back to the way things were before 2017. We must stop scapegoating the Defense Health Agency. The Department of Defense must request adequate resources to ensure the Department’s hospitals and clinics are properly staffed and equipped. This is the best way to ensure the military health system is ready for the potential demands of large-scale combat operations in the future.

I thank the witnesses for being willing to testify and now recognize Ranking Member Reed for his remarks.