The United States Army Medical Service Corps is an important national resource with a long and distinguished history. Many thousands of officers have proudly served in its ranks, selflessly prosecuting the nation's defense missions in peace and war throughout the world. With varied academic backgrounds and disciplines, these officers have been widely recognized and highly regarded leaders in their respective fields. They represent the growth in medical science and military medical operations and administration over two centuries.

This work documents the history of the Medical Service Corps through the work of an active duty MSC officer who began researching and writing in 1983 when the corps assumed this task as its own project. The account is the story of the corps, told by the corps for its members, the Army, its sister services, and the nation it serves. The lessons of its history are rooted in America's wartime experiences, and they are intended for those who will follow in the hope that our future leaders will learn from the past. It is also important that progress documented by this account continue, for the officers of the Medical Service Corps have by no means achieved their highest goals.

MACK C. HILL Brigadier General Chief Medical Service Corps

JOHN W. MOUNTCASTLE Brigadier General Chief of Military History

 

The Author

Col. Richard Van Ness Ginn is a native of Miami, Florida. He was commissioned from ROTC as a Distinguished Military Graduate in 1965 upon graduation with a BA from Stetson University and entered active duty in 1966 after graduate study. He has an MA from Duke University and an MHA from Baylor University. Completion of the U.S. Army-Baylor University Program in Healthcare Administration in 1977 as the Distinguished Honor Graduate was followed by a residency in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs. In 1981 he was an honor graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, where he also served as a student instructor. He is a 1990 graduate of the U.S. Army War College. His decorations include the Legion of Merit, the Combat Medical Badge, and the Senior Parachutist Badge.

His principal assignments have included tours at medical platoon and company levels of airborne infantry units in Panama and Vietnam; Aide-de-Camp to the Commander, and Chief, Force Development Branch, U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command (USAMRDC), Washington, D.C.; Professional Services Administrator, Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, Texas; Personnel Policy Officer, Office of the Surgeon General (OTSG) and Special Assistant to the Chief, Medical Service Corps, the Pentagon; Deputy Commander for Administration, 196th Station Hospital, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, Belgium; Inspector General, 7th Medical Command, Heidelberg, Germany; Chief of Staff, USAMIRDC, Fort Detrick, Maryland; Chief of Education and Training, OTSG, Falls Church, Virginia; and Chief, Health Services Division, Officer Personnel Management Directorate, U.S. Total Army Personnel Command, Alexandria, Virginia.

Colonel Ginn is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and is listed in Who's Who in America. In 1977 he became the first Army Medical Service Corps officer to win the Sir Henry Wellcome Medal, the oldest award of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States, and in 1982 he was the first recipient of the association's Young Federal Health Care Administrator Award. He is a member of the Order of Military Medical Merit. He wrote this book while stationed in Washington, Belgium, Germany, Maryland, and Virginia. Colonel Ginn retired in December 1995 and is currently Senior Vice President, Capital Health Services, Fairfax, Virginia.

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