By Craig Hammond
As one of the seven uniformed services in the country, the U.S. Public Health Service began when President John Adams, the second president of the United States, signed into law the Act that provided care for sick and disabled seamen known as the Marine Hospital Service.
For more than two centuries the U.S. Public Health Service has not only protected the public from diseased sailors returning from foreign ports and immigrants entering the country, but is the first to arrive in communities devastated by natural and man-made disasters.
Ask anyone in Louisana and Mississippi -- after Hurricane Katrina hit their shores -- about the value of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. They'll tell you that the value cannot be measured.
Through the years, this group of more than 6,000 well-trained and multi-skilled health professionals has been the driving force in delivering our Nation's disease control and prevention programs.
These programs include the regulation of food and drugs, mental health and drug abuse, biomedical research, and health care delivery - both domestically and internationally. The U.S. Public Health Service is the largest public health program in the world, with the Commissioned Corps being an essential part of that program.
Being a uniformed service, members of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps are required to own a dress blue uniform, summer whites and working khakis (pictured). The all-officer organization is traditionally referred to by the equivalent ranks of the U.S. Navy.
The Assistant Secretary for Health, Surgeon General, and Deputy Surgeon General are all uniformed members of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.
A heartfelt thanks goes out to the men and women of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps for their sacrificial and dedicated service to our country. My uncle, I'm proud to say, was an officer in the Public Health Service during and after World War II. He is still practicing medicine as a physician in Chicago.
The U.S. Public Health Service continues to provide an invaluable service to our country and our public life.
