Office of Force Readiness and Deployment

The Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service (Corps) is engaged in its largest deployment ever in support of the victims of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma. The deployments through the Office of Force Readiness and Deployment (OFRD) are ongoing and in flux at this time. The list below gives examples of the number of Corps officers who have been or are being deployed, broken down by Operating Division (OPDIV), Staff Division (STAFFDIV), or non-Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) organization to which Corps officers are assigned. In addition to those deployed by OFRD, numerous officers have been deployed directly by their OPDIVs/STAFFDIVs/non-HHS organizations and are included in this list according to the best information OFRD has at this time.

Total number of officers: 2,368

Agency	Number of Officers
Agency Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)	3
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)	51
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)	458
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS)	79
Department of Homeland Security (DHS)	18
Department of Defense (DoD)	2
Environment Protection Agency (EPA)	37
Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP)	132
Food and Drug Administration (FDA)	513
Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)	291
Indian Health Service (IHS)	447
National Institutes of Health (NIH)	119
National Park Service (NPS)	20
Office of the Secretary (OS)	97
Program Support Center (PSC)	31
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)	35
U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC)	2
U.S. Coast Guard (USCG)	25
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)	7
U.S. Marshals Service (USMS)	1

 

Training

The OFRD training section provided pre-deployment materials and specified training for officers deployed in response to the hurricanes. Currently, OFRD has pre-deployment materials for Corps officers in the following deployment roles: Communications, Safety, Environmental Health, and Forensic Dentist. We continue to develop new training materials to make available prior to deployment to keep officers up-to-date and ready to provide the services that are often needed on field deployments.

Readiness Status

On 3 October, VADM Carmona reported the readiness of the Corps to be 71.5 percent. The Corps successfully met the goal established by the Office of Management and Budget of achieving 70 percent readiness by 1 October. Remember, meeting the Basic readiness standards is a requirement of each and every officer in the Corps and is a continuous process to remain force ready. Please remain vigilant in achieving, and more importantly, maintaining Basic readiness and being ready to deploy to address the urgent public health needs of the American people.

Back to E-Bulletin Front Page