Battalion Aid Station - Army Battalion Surgeon

Army Battalion Surgeon

A battalion surgeon is the chief medical officer of a military battalion in the Army or Marines. Despite the name, most battalion surgeons are primary care physicians, i.e. emergency medicine, family medicine, pediatrics, or internal medicine or general medical officers, and are not actual surgeons who perform invasive surgical operations. The term "surgeon" is a holdover from the U.S. Military's British colonial past. The British military uses the term "surgeon" to mean a physician attached to a "front line" unit. While the Navy department still uses the GMO or General Medical Officer physician to man many BAS, the Army has worked to eliminate GMO's and fill most BAS with "residency trained physicians". A GMO is a physician that has completed medical school and a one-year "internship" that allows them to receive an independent medical license in the US. GMO's have a limited resource of medical knowledge and experience. The battalion surgeon is a special staff officer who advises the battalion commander on matters pertaining to the health of the battalion. Chief duties include responsibility of managing a battalion aid station (BAS), medical supervision of the Battalion PA (Physician Assistant), performing sick call for members of the battalion, and supervising the medical planning for deployment. The battalion surgeon carries the United States Army rank of Captain (O-3), Major (O-4), or Navy rank of Lieutenant (O-3) or Lieutenant Commander (O-4). During peace time, a limited amount of Army Battalions actually have a physician or Battalion Surgeon. The exception is Aviation, Special Operations, or Stryker Brigade Support Battalions; which routinely have a Battalion Surgeon. Since physicians are usually in short supply and expensive to employ, most Battalions have a PA (Physician Assistant) that performs the duties of "primary care physician" for the members of the Battalion. If a Battalion is "authorized a physician" during a deployment, then the PROFIS (professional filler system) is used to pull a military physician from a military hospital to deploy with the Battalion and serve as the Battalion Surgeon. A TDA/ MTF (medical treatment facility) physician usually wears a uniform, but they do exactly the same job as a civilian physician. A TDA physician sees military dependents, active duty patients, and retirees. During peace time the PROFIS system is in place, but rarely used. Since the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) the PROFIS system is used routinely. Doctors are "PROFIS" or pulled out of the MTF's in a type of lottery system that factors in the number of deployments the physician has been on, their specialty, and the length of time of the PROFIS assignment. Since most of the Physicians tapped to be PROFIS Battalion Surgeons have been in primary care fields, the Army has had a hard time retaining or recruiting physicians with those specialties.