United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2003-10-16 monographic deposited born digital 27 p. GA 1.13:GAO-04-158T https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-158T P0b002ee18039ebbd f:d04158t DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-158T machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-158T GAO-04-158T Data collection Noncompliance Data bases Data integrity Medical examinations Medical records Medical information systems Military operations Military personnel Military personnel records Health care services Health hazards Health resources utilization Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Joint Guardian Persian Gulf War Testimony A08708

Following the 1990-91 Persian Gulf War, many servicemembers experienced health problems that they attributed to their military service in the Persian Gulf. However, a lack of servicemember health and deployment data hampered subsequent investigations into the nature and causes of these illnesses. Public Law 105-85, enacted in November 1997, required the Department of Defense (DOD) to establish a system to assess the medical condition of service members before and after deployments. GAO reported on (1) the Army's and Air Force's compliance with DOD's force health protection and surveillance requirements for servicemembers deploying in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in Central Asia and Operation Joint Guardian (OJG) in Kosovo and (2) the status of DOD efforts to correct problems related to the accuracy and completeness of databases reflecting which servicemembers were deployed to certain locations. (Defense Health Care: Quality Assurance Process Needed to Improve Force Health Protection and Surveillance [GAO-03-1041, Sept. 19, 2003]) GAO was asked to testify on its findings regarding the Army's and Air Force's compliance with DOD's force health protection and surveillance policies. For its report, GAO reviewed records for statistical samples of active duty servicemembers at four military installations. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-158T/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-158T.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-158T/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-158T.pdf GAO-04-158T https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-158T Testimony GAO-04-158T; Defense Health Care: DOD Needs to Improve Force Health Protection and Surveillance Processes; Data collection Noncompliance Data bases Data integrity Medical examinations Medical records Medical information systems Military operations Military personnel Military personnel records Health care services Health hazards Health resources utilization Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Joint Guardian Persian Gulf War Title 10 Section 1074f(d) 10 U.S.C. 1074f(d) Public Law 105-85