Navy Medicine Fast Facts, July 2026 (Medical Tactics in Naval Warfare)
Leaders,
Good day and I hope this note finds you all well. For your interest, listed below is the link to the latest edition of Navy Medicine Fast Facts.
In this issue, we are taking a slightly different approach to what we typically spotlight. Rather than highlighting specific commands, regions, events or milestones, we are turning the spotlight onto a classic and often overlooked piece of U.S. Navy medical literature: Medical Tactics in Naval Warfare.
Written 100 years ago by Cmdr. (later Rear Adm.) William Leake Mann as a 3-part study, this book examines the evolution of Navy Medicine and its critical role in operational environments. Mann’s insights on improving medical readiness, streamlining shipboard care, reducing casualty rates at sea, and executing efficient evacuations remain as relevant today as they did a century ago. As Mann notes, while naval technology continuously evolves, the fundamental physical and operational challenges facing Sailors have remained a constant across the history of Navy Medicine.
During his day, the author was viewed by some as Navy Medicine’s answer to Alfred Thayer Mahan, a visionary thinker who, as Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal noted, was instrumental in developing the “foundational principles of modern naval medicine.” We cannot agree more and think this book, and the author’s efforts to advance Navy Medicine, are deserving of another “look.”
Listed below is a link to Fast Facts as well as to Mann’s book. PDF copies of both are available, if interested.
Fast Facts, July 2026 (click on “view online” or “download”):
https://www.dvidshub.net/publication/issues/77338
Medical Tactics in Naval Warfare Link:
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=chi.72675639&seq=9
We hope you enjoy!
V/r,
André
André B. Sobocinski
Historian
History and Archives (N00Z12)
Office of Public Affairs and Outreach
U.S. Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED)
Finance Friday Articles
- A small step for SpaceX; not a giant leap for indexing
- How to Open a 530A (Trump) Account for Your Child
- Investing in the Boom Times
- Is a Total Bond Fund Still an Acceptable Core Bond Holding?
- Student Loans 101: Ultimate Guide to Student Loans
- These are the toughest places in America to sell a home right now
- TSP Roth In-Plan Conversion My Account Tutorial
Navy Nurse Awarded for Pediatric Trauma Care Research, Improvements
BLUF – Navy Cmdr. Emily Latimer, an emergency clinical nurse specialist at Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune, received the Defense Health Agency Nursing Award for Evidence-Based Practice for leading research that demonstrated a pediatric-specific blood infusion system is faster and easier to use than standard adult systems, improving transfusion capabilities for critically injured children. The project highlights how nurse-led, evidence-based research can directly enhance pediatric trauma readiness, strengthen deployment preparedness for military medical teams who may treat injured children in operational settings, and improve the quality of care delivered across Navy Medicine.
How can I replace important military paperwork?
BLUF – The MOAA article outlines the key military records veterans and retirees should preserve—including the DD-214, DD-214-1, NGB-22, DD-256, Official Military Personnel File, military health records, and retirement eligibility documents—and explains how to replace each through the National Archives, service personnel centers, or other federal agencies if the originals are lost. It also emphasizes that maintaining complete personnel and medical records is essential for accessing VA benefits, retirement entitlements, healthcare, disability claims, and survivor benefits, making accurate records management an important issue for Navy Medicine personnel throughout their careers and into retirement.
Navy says it will no longer release sailors’ service history, another restriction on press access
BLUF – The Navy announced it will no longer routinely release sailors’ service histories—including duty assignments, awards, and other career information—to the media, expanding a broader effort to remove publicly available personnel information that officials say is intended to reduce security risks and harassment of service members and their families. For Navy Medicine, the policy further limits the public visibility of medical personnel and leaders, reinforcing operational security while also reducing the amount of information available about the backgrounds and experience of Navy healthcare professionals involved in significant operational, clinical, or leadership events.
https://apnews.com/article/media-navy-press-policy-access-pentagon-b4d5d0f60709692e107e3331370422cd
Military & Veteran State Value Calculator
I recently found this free calculator that compares states and the various financial benefits available to military and veterans. It looked like it could be useful if you are considering a move:
https://legacyleadernetwork.com/military/state-value-calculator
Therapy or Coaching? A Practical Guide for High-Income Doctors Who Want to Stay Sharp and Self-Aware
BLUF – In this article written by a psychologist, the article explains that therapy and coaching serve different purposes rather than competing with one another: therapy is intended to diagnose and treat mental health conditions, process trauma, and address anxiety or depression, while coaching is designed to help psychologically healthy individuals achieve specific personal or professional goals through accountability, behavior change, and skill development. The author emphasizes that physicians experiencing burnout should seek therapy when significant mental health symptoms are present, but may benefit from coaching when the primary need is improving performance, career satisfaction, leadership, or life balance, noting that some individuals benefit from using both simultaneously.
https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/therapy-or-coaching
My wife (Wendy Schofer, MD, CAPT(r) MC USNR) is a coach and here was her take on the article and coaching:
Another facet of coaching and therapy worth considering: there is real fluidity between the two, and one does not preclude the other. That matters most when concerns don’t fall neatly into a specialty or a box. Take emotional eating, and its impact on performance and on our relationships with food, body, and family. Family in Focus® (Dr. Wendy Schofer, MD) is a private coaching practice built to meet family members of all ages, at the intersection of mind and body. This is eating disorder prevention and performance, built by and for military families. www.WendySchoferMD.com
Doctors question evidence behind Pentagon’s testosterone screening plan
BLUF – The article reports that endocrinologists and other medical experts are questioning the scientific basis of the Pentagon’s new annual testosterone screening program, warning that routine testing of all service members over age 30 is not recommended by current clinical guidelines and could lead to unnecessary hormone therapy with risks such as infertility, cardiovascular complications, and hormonal imbalance. For Navy Medicine, the debate highlights the importance of implementing any readiness-focused screening program using evidence-based clinical protocols, careful patient selection, and standardized endocrine evaluation to balance operational performance goals with patient safety and accepted standards of care.
Military Health System experts collaborate with NATO partners on brain health guidelines to improve warfighter readiness
BLUF – Military Health System experts collaborated with NATO partners to develop new alliance-wide guidelines for mitigating the brain health risks associated with repetitive low-level blast exposure, publishing recommendations that include immediate protective measures, standardized exposure monitoring, and a research roadmap to improve long-term prevention and care. For Navy Medicine, these guidelines reinforce the growing emphasis on protecting personnel routinely exposed to blast during training and operations by strengthening brain health surveillance, harmonizing clinical practices with allied partners, and advancing evidence-based policies that support long-term warfighter readiness.
https://health.mil/News/Dvids-Articles/2026/07/17/news570192
Marijuana still off limits to troops even if federal rules change, Pentagon says
BLUF – The article explains that despite ongoing federal efforts to reclassify or loosen restrictions on marijuana, the Pentagon has reaffirmed that cannabis remains prohibited for all service members because of readiness, safety, and federal military law, and troops who use marijuana remain subject to administrative or disciplinary action regardless of state legalization. For Navy Medicine, the policy underscores the continuing need for providers to counsel service members on substance use, distinguish medically appropriate treatment options from prohibited cannabis use, and manage behavioral health and pain conditions within military-approved clinical guidelines while preserving force readiness.
https://taskandpurpose.com/field-guide/marijuana-off-limits-troops-pentagon