Surgeon General of the United States Army

As a commanding general, TSG provides advice and assistance to the chief of staff, Army (CSA) and to the secretary of the Army (SECARMY) on all health care matters pertaining to the U.S. Army and its military health care system. The incumbent is responsible for development, policy direction, organization and overall management of an integrated Army-wide health service system and is the medical materiel developer for the Army. These duties include formulating policy regulations on health service support, health hazard assessment and the establishment of health standards. is assisted by the deputy surgeon general. ==History==

Congress established the Medical Service of the Continental Army on July 27, 1775, and placed a "chief physician & director general" of the Continental Army as its head. The first five surgeons general of the U.S. Army served under this title. An Act of Congress of May 28, 1789, established a "physician general" of the U.S. Army. Only two physicians, doctors Richard Allison and James Craik, served under this nomenclature. A congressional act of March 3, 1813, cited the "physician & surgeon general" of the U.S. Army. That nomenclature remained in place until the Medical Department was established by the Reorganization Act of April 14, 1818. Additionally, physicians assigned to the U.S. Army were not accorded military rank until 1847. ==Surgeons general of the U.S. Army and their precursors==

• Note: The AMEDD Museum at Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Texas, has a display on the Army Surgeons General, including images of each one, except for Richard Allison. ==Agencies, centers, offices, and programs within the OTSG==

• Military Vaccine Agency (MILVAX) • Borden Institute • U.S. Army Medical Information Technology Center (USAMITC) • Army Human Research Protections Office (AHRPO) • Pharmacovigilance Center ==See also==

• Heitman, Francis B. (1903), Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army, from Its Organization, September 29, 1789, to March 2, 1903; Washington, DC: Government Printing Office; 2 vol. (Vol. 1, pp 41–42 details the Medical Department.) ==External links==