scope:

This document forms a doctrinal bridge between medical support principles and policies included within Military Committee (MC) 326/2 and planning guidelines developed at the strategic, regional and sub-regional levels. It is consistent with AJP-4, which refers to supporting doctrinal publications, in which medical doctrine is further developed and then explained to provide medical and non-medical staff with a greater overview of the finer points and complexities of medical support planning and execution.

NATO medical support doctrine allows considerable flexibility. It does not reflect nor exclude any particular nation's approach to medical support, it does however constitute a basic framework upon which to base actual operational contingencies. The doctrinal framework is focused on "how to think" rather than "what to think" and does not preclude close cooperation between the nations, even if some differences in national doctrines exist. Hence different options for cooperation in medical support are mission-tailored on a case-by-case basis.

This publication provides a detailed overview of the interactions between medical and other staffs. The statement that "in NATO, Medical is part of Logistics", as reflected in MC 319/2, as to be considered but is incomplete. It poorly reflects the span of collaboration and interactions across the entire spectrum of the command staff elements that is required from the medical staffs in operations, especially with regard to the medical support resulting of the new threats and new types of operation that NATO is facing. In fact medical staffs operate in a highly specialised and multifaceted environment, which involves linkages and interface with all NATO commander staff elements, of which logistics is only one part.

Novel terminology not yet defined in the NATO Glossary of Terms and Definitions (AAP-6) or the NATO Glossary of Medical Terms and Definitions (AMedP-13) is defined in the Glossary to this publication.

The custodian for this document is the Medical Section of Headquarters Supreme Allied Command Transformation (SACT) to whom all comments, proposed amendments and updates should be forwarded. The tasking authority for the document is the Committee of the Chiefs of Military Medical Service in NATO (COMEDS) who have directed the Military Medical Structures, Operations and Procedures (MMSOP) Working Group to act as Medical Doctrine Project Sponsor.