The 2015 "Health of the Force Report" is the Army's initial effort to evaluate, study and disseminate best health practices at the installation level.

Some of the major findings from the soldiers surveyed are as follows:

• 17 percent were classified as not being medically ready to deploy within 72 hours.

Non-readiness ranged from 12 to 23 percent across installations.

• 55 percent were diagnosed with an injury.  About 1300 new injuries were diagnosed per 1,000 soldiers.    

• 15 percent were diagnosed with a behavioral health disorder.  This finding ranged from nine percent to 20 percent across installations.

• 14 percent were found to have a chronic condition. Chronic disease rates ranged from 12 to 21 percent across installations.

• 13 percent were found to be obese.  This condition ranged from nine percent to 18 percent across installations.  

• 32 percent use tobacco products; this condition ranged from 13 to 40 percent across installations.

In 2014, the total costs due to tobacco use alone were north of $289 billion.

• 10 percent were diagnosed with a sleep disorder.  This condition ranged from five to 14 percent across installations.

• Two percent were found to have a substance abuse disorder.  This finding ranged from one to three percent across installations.

• 17 percent were discovered to have new chlamydia infections per 1,000 soldiers.  This rate ranged from seven to 28 percent per 1,000 across installations.

• Two percent of hospital admissions were classified as preventable.  Use of medical facilities ranged from one to five percent across installations.

Closer to home, the report found the following at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

Soldiers at JBLM (referenced as Fort Lewis in the report) perfectly fit the survey's average.

Performance Triad scores were 65.7, 81.9 and 69.1 for sleep, activity and nutrition findings, respectively.

The maximum possible score for each of the components of the P3 was 100; the optimal score to be reached was 85.

No installation achieved that score.  On average, sleep scored a 67, activity scored an 81 and nutrition tallied a 69.

"All three elements of the Performance Triad are equal in importance," wrote Gen. Robert Abrams, commander, U.S. Forces Command.

"The command emphasis on nutrition and sleep must match the emphasis on physical training."

Only 15 percent, 38 percent and 13 percent of the soldiers surveyed met all of the recommended P3 targets for sleep, activity and nutrition, respectively.

These estimates were then collated to create an installation P3 index (IPI,) reflecting overall deviations from the Army average.

The HOF report states that JBLM has a lower percentage of not medically ready soldiers and a lower rate of chronic disease and substance abuse disorders.

On the other hand, JBLM faces challenges in confronting a higher rate of tobacco use and a lower confidence in reported chlamydia infections.

Madigan officials had no comment about the HOF report.

Under the direction of Lt. Gen. Patricia Horoho, recently retired and former Army surgeon general, the pronouncement is a comprehensive 2014 survey of the health of active component soldiers on 30 installations nationwide.

"Senior Army leaders now have the ‘Health of the Force' to track the health of the Army, installation by installation, and to share lessons learned for those installations on different ends of the health spectrum," Horoho concluded.

Horoho is also a former commander of the Madigan Army Medical Center.

"The inaugural ‘Health of the Force Report' ushers in an era of reporting that promotes health and prevention rather than just the treatment of chronic illness, injury and disease," Horoho wrote in the report's introduction.

Faced with reductions in force and budget cuts to programs, the Army is capitalizing on readiness.

"Readiness for ground combat is - and will remain - the U.S. Army's number one priority," said Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Millay.

In other words, Army leadership will promote personal preventive health choices in the force in order to save money and improve readiness.

To achieve this objective, the Army zeroed in on sleep, activity and nutrition (SAN) as being critical for achieving optimal physical, mental and emotional health.

The SAN forms the foundation of the Performance Triad, or P3, which is found in the Army's adaptation of the McKinsey Global Institute's organizational model.

The report also totaled injuries, behavioral health, chronic disease, obesity, tobacco use, hospital admissions and drug usage.

To create the database, the Army used the Global Assessment Tool (GAT).

The online tool is designed to assess a person's behaviors with regard to the performance triad and other key factors, which can affect well-being.

In 2014, on average approximately 85,000 active-duty soldiers completed the survey each quarter.  This amounts to approximately 340,000 soldiers, or two thirds, of the active-duty force completing the GAT over the course of the year.

The Army's focus, however, is on sleep, activity and nutrition.

>>> SLEEPLESS AT JBLM