Coordinating Medical civil military operations in Multinational Division-North

Abstract

Medical civil military operations (MCMO) are part of military civil capacity-building efforts within the full spectrum of military operations, from war to military operations other than war. In 2008-2009 during Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Division Surgeon's Section (DSS) of the 25th Infantry Division (25ID) and Multinational Division-North developed an innovative MCMO program in northern Iraq. The program centered on understanding and mapping key relationships, empowering brigade-level programs, and leveraging technology to identify and share best practices. The DSS mapped the critical relationships within and between the three entities affecting MCMO: the government of Iraq (GOI), Department of State (DOS), and the Department of Defense (DOD). A division MCMO working group was then created along with processes to facilitate MCMO project execution and program management. The structure and organization of the 25ID MCMO program lend themselves to other operational environments requiring synchronization of medical capacity-building efforts. Copyright (c) Association of Military Surgeons of the US. All rights reserved.