WWII UNITED STATES ARMY MEDICAL DEPARTMENT MAYER CHINA MESS HALL PLATE CADUCEUS

The Army Medical Department of the U.S. Army (AMEDD), formerly the Army Medical Service (AMS), encompasses the Army's six medical Special Branches (or "Corps"). It was established as the "Army Hospital" in July 1775 to coordinate the medical care required by the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. The AMEDD is led by the Surgeon General of the U.S. Army, a lieutenant general.

The AMEDD is the U.S. Army's healthcare organization (as opposed to an Army Command), and is present in the Active Army, the U.S. Army Reserve, and the Army National Guard components. It is headquartered at Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Texas, which hosts the AMEDD Center and School (AMEDDC&S). Large numbers of AMEDD senior leaders can also be found in the Washington D.C. area, divided between the Pentagon and the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC).

The Academy of Health Sciences, within the AMEDDC&S, provides training to the officers and enlisted service members of the AMEDD. As a result of BRAC 2005, enlisted medical training was transferred to the new Medical Education and Training Campus, consolidating the majority of military-enlisted medical training in Fort Sam Houston.

The current Surgeon General of the U.S. Army and U.S. Army Medical Command (MEDCOM) commander is LTG Nadja West.

Both the AMEDD and the Army Medical Corps trace their origins back to July 27, 1775, when the Continental Congress established the "Army Hospital", which was at that time overseen by the "Director General and Chief Physician". Congress provided an Army medical organization only in times of war or emergency until 1818, at which point it created a permanent "Medical Department". The Army Nurse Corps originated in 1901, the Dental Corps began in 1911, the Veterinary Corps in 1916; the Medical Service Corps emerged in 1917; and the Army Medical Specialist Corps came into existence in 1947.

The Army Organization Act of 1950 renamed the Medical Department the "Army Medical Service," and on June 4, 1968, the Army Medical Service was renamed the Army Medical Department.

A regimental coat of arms was devised for the Medical Department, and was most likely first used in 1818. The 20 white stars on a blue background and the red and white stripes represent the U.S. flag of 1818. The green staff entwined with a green serpent combined two symbols: the rod of Asclepius from classical mythology, symbolic of medicine and healing; and the color green associated with the Medical Corps during the last half of the 19th century. The colors Argent (silver/white) and Gules (red) are those associated with the flag of the United States. The rooster is associated with the ancient Greek and Roman god of healing and medicine, Aesculapius. The Ancient Greeks believed that the rooster’s crowing at dawn drove away the evil disease spreading demons from the temples so that it could be a place of healing. The torse (twisted rope) below the rooster shows alternating blue and silver colors which were the colors of the Army in 1818. The Latin motto Experientia et Progressus, (Experience and Progress), is meant to convey the steady and unfailing progress of the Army Medical Department since 1775.