Annual Report of the Surgeon General United States Army Fiscal Year 1958
CHANGES IN OTSG ORGANIZATION
A study of the organization of the Office of the Surgeon General was undertaken during fiscal year 1958 in the light of the increasing emphasis upon management and organization along functional lines, changing methods of warfare, the stress on economy of funds and personnel, and other factors. As a result, a number of changes, both intradivisional and interdivisional, were made to simplify the organizational structure and provide more centralized control, attain greater flexibility, and increase operational effectiveness.
Examples of the simplification of intradivisional organization were the changes made in the Supply Division to absorb a reduction in its military and civilian staff and to realine the functions which remain
the responsibility of The Surgeon General under the single-manager system for medical supply. The civilian staff was reduced by 14 percent, military personnel by 32 percent. The number of Supply Division branches was reduced from 5 to 4 (Materiel Control, Supply Operations, Materiel Standards Coordination, and Procurement Branches). The reorganization also eliminated 4 of the 12 sections within the branches. The new division organization provides a flexible structure which is expandable during an emergency or subject to further contraction upon elimination or transfer of any pertinent functions.
Another streamlining occurred in the reorganization of the Professional Division, where the number of chief consultants was reduced
44
from 9 to 5 and all of the 8 branches were eliminated. The Division now consists of the Chief, Assistant Chief, a new position for Executive Officer, Chief Medical Consultant, Chief Surgical Consultant, Chief Psychiatry and Neurology Consultant, Chief Pathology and Laboratory Sciences Consultant, and Chief of Physical Standards, and their staffs.
An interdivisional consolidation was accomplished in the merger of the Personnel Division and the Education and Training Division to provide for more efficient assignment, career planning, and training of Army Medical Service military personnel. The newly created Personnel and Training Division has seven branches (Officer, Enlisted, Civilian Personnel, Manpower Control, Training Doctrine and Publication, Officer Procurement, and Special Projects). Reductions in military and civilian personnel resulting from the consolidation are to be accomplished by normal attrition.
Effective 23 November 1957, the Office for Dependents' Medical Care was established as a class II activity under the jurisdiction of The Surgeon General. Formerly it was included in the OTSG organizational structure.
