Annual Report of the Surgeon General United States Army Fiscal Year 1958
PUBLIC INFORMATION
The information program was directed during the year toward keeping the public well informed concerning all important activities and accomplishments of the Army Medical Service in order to instill confidence in the organization and to give assurance that the finest professional care is available to the American soldier. Increased emphasis was placed upon publicizing the role of AMEDS in supporting combat troops, especially in the fields of research and development and preventive medicine. This was done to provide a better balance in the coverage of activities since, in the past, greater stress had been on the curative medicine aspects.
Efforts were made to develop a closer liaison between the Technical Liaison Office, OTSG, and information and technical liaison officers of class II installations and activities, as well as with information officers of other Department of Army and Department of Defense staff officers, army area headquarters, and other Federal medical services. Personal contact was accomplished through such means as the regional conferences of information officers sponsored by the Technical Liaison Office, Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, in four geographical areas: New York, New Orleans, Kansas City, and San Francisco.
The need for closer liaison is demonstrated by the fact that during the last 2 years there has been a turnover of 50 percent among information officers attending these conferences. The conferences have served as a valuable medium for explaining the public information policies of The Surgeon General, emphasizing accuracy and realism, and stressing the necessity for better coordination among information and technical liaison officers in order to accomplish speedier and more timely dissemination, both within and outside of AMEDS, of information concerning important developments.
Commanders of medical treatment facilities at both class I and class II installations and activities were encouraged to appoint information or technical liaison officers in instances where such were not already designated. Also, information officers at class II installations and activities were encouraged to establish speakers' bureaus as a means of stimulating
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better community relations with the civilian publics, health agencies, elementary and high schools, and universities.
All of the various media, such as press releases, radio, television, exhibits, posters, fact sheets, brochures, and bulletin boards, were employed to publicize AMEDS activities and accomplishments as well as to assist in the procurement of officers for the various corps. During the year, 283 exhibits were displayed at meetings of professional, medical, and allied organizations throughout the country.
Increased use was made of the Army Information Digest as a major medium for publishing articles to inform the Army publics of the activities of the Army Medical Service. Titles of the articles appearing in this publication and the authors were: Conserving Fighting Strength, by Maj. Gen. S. B. Hays, The Surgeon General; How the Army Fights Influenza, by Lt. Col. H. E. Griffin, MC; Better Immunization Through Research, by Lt. Col. A. S. Benenson, MC; Man in Space, by Col. R. L. Hullinghorst, MC; and Army Nurse Corps' Role in National Defense, by Col. Inez Haynes, ANC.
Clearance of 1,060 technical papers, original articles, and speeches was obtained through the Technical Liaison Office, OTSG, and 60 others were being reviewed at the end of the fiscal year. These originated in the OTSG, were forwarded by class II installations and activities, or were referred from other Government or civilian agencies or individuals. In an effort to assist and encourage Army Medical Service personnel to contribute to professional literature, a more liberal administrative policy in regard to clearance, placing emphasis upon constructive criticism, was adopted. As a result, only 26 manuscripts of the 1,086 submitted for review during the year, were disapproved, with only three of these disapprovals being registered after 1 January 1958.
