User:NCCOSC/NCCOSC

Naval Center for Combat & Operational Stress Control
Active	DATE established - Present Country	United States

Allegiance	United States of America

Branch	Navy Address	Naval Center for Combat and Operational Stress Control

34960 Bob Wilson Drive Suite 400

San Diego, CA 92134-6400

Website	www.nccosc.navy.mil

Nickname:	NCCOSC

Director: 	CAPT Paul S. Hammer, MC, USN

Introduction The Naval Center for Combat and Operational Stress Control (NCCOSC) is a U.S. Navy Medicine organization established to promote psychological health in the Navy and Marine Corps. It is a culturally relevant center that leverages sound medical knowledge to improve resilience, preserve psychological health, improve care for Sailors, Marines and their families and facilitate Navy Medicine research efforts on psychological health and traumatic brain injury.

History and Background In 2007, several high-level government commissions* examined the healthcare systems of the Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs for treating warriors who were wounded in the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Sweeping recommendations for change were made, the majority of which pertained to what have become known as the signature wounds of the wars, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

As a result, DoD and VA healthcare systems embarked on an overhaul of how they were addressing the needs of wounded warriors with five strategic goals reflecting the breadth of the psychological health spectrum:

1.	Provide timely access to comprehensive care

2.	Provide evidence-based and consistently excellent quality of care

3.	Improve transition and coordination of care across DoD, VA and civilian networks

4.	Promote the use of consistent and effective screening, tracking and monitoring practices

5.	Strengthen psychological health, promote resilience and reduce stigma associated with care through prevention, education, training and outreach.

NCCOSC was established to achieve these goals for the Navy and Marine Corps by addressing the unique needs of the two branches of service. (The Navy provides all medical services for the Marine Corps.) Funded by the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED), NCCOSC is located at the Naval Medical Center San Diego; Capt. Paul S. Hammer, MC, USN, a board-certified psychiatrist, was named director of the center in February 2008.

Mission The mission of NCCOSC is three-fold:

1.	To improve the psychological health of Navy and Marine Corps service members and their families by building resilience to combat and operational stress;

2.	To promote best practices in PTSD and TBI treatment and care;

3.	To counteract any stigma associated with psychological and stress-related illnesses by educating all ranks of service members and their families.

To achieve its mission, NCCOSC focuses on these specific areas:

•	Stress injuries, PTSD and TBI. NCCOSC educates leaders, Sailors, Marines and their families to recognize the signs and symptoms of stress illnesses and TBI. It also develops and disseminates programs and tools that build psychological resilience to withstand and cope with combat and operational stress.

•	Stress Recognition and Management. NCCOSC designs programs and products to promote resilience, emphasizing the need for it to begin in boot camp and continue through a service member’s career. Family resilience also is emphasized to help successfully manage the pressures of all phases of deployment and a high-tempo operational environment.

•	Anti-Stigma. NCCOSC addresses negative perceptions that might be attached to any psychological health concern so as to overcome any barrier to seeking treatment.

•	Suicide Prevention. NCCOSC develops instructional materials for all levels of command leaders to actively engage service members in recognizing the warning signs for suicide and the appropriate steps to take for prevention.

•	Common Standards and Processes. NCCOSC promotes best practices among clinicians and caregivers for achieving and maintaining psychological health.

NCCOSC has four departments, and their major projects are as follows:

Programs is developing a care-management system for providers to ensure uniform standards for psychological-health assessment tools and treatment tracks. In collaboration with Navy leadership, the department also creates educational resources for providers, graduate medical education programs, line leaders, service members and families, as well as evidence-based curricula for psychology education classes to which PTSD and TBI patients are referred.

Knowledge Management is piloting the Combat Neurotrauma Registry, a care-management application that serves as an information clearinghouse for data collection, analysis and data mining.

Research Facilitation assists clinicians, academicians and military providers to address the most pertinent issues dealing with PTSD, TBI and other combat or operational stress injuries. Its staff members also serve as co-investigators and support personnel for a broad spectrum of studies under way at key military and civilian facilities.

Communications informs and educates a wide range of audiences interested in military psychological-health issues through production of Mindlines, a quarterly newsletter, and the center’s website at www.nccosc.navy.mil. Outreach coordinators also form collaborations with military and community groups to provide family resources and reduce overlaps in services or care.

Major NCCOSC Projects in 2010 include:

•	Sponsorship of the first Navy and Marine Corps Combat and Operational Stress Conference, to be held in May;

•	Continued development and presentation of suicide-prevention training modules for various Navy communities;

•	Development of a psychological health system of care for Navy medical treatment facilities;

•	Training military healthcare providers in evidenced-based therapies to treat combat and operational stress injuries and illnesses;

•	Preparation of white papers to address evidenced-based research in such areas as resilience, PTSD and physical health, and substance abuse and operational stress;

•	Expansion of outreach efforts to erase any stigma associated with seeking help for psychological health issues.


 * Task Force on Returning Global War on Terror Heroes, Department of Defense Mental Health Task Force, President’s Commission on Care for America’s Returning Wounded Warriors