QUESTION: One of the most important national security tools being used in the US battle to mitigate the spread of #COVIDー19 (coronavirus) is the NATIONAL CENTER FOR MEDICAL INTELLIGENCE; #NCMI @DefenseIntel . What exactly is it's function? Follow this thread for the answer.
ANSWER: The NCMI provides medical intelligence to the @DeptofDefense on foreign health threats & capabilities across the substantive areas including infectious disease, chemical/radiation, health infrastructure, sciences, systems, life sciences, biotechnology & countermeasures.
The center not only looks at the long-term threats to DOD interests, but also where opportunities exist. It produces finished, all-source medical intelligence assessments, forecasts and databases on foreign military and civilian health care capabilities and trends,
worldwide infectious disease risks, global environmental health risks, and militarily significant life science issues, to include biotechnology and nuclear, biological and chemical medical defense advancements.
The NCMI is organized into a support division and two substantive divisions—the Epidemiology and Environmental Health Division and the Medical Capabilities Division. Each substantive division is made up of two teams, the duties of which include:
Environmental Health
•Identify and assess environmental risks that can degrade force health or effectiveness including chemical and microbial contamination of the environment, toxic industrial, chemical and radiation accidents, and environmental terrorism/warfare.
•Assess the impact of foreign environmental health issues and trends on environmental security and national policy.
Epidemiology
•Identify, assess, and report on infectious disease risks that can degrade mission effectiveness of deployed forces and/or cause long-term health implications.
•Alert operational and policy customers to foreign disease outbreaks that have implications for national security and policy formulation, including homeland defense and deliberately introduced versus naturally occurring disease outbreaks.
Life Sciences and Biotechnology
•Assess foreign basic and applied biomedical and biotechnological developments of military medical importance.
•Assess foreign civilian and military pharmaceutical industry capabilities.
•Assess foreign scientific and technological medical advances for defense against nuclear, biological and chemical warfare.
•Prevent technological surprise.
•Prevent proliferation of dual-use equipment and knowledge.
The facility is located at Ft. Detrick, MD. @DetrickUSAG. Approximately 100-150, highly trained personnel from all over the IC work there. More details at dia.mil @DefenseIntel
If you have a serious question about national security. Follow @NatSecAnswers, send us your question and we'll get the answer. Also, please tell your twitter family and friends about us. @GenMhayden @mvhaydencenter @Stratfor @AEI @BrookingsInst @CarnegieEndow @DetrickUSAG
Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.
A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.