The new leader of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps launched a new fitness initiative this month aimed at improving the health and readiness of the force while promising to elevate the branch’s role and recognition among the uniformed services.

“As public health service officers and servicemembers, it is our job to lead by example. If we’re asking the American public to focus on their health, our servicemen and women should be leading the way,” said Adm. Brian Christine during his Dec. 12 swearing-in ceremony in Washington, D.C., where he became the Department of Health and Human Services’ 18th assistant secretary for health and the chief of the USPHS Commissioned Corps.

The all-officer corps has 5,500 servicemembers with jobs that include doctors, dentists, nurses, pharmacists, clinical and rehabilitation therapists, dietitians, engineers, environmental health officers, scientists, veterinarians, and more. They serve at home, along our borders, and overseas, often alongside armed services personnel.

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Christine, a urologist and surgeon, earned his doctor of medicine degree from Emory University and completed his residency in urology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

He announced the new PHS Mission Fit program on Dec. 12. It will include:

• Clear expectations for physical fitness and consistent training. Beginning April 1, officers will complete two physical fitness tests (PFTs) annually.
  
  
• Holistic support and resources across physical, mental, nutritional, and sleep health.
  
  
• Weekly structured exercise opportunities.
  
  
• Motivational challenges to build camaraderie and engagement.

Christine has already promised to share his own PFT score and encourages all members of the Corps to try and beat him.

“I’ll be traveling to different duty stations,” Christine said. “When I do, we’re going to work out together. We’re going to do PT together.”

USPHS Commissioned Corps members will begin a program of twice-yearly fitness tests on April 1. 

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During his swearing-in, Christine addressed officers in the room, noting he’d heard feedback that USPHS officers feel like they serve in an “invisible corps” – a branch whose role and service is unknown to the general public. He pledged that he would make sure they are the “visible corps.”

“At every opportunity, be seen in your uniform,” he told officers. “When someone says ‘Thank you for your service,’ use that time to explain who you are, what you are, what Public Health Service officers do to make your country healthy.”

Christine said he will also seek to better unite the Commissioned Corps with other services.

“We’re going to be interfacing with the other branches of service more frequently and more intensely,” he said. “We are moving to bring the U.S. Public Health Service Commission Corps into better alignment with the other uniformed services, while always maintaining our unique identity and our unique garrison.”