Defense Research Institute, missions

Mission. The U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense is the nation s lead laboratory for research to advance the medical prevention and treatment of chemical warfare casualties. The Institute also has a clinical training mission and conducts the Medical Management of Chemical Casualties Course for health care providers from all armed services. 

Academic institutions have been included, and in many instances, there have been commercial consequences, although that has not been the mission of the Department of Defense. The Department of Defense mission is defense and national security, not the development of compact disk players. But in fact, for example, in electronics and devices, fundamental materials research was sponsored by the Department of Defense. Various organizations and activities in parallel in industry (at Lincoln Laboratory, IBM, and General Electric) led to the development of the semiconductor laser in the early 1960s. 

AFIP is a tri-service agency of the Department of Defense with a threefold mission of consultation, education, and research. Within the institute there are 22 subspecialty departments with more than 120 pathologists. 

The situation within our Federal laboratories is somewhat more complex. Each department and agency has been established to carry out a particular national objective. Our defense laboratories, the National Institutes of Health, the Bureau of Mines, The Agricultural Research Centers all have their missions. 

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