The mission of the Joint Trauma System (JTS) is to improve trauma readiness and outcomes through evidence-driven performance improvement. And the vision of the Joint Trauma System is that every Soldier, Sailor, Airman, and Marine injured on the battlefield or in any theater of operations will be provided with the optimum chance for survival and maximum potential for functional recovery.42

Military trauma system deficiencies were noted in reports from Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1992.43 Then, after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the increase in armed conflict and subsequent battlefield injuries again raised questions about how to improve the military trauma response, as the absence of trauma experts and a trauma system was glaring.44

COL John Holcomb, MD, was deployed to examine the trauma system and make recommendations for improvement. The result was a Central Command Joint Theater Trauma System (JTTS), which later became the Joint Trauma System in 2006.45,46 After several organizational changes, it has been designated as the lead agency for trauma in DoD with authority to establish and assure best-practice trauma care guidelines.47

The JTS consists of six principal entities:48 

The Committee on Tactical Combat Casualty Care is a committee under the Defense Committee on Trauma, along with the Committee on En Route Combat Casualty Care and the Committee on Surgical Combat Casualty Care. 

Several key JTS functions play roles in combat casualty care at the unit level: