Public Health Leader Connects Prevention, Service & Readiness During Madigan LPD
That was among the messages Adm. Brian Christine, assistant secretary for health and head of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, shared with staff during a leader professional development session at Madigan Army Medical Center on September 25, 2026.
Christine, a physician, discussed military and public health readiness, preventive medicine, physical fitness, men's health and the role healthcare professionals play in strengthening the health of the force and the nation.
“Readiness begins long before you deploy,” Christine said. “Maintain vulnerabilities before they become emergencies.”
As assistant secretary for health, Christine provides leadership on national public health priorities and leads the Commissioned Corps, one of the nation's eight uniformed services.
Christine told the Madigan audience that one of his priorities is ensuring the Commissioned Corps is recognized not only for its public health mission, but also for the professionalism and service of its officers.
“I want them to see competence, I want them to see discipline, I want them to see service, and I want them to see greatness,” Christine said.
That effort, he explained, includes increasing the visibility of Public Health Service officers and strengthening connections with the nation's other uniformed services.
“I learned when I got in that we call ourselves sometimes the Invisible Corps,” Christine said. “But my goal was to make us the Visible Corps.”
Christine recounted a recent visit with Public Health Service officers and members of the Navy's special warfare community in San Diego, where he and his officers participated in physical training alongside service members. He described the experience as an opportunity for the Commissioned Corps to demonstrate respect for the military community while also building awareness of its own mission.
He carried that same message to Madigan.
“Part of the reason I wanted to be here today is to show respect to all here at Madigan,” Christine said. “We want to honor you and show respect, but we want to earn your respect.”
Much of Christine's discussion focused on preventing illness before it becomes a medical crisis.
He emphasized that health outcomes are shaped not only by what happens during a clinical encounter, but also by physical activity, nutrition, access to medications, preventive care and whether patients establish relationships with healthcare professionals early enough to address emerging problems.
That message was especially prominent during his discussion of men's health, an area Christine has focused on throughout much of his medical career.
“We need men to establish relationships with physicians before a crisis occurs,” Christine said. “We need fathers modeling healthy behavior for their sons and their daughters.”
Christine encouraged a broader understanding of men's health that extends beyond any single medical specialty or condition.
“Men's health is metabolic health. Men's health is cancer prevention. Men's health is mental health, especially suicide,” he said. “Men's health is nutrition, physical fitness, sleep, substance use and addiction.”
He emphasized that those issues have direct implications for military medicine, where individual health and population health ultimately affect the readiness of the force.
Christine told the audience that strengthening readiness requires developing healthy habits well before an illness, injury or deployment exposes vulnerabilities.
“It means getting our children moving and active,” he said. “It means getting adults moving and active. It means restoring a culture of physical fitness.”
The session transitioned into an open discussion with Madigan staff, who asked Christine about nutrition on military installations, men's preventive healthcare, hormone health and ways military leaders and medical professionals can encourage younger service members to seek care.
When asked how healthcare professionals can reach young service members who may hesitate to seek medical care, Christine emphasized persistent education and engagement.
“Every opportunity we have talking to our friends, our brothers, our fathers, saying, ‘Hey, you need to be seen on a regular basis,’ Christine said. “It's going to be a tremendous education effort.”
He also pointed to the military as an environment where policy, routine health requirements and leadership engagement can help establish healthier behavior earlier in life.
For Madigan staff, the discussion connected national public health priorities with a familiar military medicine principle: preventing illness and maintaining health are integral to readiness.
Christine closed by thanking the Madigan workforce for its service and highlighting the connection between the health of individuals, the health of families and the ability of America's uniformed services to accomplish their missions.
The LPD provided Madigan personnel with an opportunity to hear directly from one of the nation's senior public health leaders while discussing how prevention, physical fitness and access to care contribute to a medically ready force and a ready medical force; anytime, anywhere — always.
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