In addition to VA’s better known missions—to provide  health care and benefits to veterans and medical research and education— VA has a fourth mission: to provide medical backup to DOD in times of  war and civilian health care backup in the event of disasters producing  mass casualties. Medical Recordkeeping and Surveillance During the Gulf War Was Lacking

Investigations into the unexplained illnesses of service members and  veterans who had been deployed to the Gulf uncovered the need for DOD  to implement an effective medical surveillance system to obtain  comprehensive medical data on deployed service members, including  Reservists and National Guardsmen. The council concluded  that the Gulf War exposed many deficiencies in the ability to collect,  maintain, and transfer accurate data describing the movement of troops,  potential exposures to health risks, and medical incidents in theater. Medical Surveillance Under Operation Joint Endeavor Improved but Was Not Comprehensive

In response to these reports, DOD strengthened its medical surveillance  system under Operation Joint Endeavor when service members were  deployed to Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, and Hungary. We have also  reported that some of DOD’s programs designed to improve medical  surveillance have not been fully implemented. Specifically, these officials  informed us that DOD is developing a more accurate roster of deployed  service members and enhancing its information technology capabilities.
What GAO Found

GAO, the Institute of Medicine, and others have cited weaknesses in the Defense Department's (DOD) medical surveillance during the Gulf War and Operation Joint Endeavor. DOD was unable to collect, maintain, and transfer accurate data on the movement of troops, potential exposures to health risks, and medical incidents during deployment in the Gulf war. DOD improved its medical surveillance system under Operation Joint Endeavor, providing useful information to military commanders and medical personnel. However, GAO found several problems with this system. For example, incomplete or inaccurate information related to service members' health and deployment status. DOD's has not established a single, comprehensive electronic system to document, archive, and access medical surveillance data. DOD has begun several initiatives to improve the reliability of deployment information and to enhance its information technology capabilities, but some initiatives are several years away from full implementation. Nonetheless, these efforts reflect a commitment by DOD to establish a comprehensive medical surveillance system. The ability of the Department of Veterans Affairs to fulfill its role in serving veterans and providing backup to DOD in times of war will be enhanced as DOD increases its medical surveillance capability.