President Bush Signs Commissioning Bill

On Friday, October 23, 1992, President Bush signed the Defense Authorization Bill (HR 5006). Section 505 of that bill authorizes the Secretary of Defense to "appoint chiropractors as commissioned officers in the armed forces to provide chiropractic care within the military health care system."

The long battle to get legislation passed that allows for commissioned officer status for DCs is a tribute to the perseverance and tenacity of the chiropractic profession. The struggle to overcome the discrimination inherent in the military's policy toward chiropractic, however, is far from over.

Section 505 only authorizes the appointment of DCs as commissioned officers: it doesn't mandate the military to act.

In the Navy Times, we read first hand the military's opinion of section 505: "The Defense Department has no intention of commissioning chiropractors. At a time of tight budgets, health care officials believe the treatment a chiropractor can offer is unnecessary. Expect chiropractic to lobby Congress in 1993 to force a change."

The Navy Times got one thing right: expect chiropractic to force a change.