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Review
. 2020 Mar;10(1):16-34.
doi: 10.1177/1925362120937916. Epub 2020 Sep 14.

Origins of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System

Victor W Weedn
Review

Origins of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System

Victor W Weedn. Acad Forensic Pathol. 2020 Mar.

Abstract

The Armed Forces Medical Examiner System (AFMES) is the only medicolegal death investigation system of the US federal government. Its origins can be traced to three dried tissue specimens placed on a shelf by a Civil War Surgeon General in 1862. The collections and the library of the Army Surgeon General spawned the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP), the National Museum of Health and Medicine, the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, and the National Library of Medicine. Pathologists of the Army Medical Museum performed the autopsies of assassinated Presidents Lincoln and Garfield and assisted with that of Kennedy. The now defunct AFIP created the first forensic pathology training program approved by the American Board of Pathology and then the AFMES. Col Ed Johnston, CAPT Charlie Stahl, and Col Dick Froede were the original pioneers of the AFMES.

Keywords: Armed Forces Medical Examiner System; Froede; Stahl; forensic pathology history; military.

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Figures

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BG William A. Hammond (1828-1900)
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MAJ John H. Brinton (1832-1907)
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BG Joseph K. Barnes (1817-1883)
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LTC Joseph J. Woodward (1833-1884)
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MAJ Edward Curtis (1838-1912)
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LTC John S. Billings (1838-1913)
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BG George M. Sternberg (1838-1915)
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MAJ Walter Reed (1851-1902)
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AMM “Old Red Brick”, Washington Mall, Washington, D.C. (1887-1968)
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AFIP Bdg 54, WRAMC Washington, D.C. 1955-2011
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COL Ed Johnston 1st AFIP FP Chief (1959-65)
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CAPT Charlie Stahl, III 2nd AFIP FP Chief (1965-1974) 2nd AFME (1992-96) NAME Pres (1993-94)
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Col Dick Froede 3rd AFIP FP Chief (1974-76) 1st AFME (1988-92) AAFS Pres (1989-90)
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OAFME Dover AFB Dover, Delaware 2011-
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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