Journal of Special Operations Medicine (JSOM)

The Journal of Special Operations Medicine (JSOM) was started in 2000 under the United States Special Operations Command Surgeon. Due to the 2011 DoD budget cuts USSOCOM divested ownership of the JSOM so that it could continue to be published privately. The JSOM remains the only academic peer-reviewed journal devoted to Special Operations medicine and is indexed in the National Library PubMed.

Our focus is on unconventional and operational medicine, to include tactical casualty care, practiced in the remote and austere environment. Our subscribers are from the Special Operations Forces (SOF), law enforcement civilian and governmental agencies with tactical emergency medical support (TEMS), and anyone interested in emergency or wilderness medicine. It is an official forum for professional discourse on global Special Operations medicine that transcends the boundary between military and civilian medicine by bringing forth practical and sensible ideas and techniques to the provider currently operating in a tactical or law enforcement environment.

In addition to the feature articles and ongoing specialty series, the JSOM was chosen by the Committee for Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) to publish quarterly, the TCCC Guideline Updates.

The JSOM is the Official Journal of the Special Operations Medical Association. For more information or to subscribe to the JSOM go to www.JSOMonline.org. Articles and back editions of the journal can be purchased on our Online Store.

What Medical Leaders Are Saying

“There is no peer-reviewed academic resource that equals the Journal of Special Operations Medicine for support of the medical and veterinary lead in Stabilization, Security, Transition and Reconstruction (SSTR) operations, combat and field medicine, and adaptation of Tactical Combat Casualty Care into Tactical Emergency Casualty Care for the law enforcement and emergency management community in 195 UN member countries. The JSOM is a valuable resource as we continue the Millennium Medicine Project, targeting the global population that lacks access to basic surgical services and providing crisis management, security, and defense support in this demographic.”
– Stephen M. Apatow
President, Humanitarian Resource Institute
(UN:NGO:DESA) and H-II OPSEC: Defense Support: Humanitarian and Security Operations

“One of the unifying principles across humanitarian, expedition and disaster response medical operations is the ability to make complex decisions in uncertain environments. The Journal of Special Operations Medicine is one of the most unique platforms for experts to convey lessons learned and relevant scientific advances across specialties that historically have little interaction. Whether you work for Doctors Without Borders, a DMAT, or provide medical support for expeditions in austere environments, Journal of Special Operations Medicine is your journal.”
– David W. Callaway, MD
Director, Division of Operational and Disaster Medicine
Operational Medical Director, Carolinas MED-1
Co-Chairman, The Committee for Tactical Emergency Casualty Care (C-TECC)
Civilian Vice President, Special Operations Medical Association (SOMA)

“Military units that have trained all of their members in Tactical Combat Casualty Care have documented the lowest incidence of preventable deaths among their casualties in the history of modern warfare – and JSOM is the first journal to publish every new change in TCCC.”
– Frank K. Butler, MD
Chairman, Committee on Tactical Combat Casualty Care (CoTCCC)

“I just finished reading the fall edition of the JSOM and I am completely blown away!!!! It is absolutely packed with exceptional and relevant information that without a doubt, will assist SOF Tactical Health Care professionals in providing relevant and evidence based patient care.Thank you for providing what I consider a “World Class Medical Journal”. The journal itself and the website have become my primary resource for knowledge in tactical medicine.”
-Robert M. Miller
North American Rescue
Chief Innovation Officer