I have been reflecting on the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States - the right of the people to keep and bear arms. The right to own weapons is a fundamental part of our collective history as Americans.

Looking back on 2012, I do not think anyone could make an argument that the year was dull. We are well into our 11th year of war. As a country, we completed one of the most contentious presidential elections in recent memory, and to our credit and the world’s amazement, did it bloodlessly.

Last year, VA provided outstanding care to six million Veterans. In the next five years — as America turns the page on a decade of war — it's expected that more than 1 million active-duty personnel will join the ranks of America’s 22 million veterans.  It’s imperative that VA ensures America’s veterans, including those returning home from missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, have access to the high quality healthcare they’ve earned and deserve.

The Military Health System is entering a time of transition. After a decade making unprecedented strides in battlefield care, military medicine must now focus on the future. The Military Health System is actively transitioning from a culture of healthcare to one of health.

Promoting health for more than 9.7 million beneficiaries in the Military Health System (MHS) is a shared responsibility among the military services, purchased-care providers and beneficiaries that requires team collaboration to successfully achieve medically ready forces, healthy beneficiaries and a high-quality, cost-effective system for health.

Since becoming the Navy Surgeon General in November 2011, VADM Nathan's priority has been to ensure that Navy Medicine is strategically aligned with the imperatives and priorities of the Secretary of the Navy, Chief of Naval Operations and Commandant of the Marine Corps, including programs aimed at achieving healthy outcomes for its beneficiaries — the 21st century sailor and Marine.

U.S. military forces, now in the second decade of war, benefit from the vast achievements Army, Navy and Air Force medics have jointly made in deployed and enroute health care since 2001. With a 96% survival rate, we have never been better prepared to support our war-fighters.