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The History of the IHO
An Industrial Hygiene Officer (IHO) is one of 31 specialties within the Medical Service Corps (MSC), one of six corps that comprise the Navy Medicine Enterprise. The other two are the Medical Corps (physicians) and the Nurse Corps.
The IHO community’s roots trace back to the early 1940s during World War II after the destruction of the Pacific battleship fleet at Pearl Harbor ended debate about the most valuable ships. The war shifted to carriers, driving a surge in naval construction and prompting the Secretary of the Navy to create industrial hygiene programs in Navy yards and 12 naval districts to keep workers safe and on the job.
By 1943, 42 IHOs—designated as H-V(S) officers or Hospital Corps-Volunteer (Specialist)—trained at Harvard and Columbia universities. They were forerunners of the MSC, established in 1947.
Today, as then, IHOs anticipate, recognize, evaluate and control workplace and operational stressors critical to protecting the Navy’s military and civilian workforce.
The IHO community includes over 120 officers serving at operational commands, including billets on all carriers submarines, Marine aviation wings, fleets, type commands (TYCOMs), Navy Environmental and Preventive Medicine Units (NEPMUs) military treatment facilities, and with the Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV).
IHOs began reporting aboard carriers in 1992. For me, that milestone is personal. My father, retired Capt. Paul Gillooly, of Norfolk, Virginia, served as the force IHO at Commander, Naval Air Forces Atlantic (CNAL), where he developed the IHO job description and equipment list for carriers. His father, Capt. Jack Gillooly, of Maryville, Tennessee, commanded USS Wasp (CVS 18) and is the oldest living Naval Aviator at 105 years old this September. He’s also the oldest Navy football player as an alumnus of the class of 1945—and never lost to Army.
Before carrier assignments, IHOs served as safety department heads aboard destroyers, submarine tenders and repair ships. Only two submarine tenders remain, both homeported in Guam.
At the TYCOM level, the IHO falls under the safety department on carriers and not in the medical department, serving as the assistant safety officer. The department head is typically a senior pilot with aviation safety expertise.
IHO duties are primarily outlined in OPNAVINST 5100.19F, the Navy Safety and Occupational Health (NAVOSH) Program Manual for Forces Afloat. This instruction governs 23 Navy Occupational Safety and Health (NAVOSH) programs, including noise, heat stress, sight conservation, respiratory protection, lead control and personal protective equipment. Unique to the USS Harry S. Truman, the safety department is supported by 135 divisional safety petty officers that execute these programs.
IHOs control hazards that could cause disease or disability. They conduct baseline, periodic and supplemental industrial hygiene surveys, which guide exposure monitoring plans, hazard sampling and medical surveillance requirements.
A Navy-wide goal is for exposure data and medical surveillance results to be available in the Individual Longitudinal Exposure Record, developed with the Veteran’s Affairs to improve care and maintain complete occupational exposure histories for Sailors and veterans.
Additional Duties
IHOs also serve as the afloat environmental protection coordinator, advising the commanding officer on environmental compliance, discharge events, marine species protection, and oil spill prevention. In port, they coordinate with installation public works environmental staff.
Other responsibilities include qualifying as officer of the deck while in-port, liaising with CNAL habitability and livability inspection teams, and coordinating environmental and occupational exposure programs during INSURV.
While underway, IHOs qualify for bridge and flight deck watches, including junior officer of the deck and flight deck safety observer. They are also expected to earn the Surface Warfare Medical Department Officer qualification during their tour.
A Unique Deployment
USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75)’s most recent deployment was one of the longest and most challenging in recent history. The strike group executed one of the largest U.S. naval offensives since World War II, earning the Combat Action Ribbon, an award rarely presented since the 1991 Gulf War.
The deployment extended from six to eight months due to operational demand in the Middle East, where Truman conducted 50 days of continuous flight operations, dropping more than 1.1 million pounds of ordnance against enemy targets.
Despite the high operational tempo, Truman earned the Navy’s Green Safety Pendant for outstanding performance across 23 NAVOSH programs, protecting all 5,435 Sailors aboard during forward operations.
Serving aboard Truman deepened my appreciation for the Fleet and the role IHOs play in enabling safe, effective warfighting. This experience will help future IHOs uphold safety standards, ensuring Sailors can fight—and win—safely.
For 250 years, Navy Medicine — represented by more than 44,000 highly-trained military and civilian healthcare professionals — has delivered quality healthcare and enduring expeditionary medical support to the warfighter on, below, and above the sea, and ashore.
The Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED) is the headquarters for the Navy Medicine enterprise. Under the leadership the Navy surgeon general and chief, BUMED, Navy Medicine ensures Sailors, Marines and their families and retirees are healthy, ready and on the job – be it on land or sea.
| Date Taken: | 08.04.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 08.05.2025 18:17 |
| Story ID: | 544862 |
| Location: | NORFOLK, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 48 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
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