A Sailor

"The primary mission for Environmental Health is the protection of human health through the prevention of disease. Some of the areas...are food service sanitation, drinking water surveillance and disease outbreak investigations. Most recently we've been involved in the effort against bioterrorism."


Environmental Health

Job Overview:

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Classification:
Χ Enlisted
√ Officer
Available in:
√ Active Duty
√ Navy Reserve

In Navy Environmental Health, you’ll find cutting-edge research in practice. Elite scientists at the top of their fields. And a position of honor and respect waiting should you choose to join such ranks.

Pay:

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Whether cruising one thousand feet beneath the ocean or berthing on a floating city with 5,500 other personnel, Sailors and Marines live and work in spaces that are far from typical.

It’s the challenge of the environmental health specialist to address the spread of disease in these isolated environments.

What will you do?

Navy Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) focus on prevention and control of diseases in Navy and Marine Corps populations. You’ll identify potential health threats, develop courses of action and advise about countermeasures to protect our forces. Determine effective methods of health-threat assessment, conduct disease and environmental surveillance, and develop countermeasures to meet potential and actual threats.

You could also:

  • Provide guidance to Operational Commanders, Commanding Officers, Officers in Charge, Joint Forces, and the United Nations on food safety, water/wastewater safety, communicable disease control and epidemiological/biostatistic methods of assessing threats
  • Gain a nationally recognized credential as a Registered Environmental Health Specialist (REHS) from the National Environmental Health Association
  • Champion programs such as Food Safety Ashore and Afloat, Water Supply Ashore and Afloat, Sanitation of Living Spaces and Related Service Facilities, and Wastewater Treatment Ashore

Requirements

Basic Requirements

  1. Master’s of Public Health with an emphasis in environmental health or a master’s of science in environmental health from an academic institution accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH), the Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH), or the National Environmental Health Science & Protection Accreditation Council (EHAC)
  2. Degree should include courses in environmental health, epidemiology, food safety, drinking water and wastewater analysis, infectious diseases, environmental toxicology, health risk assessment and communication, biostatistics, etc.

Preferred Requirements

  1. Certification as a Registered Environmental Health Specialist (REHS) or Registered Sanitarian (RS) through the National Environmental Health Association
  2. Undergraduate degree in environmental health or in the biological life sciences
  3. Physical science degrees such as chemistry and physics may be acceptable with additional course work in the life sciences such as microbiology, zoology, human physiology, etc.
  4. Registered Sanitarian with a state or Registered Environmental Health Specialist with the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA)
  5. Master’s degree in public health with a major in environmental health from an accredited university, with a GPA of 3.0 or better on a 4.0 scale
  6. Interviewed by Active Duty Environmental Health Officer (at Lieutenant or above)

Want to drill deeper? Learn more about other Health Care Opportunities in the Medical Service Corps.

For more information, to talk to a Navy representative or to request a free informative video about the Navy Medical Service Corps, please fill out an information request form. We look forward to hearing from you!

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