Army Nurse Corps

Founded on February 2, 1901, the U.S. Army Nurse Corps (ANC) has provided medical care for soldiers and their families during wartime and peace for more than a century. Before the founding of the corps, the U.S. military relied on nurses to provide medical care for soldiers but hired them to serve only as contract nurses. Thousands of nurses worked in army hospitals in the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, but as contract nurses they held no permanent status in the army. Following the Spanish-American War, however, the army deemed a permanent nurse corps necessary and created the ANC within the Medical Department. Since its founding, the corps has evolved in size and makeup, and nurses have attained greater professional status and respect. Today’s ANC serves ...