Command-Directed Mental Health Evaluation (CDMHE)

IAW DoDI 6490.04 March 2013, Commanders or supervisors may refer a Service Member for a CDBHE for a variety of concerns including fitness for duty, occupational requirements, safety issues, significant changes in performance, or behavior changes that may be attributable to possible mental status changes. A Commander or supervisor will refer a Service Member for an emergency CDBHE as soon as is practicable whenever a Service Member, by actions or words, such as actual, attempted, or threatened violence, intends or is likely to cause serious injury to him or herself or others, when the facts and circumstances indicated that the Service Member’s intent to cause such injury is likely or when the Commander believes that the Service Member may be suffering from a severe mental disorder.

A supervisor is defined IAW DoDI 6490.04 as a commissioned officer within or out of a Service Member’s official chain of command, or civilian employee in a grade level comparable to a commissioned officer, who exercises supervisor authority over the Service Member's current or temporary duty assignment or other circumstances of the Service Member’s duty assignment and is authorized due to the impracticality of involving an actual Commander in the Service Member’s chain of command.

Initiation of a CDMHE begins with contacting a behavioral health provider, which may be accomplished using the following contact information:

For Commanders of Permanent Party Service Members:

Multi-Disciplinary Behavioral Health Clinic: 210-808-1859 / 210-808-2846
Location: 3551 Roger Brooke Dr., BAMC 7 West – Bed Tower

For Commanders of Trainee Service Members:

Campus Behavioral Health Clinic: 210-808-2534/2584
Location: CPT Jennifer M. Moreno Primary Care Clinic (1st Floor)

Further information on the purpose of CDMHEs, how to determine when to request a CDMHE, and what requirements must be met when arranging this evaluation are available in this slide set. In making the decision of whether to request a CDMHE, this decision tree may also be helpful.