Since 1989, the Defense Centers for Public Health – Aberdeen (formerly the Army Public Health Center) Tick-Borne Disease Laboratory (TBDL) has operated the Military Tick Identification/Infection Confirmation Kit Program (or MilTICK), which receives human-biting ticks removed from military-affiliated personnel. These ticks are identified, assayed for human pathogenic agents, and the results are reported back to the tick bite victims and their physicians as actionable evidence for use in determining the appropriate treatment regimen. The TBDL has amassed large, long-term datasets from many of the installations that submit ticks to the program. This enables the TBDL to identify trends in tick and pathogen presence across a broad geographic range, and to provide up-to-date surveillance data and recommendations targeted to the specific risks present at each installation. The TBDL also offers information and educational materials regarding ticks, TBDs, tick removal, and personal protective techniques to prevent tick and other arthropod exposures. Here we describe recent highlights from MilTICK surveillance, and findings from some other collaborations informing surveillance efforts undertaken by the TBDL. We also discuss the continuing need to grow the military tick testing capability to protect a ready operational force, and discuss the ways in which the MilTICK and other passive surveillance tick testing programs fill important gaps in tick surveillance and TBD prevention in military populations and beyond. Key words: Biosurveillance, vector-borne disease, ticks, tick-borne disease, risk assessment, diagnostics