USAMMDA Welcomes New Project Management Office – Deployed Medical Systems
The U.S. Army remains strong and unwavering because its principals have never changed. Even through its latest restructuring plan, the stand-up of the Army Futures Command and Medical Logistics Command, Soldier readiness and safety continue to be top priorities. To better support Army priorities, all research, development, and acquisition efforts are being consolidated in preparation for the move to Army Futures Command.
Prior to March 2019, the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command's acquisition mission was shared by two of its subcommands – the U.S. Army Medical Materiel Development Activity and the U.S. Army Medical Materiel Agency. As part of the recent transition, the acquisition and program management teams at USAMMA were moved to USAMMDA.
By the end of February, three PMOs within USAMMA were combined and realigned to USAMMDA as the new Project Management Office for Deployed Medical Systems. PMO DMS will consist of two Product Management Offices: the Product Management Office for Medical Device Assemblage Management and the Product Management Office for Medical Modernization. These changes were made to improve delivery of medical equipment and to more closely align to the structure of other Army PMOs.
"I understand that we are bringing on an excellent group of professionals that are great at their craft," said Army Col. Ryan Bailey, USAMMDA commander. "It's going to be a great environment here at USAMMDA. We promote teamwork and collaborations, so we really want to make them feel welcome and part of the team."
Nearly one year ago, USAMMDA completed the restructuring and realignment of several USAMMA and USAMMDA PMOs, making product development more efficient. Bailey said the last transition went very well, but this time USAMMDA leadership took the lessons learned and created a working group to plan the move effectively.
"We were very methodical about making sure the changes happened smoothly and effectively, while making sure that the incoming personnel had everything they needed to feel welcome here at USAMMDA," said Bailey.
The purpose of the initial realignment was to clarify mission space, and to streamline funding and personnel. The benefit of the latest transition is not only to support Army priorities, but to allow the affected commands to focus on their specializations.
"I think the biggest benefit of the consolidation will be that we'll be sitting right next to our development partners," said Dr. Tyler Bennett, deputy for acquisition for USAMMDA. "Anything that is coming through the development process can seamlessly move into production, procurement, and fielding to get things to the Warfighter quicker."
Of the teams that recently transitioned to USAMMDA, the MDAM team works on the day-to-day activities of existing fielded equipment. They coordinate moving it, transferring it between units, procuring, and the fielding to Army units at the right time at the right place. MDAM's management of medical products supports patient care, and ensures that the Warfighter has the necessary equipment to meet their missions.
The MOD team's mission focuses on replacing and modernizing fielded equipment and systems. Bennett said, "for the 206 different types of equipment that we field, about 30 of them are obsolete, need a new contract, and need to be replaced."
The Role of Care 3 team also falls under MOD. This group is modernizing the Combat Support Hospital to the new field hospital of the future.
In 2018, the ROC-3 team was chartered by USAMRMC to synchronize and manage the cost, schedule, and performance for Class VIII and certain Class VII products, equipping conversion from the Combat Support Hospital to the Hospital Center configuration, and changing the Forward Surgical Team to the Forward Resuscitation and Surgical Team configuration.
In today's changing Department of Defense and Army, USAMMDA remains committed to executing its mission to develop and deliver quality medical capabilities to protect, treat and sustain the health of our Service Members. The team is committed to the medical readiness of U.S. Warfighters and promoting their lethality — which will help enable our nation's Soldiers to win wars and come home safe.
Previous realignment: https://www.usammda.army.mil/index.cfm/public_affairs/articles/2018/forging_ahead_in_medical_product_development