Commander's Blog

Greetings, USAMMDA!

You may have noticed two new Army lieutenant colonels in the Office of the Commander recently. Col. Geesey brought me and Lt. Col. Mitchell Woodberry here to be the deputy commander and the executive officer, respectively. This was very purposeful with the intent the executive officer will manage the daily operational tasks of the Office of the Commander–responsibilities such as facility coordination actions, logistics, rosters, etc. We are fortunate to have on board Woodberry who is pro-active, thorough and helpful. So with Woodberry's excellent talent on board, the role of the deputy will change to some extent. My portfolio adds shepherding the strategic initiatives for the commander. As such, I will start with some strategic, shall I say metaphysical, thoughts…

As my kids grow up, I ask them six questions, and I tell them that they should ask themselves these six questions continually throughout their lives because the answer may change as they grow older and gain greater understanding. I tell them that the answers to these six questions should be coherent and consistent with each other, and their thinking should be Socratic and agonizingly thorough in their exploration of the answers. Why? Because the answers form the basis of our existence and determine how we will live as human beings in a complex world. Yes, we all answer these questions in one way or another, usually by our actions instead of our purposeful and thoughtful ponderings. We can answer them unconsciously, pragmatically, philosophically, or theologically. Our answers may see beauty in everything around us or leave us in Nietzschean despair, but nevertheless, they determine our actions.

So what are these questions and why am I writing about this in my first USAMMDA blog? It turns out that we can ask the same probing questions about us as a collective organization that we should ask ourselves. Our answers govern how we behave as an organization and determine where we are going. It is perhaps, most fitting and healthy, to ask these questions as we reassess our organizational strategy in a changing and complex strategic environment with evolving global threats, with new MRMC leadership, emerging technologies, shifting requirements, and the unfamiliar and indeterminate role of the Defense Health Agency in our future. The six questions are in the figure below:

While we can spend time answering organizational questions about who we are, or asking our resident historians where we came from (all very important), I want to address "why are we here?" and "where we are going?" in this blog.

In our military leadership training, we are introduced to mission analysis and "ends, ways, and means" analysis, and we apply this to our organizational direction and strategy. Ugh, here we go again! How often do we collectively groan when we go through the organizational exercise of another strategic map that seems disconnected with our everyday whirlwind of activity? Nevertheless, if we do it right (and that is a big "if"), then we have the context for making critical decisions that affect each of our futures and, ultimately, our ability to save lives. It is just as important to have the same sense of purpose and meaning in our vocation as we do in our personal lives. Otherwise, we are just going through the motions.

Last spring, USAMMDA held an offsite to consider the strategic issues facing our organization and what we can do within our sphere of influence to shape our future. Positive and thoughtful input provided the seeds of the USAMMDA strategic plan that is taking shape and will hopefully be at a bookstore near you in the not-so-distant future (the Office of the Commander is putting some finishing touches and a bow on it as we speak). So where are we going? Not to steal all of the thunder, but we are heading toward being a highly efficient organization–transparent, responsive, expeditious, adaptive, collaborative, and able to anticipate the needs of our Warfighter. Woah! Big talk needs concrete actions to demonstrate that we are becoming who we say we are. Yes, we will need to be able to measure success.

Success centers on our primary mission and center of gravity. Our USAMMDA primary mission is world-class military medical product development–this is our raison d'être. Everything else we do supports this primary line of effort to get better products to the Warfighter faster to save lives. We get the Warfighter what they need, when they need it.

This is the castle in the clouds. Now we have to build the foundation and the ladder to get us there. We must build the practical, meaningful, and daily tasks that make the castle a reality. That is where some concrete organizational initiatives will begin to take shape. This includes the establishment of the Strategic Advisory Council for the Commander, implementing revised policies that make USAMMDA life more efficient (like the new TDY policy), implementing IT solutions to improve business processes, documenting regulator processes for customers, and publicizing and building on our success stories (complete with a new and fresh logo).

Overall, I am very excited and fortunate to be here working with such great professionals and to participate in the success of this organization over the next few years. Our mission is clear and we are on a journey to a destination together. We are asking the right questions. We will answer them together. As John F. Kennedy said, "Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction." Hooah!

Hooah!

LTC David Johnston