Commander's Blog

As mentioned in my last blog entry, we recently awarded a contract to develop a new searchable, electronic handbook that will improve USAMMDA's business operations well into the future, and we are very excited to roll out information on this important project during the week of October 24. As you can imagine, we utilize a multitude of processes daily within our command, but unfortunately, a good portion have not been documented properly. For those that have been recorded and archived, many are not easily accessible by the end user. Our new "Business Process Handbook" is a critical tool that will be used to document our daily business methods, which will help us to refine our performance management strategies and allow for continuous process improvement. Also, this electronic handbook will be loaded by USAMMDA into a SharePoint environment for a more effective user experience. Taken together, these advancements will help to smooth our workflow practices and assist newcomers in ramping up much more quickly.

In order for the contractor to complete this task by the end of the six-month period of performance, their team will consult with the leads of 13 functional areas to review and document current business processes. The functional areas identified by USAMMDA leadership are Program Management Support Services, Resource Management and Planning, Programming, Budgeting and Execution, Human Resources, Information Management/Information Technology, Logistics, Contracting, Public Affairs, Administrative, Travel Training, Office of Research and Technology Applications, Acquisition, Quality, and Regulatory and Clinical Services Support. For each functional area, the handbook will include a description and map of the process, written instructions to support the process, and references to any forms associated with the respective process. A point of contact has been assigned in each area to assist the contractor with information throughout this project, and it is very important that we all work together to ensure everything is completed before the six-month end date. Without a doubt, the result of this effort will make our USAMMDA team much stronger and more ready for any tasks that come our way.

We're certainly going through some exciting changes right now, but again, these changes are evolutionary and not revolutionary. These modifications are helping us to reorganize our plans and restructure our organization for optimum efficiency. As part of these improvements, our Force Health Protection division has been realigned to fall under our Acquisition office, led by Kathy Berst. This change was carefully considered by our USAMMDA leadership team, and we agreed that as our sole operational group, it did not necessarily align under any particular organization within the Office of the Commander. However, we have seen a good deal of interest from Medical Countermeasure Systems, and specifically, the Joint Vaccine Acquisition Program, to add new products into the Special Immunizations Program and, potentially, products from the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute. In light of this, FHP would probably take on an "acquisition flavor" by adding new products, so leadership felt the division would be better aligned under the Deputy for Acquisition. I certainly believe this change will add value to FHP as well as our organization as a whole, and increased value is what we are striving to achieve each day we do business – primarily because of our strict duty to our American taxpayers.

Although we've seen some great changes taking place recently at USAMMDA, one thing that will never change is the excellence and professionalism among our staff. We have top notch people in every department, and this is one of my joys in coming to work each day. And the high quality of our team is shown by the various awards we've won over the past year. Most recently, our Tissue Injury and Regenerative Medicine Program Management Office was honored as the organizational recipient of the 9th annual Major Jonathan Letterman Medical Excellence Award. While the TIRM PMO has helped to realize numerous medical advancements over the past decade, its work in the field of Vascularized Composite Allotransplantation has been remarkable! The TIRM PMO has made incredible treatments possible, such as a successful face transplant for a civilian injured in a high-voltage electrical accident, and a double-arm transplant for a Service Member wounded in combat. The outstanding work of our TIRM group offers a great deal of hope to severely injured military and civilian patients throughout the world, and the team certainly shines throughout the U.S. Army Medical Command and beyond.

As if this weren't enough, the Total Lifecycle Management team, comprised of members from the U.S. Army Medical Materiel Agency and USAMMDA, was honored as the winner of the Army Medicine Wolf Pack Award for the final quarter of fiscal year 2016. Steve Hawbecker and Jamie Lee, both members of our Medical Support Systems PMO, were the two USAMMDA representatives on the team, which was recognized for its exceptional work in utilizing equipment and materiel in a highly efficient manner to produce a new shelter capability for Warfighters in the field. The award is so well respected, in fact, that Lt. Gen. Nadja West, surgeon general of the U.S. Army and commanding general of MEDCOM, made a surprise visit to Fort Detrick to congratulate the winners in person. Believe me, all of us who were in the room that morning were a bit stunned when she walked through the door, but we soon realized her reason for coming, when she said the Wolf Pack Award holds a special place in her heart. Needless to say, her appearance made the day even more special for our winners, as the award showed the dedication of our USAMMDA team and our ability to work closely with other groups to produce successful outcomes for our Service Members. It was a great reflection on the quality of our people and the unity we strive for each day we do business.

I couldn't be more proud of the work we do here, and the people who do it!

Hooah!

COL William Geesey