Commander's Blog

For our Officer Professional Development group this month, we've been reading a very engaging book, "Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action,” by Simon Sinek. What I like about the author's approach is that he asks his readers to think about why we do what we do, and this really is an important question when it comes to our vocational choices. With a mission like ours, I hope that everyone on the USAMMDA team has a clear concept of their own "why" as we come to work each day. Personally, I believe our collective "why" is that we're committed to delivering quality products to our Warfighters to keep these men and women strong before, during and after the fight. And I would think most of our USAMMDA family would agree with me on this, as it's truly an important calling.

As January is Blood Donor Month across the nation, I'd encourage everyone to continue to donate blood all throughout the year, as this certainly helps to save lives every day. In fact, the American Red Cross website states that its efforts help to ensure that more than 21,000 people each day receive blood products from Red Cross donors. In our organization, we're very aware of the importance of life-saving blood products, and our Pharmaceutical Systems Project Management Office's Blood Products team takes this very seriously, as it continues to work with a U.S.-based freeze-dried plasma product to save lives on the battlefield. Other PSPMO projects include a whole-blood pathogen device, cryopreserved platelets, and cold-stored platelets. Our work with blood products remains on the cutting-edge of new technology, which will help our Combat Casualty Care team transform the standard of trauma care to increase our ability to save lives far-forward in the future. Also, we are working very closely with the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on accelerating the approval of many of these blood products, and this helps to support the criticality of the USAMMDA mission to protect and preserve the lives of our Warfighters.

On February 2, we will celebrate the anniversary of the Army Nurse Corps, which was first organized in 1901. The ANC has thousands of dedicated nursing professionals, and the work these men and women do for Army Medicine is greatly appreciated throughout our military. The organization provides tremendous care for our Service Members, and without its support, we certainly would not be as strong and prepared to fight as we are today. Maj. Gen. Barbara Holcomb, USAMRMC and Fort Detrick commanding general, is the ANC chief, and she leads this outstanding group that places the nation and our military above all else in their careers. Please join me in congratulating all ANC members, past and present, for their historic and valuable service to our country!

Finally, although our recent government shutdown didn't last very long, we'll have to await another decision that will come down next week. I am extremely proud of the level of professionalism with which we executed this short furlough period, and I'm confident we will handle anything that comes along in the same skillful manner. Please remember that, despite any challenges that may come up, our focus must always remain on serving our Warfighters. Our mission is always critical, and we can't let anything get in the way of accomplishing our goal of keeping our military ready at all times – our nation is counting on us!

Let's always remember that we're saving lives with everything we do here at USAMMDA!

COL Ryan Bailey