Photo By Lt. Col. Charles An | Commanders and key leaders in the Army Medical Department attended the General Officer...... read more read more
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ATLANTA – Continued efforts in Afghanistan, the possibility of withdrawing troops from the war, and the nation’s fiscal ceiling are some issues that are on the minds of many service members. The Army Reserve leaders in the Army Medical Department, also known as AMEDD, spent an entire weekend together at the General Officer Steering Committee to discuss and find innovative solutions for those issues which will affect their soldiers.
The 3rd Medical Command Deployment Support hosted the General Officer Steering Committee in Atlanta Sept. 14-15th. The leaders of the 807th Medical Command Deployment Support and Army Reserve Medical Command attended the event. Other attendees included the commanding general of Public Health Command, Forces Command surgeon, Army Reserve Command surgeon, and members of the Office of the Surgeon General.
There was a unified concern for Reservists in AMEDD to stay ready and proficient when the withdrawal from Afghanistan takes place. For Maj. Gen. Dziedzicki, commanding general of the 3rd Medical Command, this is one of his concerns. “We need to ensure that we meet guidance put out by the Chief of the Army Reserve, so that we remain an operational medical Reserve,” says Dziedzicki.
"The biggest issue we face is how will we maintain an operational Reserve, and remain relevant during these fiscal constraint times,” says Col. Joe Heck, who is promotable to Brig. Gen. and the newest addition of deputy commanding generals at the 3rd Medical Command.
When not in uniform, Heck is also a congressman, representative of the 3rd District of Nevada, which allows him to bring a unique understanding of the budget concerns in both the military arena and the congressional arena. He raises a good question saying, “We’ve built a credible operational capability over the last 12 years. As funding goes down, as operations tempo goes down, how is the Reserve going to be positioned to maintain that operational capability?”
Maintaining that operational capability by AMEDD soldiers in the Reserve would require innovative ways to stay at that level. Brig. Gen. Cynthia O’Connell, one of the three deputy commanding generals for 3rd Medical Command, gave an example of how the 75th Combat Support Hospital has maintained that capability stateside by being involved in the Innovative Readiness Training in Ferriday, La.
The 75th Combat Support Hospital provided medical care for more than 4,000 patients in Ferriday over 10 days this past July. “We did optometry, we did dental work, a full gamut of primary care, and the people of Ferriday were so grateful,” says O’Connell. “It was an opportunity for 75th to give back to their own.”
Even with major college and professional football games that weekend, the leaders were focused on tackling those issues for their soldiers. The leaders sat together through hours of discussions on how to keep their soldiers operationally ready, continue to train their leaders on both the enlisted and officer sides, and keeping the AMEDD in the Reserve relevant not just to the Army, but the entire Department of Defense. Despite being from different commands and arenas of the Army, the leaders had a collaborative effort in answering these issues.
Brig. Gen. John Donnelly, the longest tenured deputy commanding general for the 3rd Medical Command, was encouraged by the event. He commented that “if the soldiers could see what was being discussed, the general officers are taking to heart the best interest of the soldiers, trying to make smart decisions to affect and improve the life and mission readiness of not just soldiers in the 3rd, but all AMEDD soldiers in the Army Reserve.”
| Date Taken: | 09.14.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 09.23.2013 12:55 |
| Story ID: | 114111 |
| Location: | ATLANTA, GEORGIA, US |
| Web Views: | 474 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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