Courtesy Photo | Attendees at the Korea MEDLOG Summit listen to a speaker during a facility tour March...... read more read more
CAMP CARROLL, Republic of Korea -- Capitalizing on a concurrent joint exercise, medical logistics leaders across the Korean Peninsula took part in a summit March 20, 2023, to share experiences and synchronize efforts to better support the operational force.
The Korea MEDLOG Summit, cohosted by the U.S. Army Medical Materiel Center-Korea and the 168th Multifunctional Medical Battalion, was attended by roughly 60 people.
USAMMC-K Commander Lt. Col. Mark Sander described the event as a success in that senior leaders were able to ask meaningful questions and have open critical discussions on various topics that impact the MEDLOG environment within the region.
“Everybody -- even the most senior mentor and participant -- left this summit with new information about the world, the future and the potential for new ideas in MEDLOG,” Sander said. “Advanced leader development programs, not just limited to MEDLOG, can use discussions like these to challenge everyone to go beyond doctrine alone, mature awareness and perspectives of our senior and junior leaders, and prepare us all to use critical thinking to solve complex problems across echelons.”
The summit brought together a number of key leaders and officers in the Health Services Materiel, or 70K, career field, including Sander and cohost Lt. Col. Richard E. Wood, commander of the 168th MMB.
Guest speakers included retired Brig. Gen. Richard L. Ursone, Col. Jason Hughes, director of the Special Initiatives Group at Army Medical Logistics Command, and Col. Victor A. Suarez, commander of the 6th Medical Logistics Management Center.
As partner battalions, the 168th MMB commands many elements that make up a significant portion of USAMMC-K’s regular customer base, according to Capt. Elizabeth Martinez, chief of customer support for USAMMC-K.
“This summit served as a big first step for the medical leaders at USAMMC-K, 168th MMB and others on the peninsula to level-set in a post-COVID environment and provide understanding among command teams and planners of our organizations within the medical logistics community,” Martinez said.
In any mission setting, understanding the operational environment is crucial to success. The summit helped MEDLOG leaders reestablish their understanding of one another and their roles, while incorporating follow-up actions to incorporate critical thought and emerging doctrine to better support U.S. Forces Korea.
USAMMC-K leaders also heard from stakeholders on ways to better position MEDLOG organizations to drive readiness, as well as the implementation of the “MEDLOG in Campaigning” objectives that can influence the center’s mission effectiveness.
MEDLOG in Campaigning is an effort aimed at streamlining medical materiel ordering and medical device maintenance, while posturing the Army to be ready to transition quickly from peacetime at home station to an active operational environment.
“Sharing the perspectives of senior MEDLOG leaders can go from influence to planning and preparations rapidly from the agile position of USAMMC-K’s role in the operational supply chain,” Martinez said. “This summit also facilitated a great network opportunity for all leaders to meet and greet medical logisticians from around the world and provide an understanding of what we bring to the table.”
Sander said USAMMC-K’s workforce is already well-prepared for operating in a daily environment that regularly supports training, exercises and routine health care support across all Department of Defense facilities on the Korean Peninsula.
The summit just helped sharpen those skills and keeps the organization ready to “Fight Tonight,” he said.
“By practicing our critical thinking and challenging ourselves to apply our capabilities across a new operational paradigm, we test it for weakness and inflexibility, develop requirements to fill those voids or responsive processes, and reassess risks to enable our leaders to make decisions on priorities so that we can realize their vision,” Sander said. “We are better now than we were before, because we have sharpened our understanding of the environment and gained perspectives on risks.”
USAMMC-K is a direct reporting unit to AMLC, the Army’s life cycle management command for medical materiel.
| Date Taken: | 04.25.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 04.25.2023 11:03 |
| Story ID: | 443305 |
| Location: | CAMP CARROLL, KR |
| Web Views: | 95 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Summit builds on communication among MEDLOG leaders in Korea, by C.J. Lovelace, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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