Rear Adm. David F. Baucom, newly assigned commander of Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, paid a visit to the U.S. Army Medical Materiel Center, Europe Sept. 28. The commander made the stop in connection with an orientation tour of one of his forward-deployed activities, the DLA-TS, Europe and Africa, located in Kaiserslautern, Germany.

After receiving a command briefing on the mission and functions of the USAMMCE, Baucom toured the facility's production, storage, and distribution areas.

The USAMMCE serves as the theater lead agent for medical materiel throughout the European and African continents, and it remains the primary link to the DLA Executive Agent Program for Supply Class VIII. As a partner of DLA-TS, it processes approximately $200 million in sales annually from DLA-TS pharmaceutical and medical surgical contracts.

Lt. Col. Christopher Todd, USAMMCE's chief of the Distribution and Transportation Division, said, "We are grateful for the chance to brief the admiral on the opportunities presented and the challenges faced by USAMMCE in providing medical materiel support to both peacetime and operational healthcare in three different combatant commands. DLA-TS and USAMMCE share some of the same challenges in the management of medical materiel."

According to Adam Cohen, chief of commodity services, DLA-TS, the admiral was very impressed with USAMMCE overall, particularly the optical laboratory and the kitting operation.