Fort Detrick's 6th Medical Logistics Management Center forward team returned from an ambitious year as spearhead of the U.S. Army Medical Materiel Center'Southwest Asia Theater Distribution Center at Camp As Sayliyah, Qatar.

"The five of us were able to seamlessly integrate into leadership roles," says USAMMC'SWA commander Lt. Col. Kevin Cooper of his team. "We provided senior leadership within the organization, leading 110 Soldiers, Air Force Airmen, civilians and contractors."

Serving with Cooper were Maj. Matthew Voyles, chief of the Materiel Management Division; Master Sgt. Derrick Gray, Noncommissioned Officer in Charge of the MMD and Senior Enlisted Advisor; Sgt. 1st Class James Williams, NCOIC of Medical Maintenance Support Operations and Standard Army Maintenance System'Enhanced; and Staff Sgt. James Baker, NCOIC of Customer Support.

The 6MLMC manages Class VIII commodity and medical maintenance to ensure that medical supplies and equipment get into theater. As the Theater Lead Agent for Medical Materiel, the forward team provided combat health logistics support to Joint forces deployed in the USCENTCOM area while refining systems and streamlining processes. By all accounts, its mission was a success.

Cooper tallied the numbers. Over its year in Qatar the forward team oversaw:

• distribution of more than 15,000 shipments of medical supplies to USCENTCOM customers (5 million total pounds of medical supplies);
• distribution of 271,000 doses of flu vaccine in 32 shipments, with no vaccine losses;
• completion of 4,500 medical maintenance work orders;
• fabrication of more than 2,600 spectacles;
• three medical logistics conferences with theater personnel; and
• more than $145 million in sales.

In recognition of its work, the Army Surgeon General honored the USAMMC-SWA Medical Maintenance Support Operations section and USAMMCE team with the Excalibur Award for developing an interface between the Theater Enterprise-Wide Logistics System and SAMS'E for ordering repair parts. Deployed at the U.S. Army medical materiel centers in Qatar, Korea and Europe, TEWLS is a state-of-the-art enterprise resource planning system that provides instant data-sharing and standardization of globally recognized business practices.

"TEWLS has enabled USAMMC'SWA to provide unparalleled support to its customers by providing real-time supply management across the entire supply chain," Cooper affirms. "It implements best practices in an enterprise resource-planning solution and provides USAMMC-SWA with the ability to manage its stockage levels to best meet theater requirements."

6MLMC Center Commander Col. Michael Ryan and colleagues recognized Team Cooper's contributions and their families' sacrifice with a luncheon on June 23 at Fort Detrick.

"When I went into Qatar to observe the RIP/TOA [Relieve in Place and Transfer of Authority]," Ryan told attendees, "just the accolades that came from leadership from the 3rd MDSC [Medical Command (Deployment Support)], the accolades that came from the Area Support Group, the commander who said that during her two-year period it was the best rotation, the best leadership provided, in terms of bringing USAMMC'SWA team together and being great stewards within the community of Camp As Sayliyah'that speaks volumes to the leadership."

USMRMC Command Sgt. Maj. Kevin Stuart echoed Ryan's sentiments. "You supported a lot of folks, you saved a lot of lives, and that's what it's all about," he told the team. "We're happy to have you back."

Ryan particularly singled out Maj. Voyles' contributions, presenting him with a Meritorious Service Medal to acknowledge his dedication to the team. "We kept him on the road so much," Ryan said, "[his wife] Becky thought she'd never see [him]."

Voyles will be leaving 6MLMC and deploying with his young family to Germany to work with USAMMCE as a medical logistics officer. "We outprocess tomorrow," says Voyles, glancing at a beaming Becky.

"Our loss is the MEDLOG Enterprise's gain," Ryan quipped of Voyles' departure, "because he's going to fix all the backlogs."

"My time at the 6 has been a tremendous one," Voyles said. "I've been surrounded by great people, great officers and great mentors from the command, all the way through. It's just been my pleasure to be a part of this organization."

As for the other team members: Cooper will become 6MLMC's Executive Officer at month's end; Gray will retire after 21 years in the service; Baker will take additional tools training in the fall; and Williams is bracing for a PCS, unsure of where the Army will place him but content to spend his block leave in Spain and Jamaica. "I put in for about 18 days of leave," says Williams. "Anything more than that and I'm just bored."