The U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command's U.S. Army Medical Materiel Agency mission is to ensure initial medical operating capability and certain follow-on requirements are available globally, as needed, by combatant commands. The USAMMA is the responsible agent charged with budgeting, accounting, storing, maintaining and issuing Army Prepositioned Stocks for medical materiel in support of deploying medical units.

"We have to be very fluid in our planning and respond to the changing requirements globally," said Ladd. "The USAMMA is striving to ensure that not only today's Warfighter, but also tomorrow's, is ready."

The APS program supports the National Military Strategy by strategically prepositioning warfighting stocks afloat and ashore at critical worldwide locations. These stocks remain ready for deployment, training, humanitarian assistance or disaster response missions.

"APS equipping is critical to provide readiness and quickly projecting medical capabilities anywhere in the world," said Lt. Col. Bradley Ladd, director of the USAMMA's Force Projection Directorate. "It's our job to provide units with medical equipment they need to accomplish their critical lifesaving or life sustaining missions in support of global contingency missions."

The USAMMA manages the medical components of APS on behalf of the Department of the Army. These strategic stocks provide deploying units with critical materiel support until logistical lines of communication are opened. The Army has dedicated significant priorities and resources to ensure the readiness and availability of APS. These stocks are located in the continental U.S., Europe, Northeast Asia, Southwest Asia and afloat.

The USAMMA's goal is to ensure Soldiers have the right amount and type of modernized equipment to meet their mission requirements; whether in combat, training at their home station or supporting national security interests around the globe.

"If something happens, Soldiers can't wait days or weeks to be ready," said Kim Dankulich, USAMMA chief of APS and Unit Deployment Packages. "Our prepositioned stocks include everything from Medical Equipment Set for combat medics to Combat Support Hospitals."

With 248 beds and more than 1,000 biomedical maintenance significant items, the Combat Support Hospital is the Army Medical Departments most complex medical capability. The hospitals are climate-controlled environments that run on their own generator systems. Every CSH has a pharmacy, laboratory and x-ray equipment. The majority of APS locations have a CSH that is constantly being managed and maintained to ensure that units receive a fully functional medical system that is ready to accomplish its assigned mission.

With eyes on the future, the coming years are likely to be filled with conflict. During this time, the APS medical stocks will be needed. Early planning is essential to successful APS operations. The USAMMA is currently planning for Fiscal Years 2018-2022 and incorporating the APS program into their plans.

Ladd and his team stand ready to deploy APS anywhere in the world.

"We have to be very fluid in our planning and respond to the changing requirements globally," said Ladd. "The USAMMA is striving to ensure that not only today's Warfighter, but also tomorrow's, is ready."