Key members of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command (USAMRDC) shared words of encouragement and wisdom at an afternoon deployment ceremony at Fort Detrick, Maryland, on Friday, December 4. In just a few days, eleven members of the 6th Medical Logistics Management Center (6th MLMC) are scheduled to deploy for a year-long tour of duty in Qatar, which is located in far southwest Asia.

"It's a bittersweet occasion, and it's not lost on anyone of us in the room," said Brigadier General Michael Talley, Commanding General, USAMRDC and Fort Detrick — himself a former Commander at the 6th MLMC — while addressing the assembled crowd during the ceremony in the Fort Detrick Auditorium. "What [this team is] doing has huge importance and major strategic influence, without a doubt."

"We stand ready as a team both mentally and physically to accomplish the mission while staying prepared enough to tackle the challenges that come our way," said Major Andrew Wilson, a member of the deployment team and U.S. Army Medical Materiel Center-Southwest Asia (USAMMC-SWA) Commander, during his own remarks.

Since 2002, the 6th MLMC — whose unique and express mission is to deploy and synchronize medical logistics operations in support of any variety of Army or Joint Forces specified missions — has deployed teams into southwest Asia in support of CENTCOM operations. According to USAMRDC leadership, the deployment team — which will represent the twenty-first rotation of 6th MLMC personnel to southwest Asia since USAMMC-SWA's inception — will deliver flu and COVID-19 vaccines in the region, among myriad other efforts.