Members of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command's U.S. Army Medical Materiel Development Activity were awarded the prestigious "Army Medicine Wolf Pack Award" during a ceremony on April 5. Specifically, the award was given to the members of USAMMDA's Additive Manufacturing Working Group, many of whom attended the ceremony virtually via Microsoft Teams.

The award commemorates groups who demonstrate excellence and effective teamwork resulting in significant products or services with the potential for broad impact in support of Army Medicine.

"The accomplishments of our Additive Manufacturing team are nothing short of spectacular," said Brig. Gen. Michael J. Talley, Commanding General of USAMRDC and Fort Detrick, during congratulatory remarks to the assembled team. "It's our leaders, it's our teams and it's our commitment to ensuring that we have the best solutions in place for the Warfighter or in this case our fellow Americans."

The AMWG team was recognized for a new, adaptive workflow strategy initiated during the initial months of the still ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic. Specifically, the team developed a streamlined medical acquisition assessment process to support individuals in the industry who were unfamiliar with medical product development and U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations. This effort ultimately enabled users of the assessment process to both produce and acquire a wide variety of medical products in light of supply shortages during the pandemic.

"The [Additive Manufacturing Working Group] is just another tremendous example of our teams rapidly identifying a problem, rolling up their sleeves and quickly identifying a solution," said Richard Beauchemin, Chief of Staff, U.S. Army Medical Command, who — during his own virtual remarks — commended the team for playing a critical role in alleviating shortages of critical medical supplies to the DOD and the nation.

"It is together as a team that we do great things," said Leigh Anne Alexander, Deputy Project Manager of the Warfighter Expeditionary Medicine and Treatment Project Management Office at USAMMDA during her comments to the assembled leadership and staff. Alexander, who appeared at the ceremony in-person, noted that members of the AMWG met every single morning at 8:00 over the past year to ensure all goals were being met. "Thank you for making this working group into a wolf pack," she said.

As a result of winning this award for the first quarter of 2021, the Additive Manufacturing Working Group is now in the running to compete for the annual Wolf Pack Award against the three other quarterly winners.

The full list of members of the USAMMDA AMWG include:

For more information about the Army Medicine Wolf Pack Award, please click the following link: https://ameddciviliancorps.amedd.army.mil/wolf-pack-award