FORT DETRICK, Maryland –
“Prepare, Deploy, Sustain.”
Those words are proudly displayed on the Army Medical Logistics Command’s new distinctive unit insignia, approved by the Army Institute of Heraldry in October 2019.
The AMLC, headquartered at Fort Detrick in Frederick, Md., was created through an Army restructuring last year and was ceremoniously activated Sept. 17 to serve as the Army’s primary medical logistics and sustainment command.
The new insignia serves a symbolic representation of the AMLC and its responsibilities worldwide – to project and sustain medical materiel capabilities and data for the Army and Joint Forces.
Capt. Zachary Patterson said the insignia underscores the AMLC’s mission and helps build confidence within the command.
“I think it is a good visual representation of our responsibility to provide medical logistics support,” said Patterson, support operations officer for the AMLC. “It fits our mission.”
As a new major subordinate command of the Army Materiel Command, the AMLC is responsible for managing the global supply chain and medical materiel readiness across the total force.
The AMLC is led by Col. Michael B. Lalor and has three direct reporting units, including the U.S. Army Medical Materiel Agency, the U.S. Army Medical Materiel Center-Europe and the U.S. Army Medical Materiel Center-Korea.
According to the artists at the Institute of Heraldry, the maroon-and-silver color scheme coincides with the traditional colors of the Army Medical Department. A blue disc inside the maroon band is a reference to the earth, signifying the AMLC’s global posture.
The two serpents, facing one another, were adapted from the Army Medical Corps branch insignia that denotes the concept of medical hearing. Their tails wrap around the band bearing the AMLC motto, further suggesting the close connection between the command’s duties and the Army’s ability to provide medical care to those in need.
Expressive of a guiding light, the torch in the center characterizes the AMLC’s mission of enabling readiness through the planning, preparing and executing of medical logistics support.
A single white star, conveying the organization’s status as a 1-star command, is centered in the design.
Col. Edgar G. Arroyo called the insignia’s approval a “huge milestone” for the organization as work continues to formalize its identity as the primary medical materiel sustainment entity within the Army and Department of Defense.
“In the future, the AMLC will be key and essential to prepare the Army and DOD to respond to bigger threats,” said Arroyo, AMLC’s deputy chief of staff for operations, planning and training.
“It’s a huge milestone for us because it brings us identity and solidifies our roles and responsibilities,” he said.