The Army Medical Logistics Command (AMLC), the Life Cycle Management Command (LCMC) for medical materiel, is responsible for sustainment of medical capabilities once they transition to sustainment, or T2S.
T2S is predictable, deliberate, and conditions-based process of transferring sustainment responsibility from the Materiel Developer (MATDEV) to the LCMC. The initial T2S plan is to be presented for approval by the Milestone Decision Authority (MDA) at the decision for Full Rate Production (FRP).
Once T2S occurs, the AMLC as nested with the Army Materiel Command assumes the materiel sustainment and funding role from the materiel developers.
Even though the Army has nearly 85,000 pieces of medical equipment fielded to the force, none of these medical programs have T2S – yet! The first systems will T2S in Fiscal Year (FY) 26.
In this blog, we will talk about three areas that have created challenges for transitioning medical materiel to sustainment – and what AMLC, in partnership with materiel and capability developers, are doing to make progress.
- Capability Development Document (CDD): The CDD establishes the operational requirements for the system needed to fill an identified capability gap. For example, let’s say it is deemed that the force requires ultrasound capability at a Battalion Aid Station (BAS). The CDD will establish specific parameters and attributes of the ultrasound capability to guide the MATDEV during the acquisition process. AMLC is influencing the inclusion of sustainment key performance parameters (KPP) and supporting metrics in the CDD. Sustainment KPPs are an important component of the CDD because they define the availability of the system needed to meet the requirement. Basically, we know systems need maintenance and will fail at times. Using our ultrasound example from earlier, the sustainment KPPs specify the required time the ultrasound needs to be available to provide critical medical care for our soldiers. Defining the parameters of availability in the CDD will help the Program Manager (PM) develop a complete, sustainable solution to ensure the BAS has ultrasound capability available to provide lifesaving medical care.
- Life Cycle Sustainment Plan (LCSP): The LCSP is the key document for a sustainment strategy and required by DoD and Army policy/regulation. The LCSP explains how the Army will support and sustain a program through its life cycle. It documents resources needed to satisfy the eight core sustainment functions for each specific system, including supply support, maintenance planning and management, technical data, depot maintenance, PHS&T (packaging, handling, storage and transportation), sustaining engineering, and disposal. Historically, the medical enterprise has not created comprehensive LCSPs. This critical gap has made medical system supportability challenging and prevented legacy medical devices from successfully transitioning to sustainment. The materiel developers and AMLC are now working together to develop LCSPs for some priority legacy/fielded systems and all new systems prior to fielding.
- Materiel Release: “Materiel release” is the formal process to release materiel to the field once documented that the medical item is safe, suitable and supportable. The challenge with medical programs is that there is not a formalized and standardized materiel release process for medical materiel. The ILSC, along with other stakeholders, have put a process forward to include materiel release for medical equipment. Once approved and implemented, this change will contribute greatly to the Army’s ability to transition medical materiel to sustainment.
In short, we are changing culture and focusing on strategic readiness-enabling functions that sustain the Army’s fighting strength.
I am proud to say that AMLC’s ILSC team has made great progress in these areas, setting the stage for devices to begin transitioning to sustainment.
What are your thoughts on these changes? How will this improve our delivery of health care on the battlefield?