The team, consisting of less than five Soldiers, deployed Jan. 17, and according to Maj. Matthew W. Voyles, ‘‘we work directly for the Command Surgeon’s cell which falls under the J4. The Surgeon’s cell is Joint in nature with Army, Air Force, Navy service members and DoD Civilian staff.”

Providing medical logistics, also called MEDLOG, support for an operation the size of Unified Response is a large task according to Voyles, and he described how far-reaching it can be.

‘‘We are basically looking at how the medical units in the area are being supported from a medical supply and medical maintenance standpoint. [We are] ensuring that the medical supply chain is working, whether that medical asset is a Navy ship like the USNS Comfort, an Air Force Expeditionary Medical Support Facility or an Army Brigade Combat Team. We are making sure the dots are connected so that care can be provided to anyone that may need it,” he said.

The high operations tempo has been demanding on the team, but Voyles said he keeps the long hours and heavy workload in perspective.

‘‘The challenge here has primarily been the high OPTEMPO and trying to quickly assimilate into a new organization with an enormous task in front of it however, this is nothing compared to what our fellow service members are faced with in the immediate operational area in Haiti,” he said.

One of the areas the 6th MLMC Soldiers has been assisting in is aeromedical evacuations of Haitian citizens wounded in the earthquake.

‘‘We’ve been involved with many of the aeromedical evacuations of critically injured Haitians to the United States. We work closely with TRANSCOM, the Customs Border and Protection Agency, the Ministry of Health-Government of Haiti and many other partners to coordinate these types of missions as part of the Crisis Action Center here at SOUTHCOM. Many [medical evacuations] request come into the Crisis Action Center. There was one mission that required evacuation from a facility in the Dominican Republic to a facility in Haiti for a critically injured patient. We received feedback from the attending physician who thanked us and let us know that the patient made the transfer and was back on their way to recovery,” Voyles said.

Working at the Defense Medical Logistics Center here has paid huge dividends for the team as they integrated into the joint SOUTHCOM structure according to Voyles.

‘‘As part of the 6th Medical Logistics Management Center at Fort Detrick, we are located in the Defense Medical Logistics Center which represents all the services and several strategic partners of the medical logistics enterprise. This building with its many organizations, has proven to be what it was meant to be in supporting the war fighter, a joint centralized entity that can collectively meet the needs pressed upon the medical logistics community.

‘‘This has been invaluable in supporting what [Sgt. 1st Class Terrence E. Alligood] and I and all of the medical logisticians supporting Operation Unified Relief are doing. Great work is being done by many folks from Fort Detrick like Mike O’Connor who is currently serving on the USNS Comfort,” he said.

[Editor’s Note: For a related story about Mike O’Connor see Page 3.]

Voyles added that the support from not just the service members at the DMLC, but across Fort Detrick has been overwhelming.

‘‘[We have had] Excellent support from the Fort Detrick community, we could not be making the impact that we are without everyone’s support and expertise. The 6th MLMC has been a great support, Col. Michael P. Ryan and Sgt. Maj. Edward G.Kelsey have been very encouraging and supportive while we are here. We have several of our fellow Soldiers in the unit getting ready to deploy should they get the call and we keep them in our thoughts and prayers as they stand ready. Regionally Focused, Globally Deployable,” he said.