The value of medical logistics

Col. Perry R. Cooper
Associate Corps Chief, Medical Logistics

FORT DETRICK, Md. -- I still have the letter I received 21 years ago from Col. Charles Harsanyi, the Air Force medical logistics chief at that time, informing me that I been selected for a commission in the Medical Service Corps but I had also been selected for a medical logistics internship.

That sounded like a good thing until I got to the part of the letter where Colonel Harsanyi wrote that the brevity of the letter didn't allow him to adequately describe the scope of responsibilities associated with the medical logistics career field.

Oh no, I thought. I've been selected for something that's apparently so bad they're afraid to describe it to me. I had been briefly exposed to materiel management during my graduate program in health services administration, but I had no idea what medical logistics was.

The dictionary definition of logistics said something about the movement of men and materiel, nothing that sounded related to hospital administration to me. Well, after a couple of phone calls to Colonel Harsanyi's point of contact for the internship program, I learned more about it and became convinced it really was a good thing.

I joined the Air Force and haven't regretted the decision since.

The reason I tell that story is, most new MSCs - and a few that aren't so new - don't know what medical logisticians in the Air Force are responsible for and are a little intimidated by it. In simple terms, medical logisticians are responsible for managing all of the tangible resources in a medical facility with the exception of information technology.

All of a facility's supplies and equipment are procured, distributed and maintained by medical logisticians. Additionally, they're responsible for vehicle management, war reserve materiel, contract administration and facility management. Given their breadth of of responsibilities, medical logistics flight commanders have to establish and maintain very close working relationships with numerous external agencies that support the medical group: civil engineering, contracting, transportation, mobility operations, regional health facility offices, Air Force Medical Logistics Office (AFMLO), the Defense Supply Center Philadelphia, and others.

They also have to establish and maintain close working relationships with internal constituencies as well: the executive staff, clinical staffs, resource management, readiness, supply and equipment custodians, among others. Consequently, medical logisticians are among the most versatile officers in the medical service corps.

Logistics skill sets are also among the most highly valued in a deployed setting. It is rare that a deployed commander doesn't insist on having an experienced "loggie" on site to ensure the necessary materiel resources are there when and where needed. "Loggies" are usually on the first plane in and on the last plane home … the first and last boots on the ground.

The invaluable skills MSCs bring to the table in contingencies were vividly displayed in the responses to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Once given the green light, medical logisticians performed heroically in moving materiel resources to support relief and evacuation operations in the Gulf Coast region. As was amply demonstrated, no other governmental agency comes close to having the logistical expertise that exists within the DOD and, in my humble opinion, no other service in the DOD does medical logistics as well as the Air Force.

Exposure to the logistics functional area, no matter how brief, will benefit any MSC. MSCs involved in resource management, readiness, health plan management, or in a squadron or group command are all better equipped to do those jobs with logistics expertise in their tool kit. For those who specialize in logistics, it is an extremely rewarding career.

Each rung in the logistics career latter presents new challenges to master. For example, officers who come to AFMLO learn that logistics at the Air Staff level is Joint, requiring very close collaboration with Army and Navy medical logistics agencies, the Defense Logistics Agency, the Defense Medical Standardization Board, etc.

I've spent 13 of my 21 years in the Air Force working in medical logistics and I learn something new and am faced with different challenges almost every day.

I understand now why Colonel Harsanyi couldn't possibly encapsulate medical logistics in the space of a single page letter. It's a complex administrative functional area that touches every aspect of health care operations in peace and war. I'm proud to be associated with the nearly 200 MSCs who work in medical logistics throughout the Air Force Medical Service.

If you have any questions about the career field, feel free to call me or Lt. Col. Gino Auteri at DSN 343-2005.