Change of Command, establishment of new Program Executive Office mark progress for military medical developers

Story by T. T. Parish and Caree Vander Linden

U.S. Army Medical Materiel Development Activity (USAMMDA)

A unique two-part ceremony yesterday at Fort Detrick, Maryland, marked a significant milestone in the transformation of both U.S. Army and U.S. Department of Defense medical development.

During the first part of the event, U.S. Army Col. Andy Nuce relinquished command of the U.S. Army Medical Materiel Development Activity to Col. Mara Kreishman-Deitrick. During the second, Andrew T. Clements, deputy program executive officer for Program Executive Office Soldier, established the newly chartered Soldier Medical Devices Project Management Office, which will be led by Kreishman-Deitrick.

As the SMD PMO transitions to PEO Soldier, the rest of USAMMDA’s Project Management Offices are being provisionally rechartered as Program Executive Office – Operational Medicine under the Defense Health Agency.

Transforming Army and DoD medical development has been years in the making and involved stakeholders from across the military medical development enterprise, according to Nuce. Speaking to the assembled VIPs, friends, family, and USAMMDA personnel in the Fort Detrick auditorium, he lauded the accomplishments of the entire team during a period of dynamic change.

“What I am most proud of is our collective efforts in support of research, development and acquisition reform, and the reorganization and transformation of our medical acquisition enterprise,” said Nuce. “By continuing to address joint development needs and materiel requirements for the Army, we’ve set the enterprise on an azimuth for the future as our command transforms.”

During Nuce’s tenure, which began in June 2022, USAMMDA’s transformation came together, with the reorganization of the organization’s PMOs and realignment of the activity’s priorities to better meet treatment capability needs in the Department of Defense.

“Now and into the future, our enterprise will lead the way for advanced development of medical force requirements across the joint services,” said Nuce, who is next scheduled to assume duties as the Director of Medical Logistics with DHA. “We will have the added benefit of an Army partner that can help influence Soldier protection requirements.”

In preparation for the transition, Nuce combined USAMMDA’s Warfighter Deployed Medical Systems and Warfighter Health Protection and Evacuation PMOs with the Force Sustainment Directorate in 2023 to form the Medical Field Systems PMO. The integration of these three teams into one formed the foundation for future innovation and growth of what is now the Soldier Medical Devices PMO within PEO Soldier.

Kreishman-Deitrick returns to USAMMDA having most recently served as deputy commander, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. Prior to that assignment, she was USAMMDA’s deputy commander. Looking toward the horizon, Kreishman-Deitrick will guide the SMD PMO as it continues to integrate as a vital function within the wider PEO Soldier mission.

“I’m incredibly excited for the work we’ll do together,” she told the SMD team. “We have such an amazing opportunity to shape and influence how the Army and DoD deliver medical capabilities to the Warfighter, and I know we’ll all become better product developers in the process.”

Military medical development is intricate, complex, time intensive, and vital to meeting the needs of U.S. Warfighters. USAMMDA’s legacy stretches back nearly 40 years, and was the Army’s answer to equipping Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines who were preparing for Cold War threats.

During the past 20 years, which saw the advent of the U.S. War on Terror, diffusion of military and guerilla threats extending beyond the Iron Curtain, and near-peer military competitors straddling the Indo-Pacific and Arctic regions of the globe, the medical development mission of the U.S. Army has evolved to meet the challenges of future conflicts. As with all complex enterprises, transformation to address contemporary challenges and prepare for future ones is imperative to both mission focus and operational relevance.

According to Nuce, the transformation of USAMMDA can be best understood as the end of one era and the beginning of another, marked by the birth of two new, separate organizations with the same Army heritage. While PEO OPMED will focus on medical development for the entire Department of Defense, Soldier Medical Devices remains within the Army—developing and fielding service specific integrated medical devices that meet the requirements of 2040 and beyond.

Kreishman-Deitrick said the newly chartered organization will be focused on integrating new medical devices across the increasingly complex, connected, and technology-driven Army.

“I can’t wait to learn with you and from you as we build this new Medical Project Management Office and work with our vast network of partners and stakeholders,” she said. “Together, we’re going to demonstrate all the ways that medical capabilities really encapsulate the PEO’s motto: Every Ounce Matters. Every Bullet Counts.”