MEDCoE hosts first ever Medical Supporting Concept Seminar

Photo By Tish Williamson | (Right to Left) Maj. Gen. Dennis LeMaster, Mr. J.M. Harmon III, Maj. Gen. Joseph Robinson and others dialogue with virtual attendees during the Medical Supporting Concept Seminar hosted by the U.S. Army Medical Center of Excellence from August 25-28, 2020 on Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston. There were over 60 virtual and in-person attendees to include 20 general officers and members of the senior executive service from all three Army components: regular Army, Army National Guard, and Army Reserves. In person attendees adhered to COVID-19 mitigation measures which includes at least 6 feet of social distance and wearing face coverings when social distance cannot be maintained.  

FORT SAM HOUSTON, TX, UNITED STATES

08.31.2020

Story by Tish Williamson 

U.S. Army Medical Center of Excellence

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-Fort Sam Houston, Texas –Medical senior leaders came together, virtually and in person, to conduct the, first of its kind, Medical Supporting Concept Seminar.

The seminar was hosted by the U.S. Army Medical Center of Excellence, or MEDCoE, on Joint Base San Antonio, Texas August 25-28, 2020. The overall purpose of the seminar was to examine the Army’s new medical supporting concept to ensure the Army possesses the required Army Health System, or AHS, capability, capacity, and endurance to enable multi-domain operations, or MDO, against near-peer competitors throughout the competition continuum.

There were over 60 virtual and in-person attendees to include 20 general officers and members of the senior executive service from all three Army components: regular Army, Army National Guard, and Army Reserves.

To open the seminar, The Surgeon General of the U.S. Army, Lt. Gen. R. Scott Dingle, appeared via video teleconference to thank attendees for taking the time to come together.

"The Army Medicine Enterprise is a synergistic entity that must be unified and nested," Dingle said. "There is only one Army Medicine Enterprise in support of one Army. We will continue to conserve the fighting strength, not just today, but in tomorrow's multi-domain operations."

He also thanked Maj. Gen. Dennis LeMaster, Commander, MEDCoE, for leading the effort on the forum and concluded his opening remarks with his intent, "Army Medicine will not be left behind. We are in lockstep and nested with the Army."

The Medical Capability Development and Integration Directorate, or CDID, co-located at JBSA with MEDCoE, was aligned under the MEDCoE until their realignment under the Army Futures Command, or AFC, in October 2019. Serving as lead planners for the seminar, Medical CDID obtained funding for the event from AFC and set the invite list to include representation from across the Army Medicine enterprise.

According to the CDID Director, Col. Bruce Syvinski the seminar is unique because “medical” was not previously a part of the Army Concept Framework. He explained how the Army Concept Framework is comprised of the capstone Army Operating Concept and successive warfighting functional and additional supporting concepts.

Syvinski said, “The Medical Supporting Concept will provide greater specificity and operational context on how required medical enabling capabilities are organized and arrayed at echelon throughout the operational framework to enhance the Army’s ability to prevail in competition and conflict.”

The four-day, vignette-driven, facilitated Army experimentation event was designed to challenge the fundamental principles, functions, and operations of the AHS. Attendees were given several planning scenarios and were tasked to present innovative insights using the Future Operating Environment, or FOE, unconstrained to current capabilities.

LeMaster told the group to think outside the box when analyzing FOE solutions to the scripted problem set.

“This is the time to chart our best path forward,” LeMaster said. “The work we will do this week will set the foundation for how Army Medicine supports Multi-Domain Operations.”

The results of the seminar will drive follow-on versions of the Medical Supporting Concept. Once approved by AFC, the concept will serve as a foundational roadmap for how medical operations will enable MDO in the FOE and inform future doctrine.

• Date Taken: 08.31.2020
• Date Posted: 08.31.2020 17:33
• Story ID: 377174
• Location: FORT SAM HOUSTON, TX, US