Photo By Kathryn Ellis-Warfield | Lt. Gen. Mary Izaguirre, the U.S. Army surgeon general and commander, Army Medical...... read more read more
TRACY, Calif.– Emphasizing the life-or-death importance of medical logistics, the Army's top doctor visited a critical maintenance hub operated by the U.S. Army Medical Logistics Command.
Lt. Gen. Mary K. Izaguirre, the Army surgeon general and commander, Army Medical Command, toured the Medical Maintenance Operations Division in Tracy, or MMOD-CA, to see firsthand how the facility sustains and services complex medical devices from around the globe.
Drawing from her experience as a young officer in Afghanistan, Izaguirre shared a powerful memory of when properly functioning equipment was all that stood between life and death for wounded Soldiers.
“I was very young ... and we had to have CT scans in order to treat the Soldiers that were coming in,” she said, recounting a rocket attack during a deployment. “It was the equipment that was so critical in being able to provide those Soldiers with the proper care.”
During the April 10 engagement, Izaguirre and her senior advisers, Command Sgt. Maj. John Dobbins and Command Chief Warrant Officer 5 Deanna Hughes, received a briefing on the readiness of medical devices. The surgeon general emphasized their work directly influences patient outcomes.
MMOD-CA is one of three specialized medical maintenance sites operated by AMLC. Along with facilities in Utah and Pennsylvania, the three divisions support sustainment-level maintenance for the operational Army.
Specifically, MMOD-CA is the Army's center of excellence for the maintenance and calibration of medical imaging systems and specialized “Special Purpose” Test, Measurement, and Diagnostic Equipment. The division's work is critical for ensuring that highly complex medical devices are accurately calibrated, safe for patient use and ready for operational deployment.
“What you do ensures our Soldiers come back home,” Izaguirre said. “I can't tell you what this means to me personally – to be able to look every one of you in the eye and say thank you.”
For Site Director Isaac Newman, the visit was a powerful affirmation, especially for the depot’s large veteran workforce whose experiences resonated with the general’s battlefield accounts.
“This shared understanding validated our vision for modernizing MMOD-CA on the [Defense Logistics Agency] San Joaquin force projection platform, confirming it as the bedrock of medical readiness for the Pacific,” Newman said. “Her message was clear: Our unique, depot-level skillset is a critical link in the chain of survival, and our work as a strategic asset directly ensures that our Soldiers make it home.”
Jorge Magana, director of AMLC’s Medical Maintenance Management Directorate, added that the visit reinforced the direct connection between the depot’s work and the Soldier in the field.
“Her personal stories bring a real-world gravity to our mission,” Magana said. “It connects our daily technical work to the life-saving outcomes on the battlefield, and it reinforces to our entire team that we’re not just servicing equipment – we’re ensuring Soldiers make it home.”
In recognition of outstanding performance, Izaguirre presented command coins to eight AMLC employees, including Anthony Zapanta, Fernando Gonzales-Rodriguez, Maleke Devoux, Nicholas Brower, Ian McNesby, Newman and Magana.
AMLC, a major subordinate command of the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command, serves as the Army’s primary command for Class VIII medical materiel, delivering integrated logistics that enable Army and joint force readiness from the strategic support area to the tactical edge.
| Date Taken: | 04.15.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 04.15.2026 13:46 |
| Story ID: | 562787 |
| Location: | TRACY, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 293 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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