Army Medical Logistics (FM 4-02.1)

The AHS (Army Health System) is a component of the Military Health System (MHS) that is responsible for operational management of the health service support (HSS) and force health protection (FHP) missions for training, predeployment, deployment, and postdeployment operations. The Army's MEDLOG system (including blood management) is an integral part of the AHS in that it provides intensive management of medical products and services that are used almost exclusively by the AHS and are critical to its success. Also key to this success is the delivery of a MEDLOG capability that anticipates the needs of the customer and is tailored to continuously provide end-to-end sustainment of the AHS mission throughout full spectrum operations. Providing timely and effective AHS support is a team effort which integrates the clinical and operational aspects of the mission. The provision of MEDLOG support requires collaboration between the medical logisticians, clinicians, and other health care providers within the operational environment and encompasses the following functions: Medical materiel procurement and distribution (acquisition, receiving, shipping, storage, and stock record/property accounting); Medical equipment maintenance and repair; Optical fabrication and repair; Management of patient movement items; Production of medical gases; Blood storage and distribution; Medical hazardous waste management; Management of medical facilities and infrastructure; Medical contracting support; Total product life-cycle management of medical materiel and equipment. This manual describes the capabilities of the MEDLOG system and its role in sustaining the AHS mission. Medical logistics support for deployed forces is the primary focus of this manual. However, generating force or national strategic-level MEDLOG support is also addressed to present a clear picture of the processes involved and resources expended to guarantee a Class VIII support infrastructure. This Class VIII infrastructure ensures the seamless delivery of health care from the point of injury through successive roles of care to the continental US (CONUS) support base. This publication opens with an overview of Army MEDLOG, followed by a description of each MEDLOG unit, the capabilities available, and role of care where each element may be employed. This manual also covers the information systems and enablers available to facilitate the flow of supplies and equipment throughout the area of operations (AO), as well as the current force (Medical Force 2000, Medical Reengineering Initiative, modular division, and brigade combat team [BCT] force designs) and emerging concepts scheduled to occur as part of current and future force fielding events.