Warp speed meaning4/30/2023 We had to make sure nobody hoarded, that everybody got what they needed when they needed it. In making the vaccine, all six companies needed many of the same things. We had to make sure they had enough for when they needed it to make the vaccine. Offensively, we had to manage everything across the six primary vaccine makers. I used to tell the team that when we manage the supply chain, we have to be offensive and defensive in our efforts. We had to manage the consumables, whether it was tubing or plastic bags that actually produced the vaccine, or whether it was needles and syringes or vials to put the vaccine in. We had to manage the equipment for expansion capacity. We had to manage the materials to make the vaccine. We had to manage that supply chain to achieve the effects that we wanted. It was all about volume, how fast were we going to get it and how fast could we get it out to the American people. We helped build actual capability and capacity, whether it was directly with the pharmaceutical company or it was a supporter, because pharmaceutical companies make the vaccine, but then they give it to another company to put it in the vials. All these partners had facilities of some type, but maybe not at the right volume. We needed statistical data to demonstrate that the vaccines were going to be safe and effective. Once we figured out who the six companies were, we had to make sure we had the logistical infrastructure to do 30,000 people in a trial. That changed to 600 million when it went to a two-shot regimen. If it was successful, we kept it if it wasn’t successful, we were going to eliminate. We needed a vaccine that could be produced in a relatively rapid time within our regulatory guidance. We needed vaccines that demonstrated the right numbers, i.e., were they going to be effective. There was a significant amount of people who were in different stages of making a vaccine because of the great homework that they’d already been doing to set the foundation before we were involved. We worked with six industry partners to develop six different vaccines. He was a good partner to me as we developed our processes and procedures for developing infrastructure, garnering materials and then eventually the distribution. I consider myself a world-renowned expert in logistics and sustainment. At the end of the day, he was an expert - a world-renowned expert scientist in developing vaccines. I worked through my role with my co-leader. My thoughts matured rapidly as we got into the process. ![]() On that Saturday morning, I got my notebook and started going through the military decision-making process: Define end state, work left, started thinking through what the plan would be, and started writing notes. It’s probably the greatest attribute we have because we have never done this in the country before. We decide and we move out, and when they don’t work out, we adjust. We come up with courses of action and we assess risk against them. We use the military decision-making process - something on which we’re trained as young officers. Then the third thing is: We know how to put a plan together to get there. You don’t go to war and sit at the port you go to war and you figure out how to defeat the enemy. We’re also very good at operationalizing things to achieve the effects that we want. We know how to identify what we think is the end state, and then visualize it and then work left to figure out what has to be done. If we don’t get it right the first time, we’re able to adjust, we’re agile and adaptive. Our strength is that we can see things at different levels strategically, operationally and tactically. How did your experience at Army Materiel Command and as an Army leader ready you for this unprecedented task?
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