KADENA AIR BASE, Japan -- The 18th Medical Support Squadron set up the Theater Lead Agent for Medical Materiel-Pacific, which acts as the epicenter to deliver medical supplies and equipment to the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command theater outside of the Republic of Korea, at Kadena Air Base, Japan, Oct. 15, 2021.

Time is of the essence when responding to natural disasters, humanitarian crises or other medical scenarios that are constantly looming over the Pacific region.

The region is not only vast in size, but also surrounded by the ocean, underlining the need for medical supplies to be easily accessible. The TLAMM-P allows for these supplies to be centrally located and on standby for partners to utilize within a moments notice.

“The TLAMM-P is vital for the Pacific region; it provides the ability to have life-saving capabilities readily available,” said U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Richard Zabrzenski, 18th MSS NCO in charge of TLAMM-P. “Without this facility our partners would not get medical support in contingency operations.”

Supporting 36 nations over a distance of 105 million square miles, 15 time zones, and 52 percent of the world's population, TLAMM-P allows for quicker access to medical supplies. This significantly cuts down on waiting for medical supplies to be delivered from the U.S.

“Our main focus areas are medical supplies and equipment,” said U.S. Air Force Capt. Nathaniel Scheer, 18th MSS medical supply officer. “The equipment we buy includes IV pumps, ventilators, and other medical equipment for patient care.”

TLAMM-P is capable of operating at four tier levels. Tier one is for steady state operations, tier two handles intermediate operations, or crisis action plans, tier three is small-scale full theater support and tier four is full theater support, said Scheer.

Operating with four-tier capabilities means TLAMM-P can increase or decrease capabilities based on what the mission calls for, making TLAMM-P vital to medical operations within the region.

These capabilities can be optimized to meet the needs of most mission sets, on broad or narrow scales. Providing medical support efficiently is the ultimate goal of TLAMM-P.

“The 18th MSS no longer waits for supplies to come from stateside, they'll be right here and they be brought to the fight quicker,” said Scheer. “We’re excited to be a part of this up-and-coming mission and the potential growth for this expanded mission.