SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
“Most people don’t know that DOD engages in pharmaceutical development to protect service members. The capability is critical for the services, but it also serves the public.”
tactically and think strategically to be successful,” he said. He also has increased the frequency of meetings with the FDA to help that agency understand the military context of products in develop- ment. “Tat has been one of our biggest accomplishments, and it has given us more flexibility in product development,” he said. “In one case, it helped us with significant cost avoidance while simulta- neously enhancing readiness for service members.”
Clark has been in the Army for 26 years. He got his start in acquisition as a research psychologist at an Army medical lab, conducting bench work sup- porting JPEO-CBD. “When I started, I didn’t really know what acquisition was and couldn’t get a satisfactory explana- tion from anyone I asked,” he said. “So I took the acquisition training that was offered and realized that it’s a perfect fit for a military scientist. It’s a natural pro- gression of how we can use our analytical and research skills to develop and field systems that help warfighters.”
He used those skills in the field in 2006, when he served on a Field Assistance in Science and Technology (FAST) team in Iraq. Te team’s mission was to explore innovative ways to support combat opera- tions through research, development and acquisition. His team was tasked with developing requirements for medical and nonmedical technology to counter improvised explosive devices (IEDs). At the time, IEDs restricted unarmored vehicles to forward operating bases, par- ticularly in Iraq, which made casualty evacuation difficult.
“We needed a timely means of mov- ing patients receiving en-route care by medics on medically equipped vehicles to enhance recovery and to reduce the potential for long-term disability—in short, an armored ambulance,” said Clark. However, demonstrating the need for the ambulance was complicated by several challenges. “One of the biggest issues was that no one understood how evacuation was actually taking place in combat,” he explained. Additionally, the data necessary to understand the issue was scattered across various places in theater, held by troops on the ground, specialized units and other sources.
Clark gathered and analyzed relevant data and worked with the team to write the urgent requirement request. After returning stateside in 2006, he worked with U.S. Central Command, the joint staff and the Joint Rapid Acquisition Cell to secure funding for 16 heavy armored ground ambulances (HAGAs), a vari- ant that eventually transitioned into the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle system. He served as a subject matter expert in the design of the HAGA, and by 2008 nearly 700 armored ambulances were fielded through a com- bined effort involving Marine Corps Systems Command and the MRAP Joint Program Office. As a result of his suc- cess, he was assigned to work on rapid acquisition issues in the Asymmetric Warfare Office of the Army G-3/5/7, an unusual assignment for an Army research psychologist.
Not long after his deployment, Clark spent a year at the U.S. House of
Representatives through the Army Congressional Orientation Program. Originally assigned as a military legisla- tive assistant to Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., Clark also served as medical liai- son, managing the health and military legislative portfolios. He prepared ques- tions and background briefing materials, met with constituent groups to discuss foreign policy and veterans’ issues and advised Cummings on legislative devel- opments in several policy areas.
“I learned so much from that assignment,” he said. “Having the chance to see ‘how the sausage gets made’ is invaluable,” Clark said. Members of Congress, he explained, “are in tune to their constitu- encies and how issues affect them.” To be effective on the Hill, “the Army needs to be able to articulate the impact of an issue or the value of a program for a particular constituency,” Clark said. “Tat
same
skill is needed to lead a program. And it’s also essential to know how programs are built, maintained and funded—the power of the purse.”
Clark is also a published author in leader development, behavioral neuroscience and psychology. “Writing is about per- sonal development and perfecting your thinking and your craft while also giving back,” Clark said. “I’ve learned that to be effective, you must have a character- driven clarity of intent, which comes through writing. Serving with character should speak for itself. We are not always perfect, but we strive for it at all times.”
—MS. SUSAN L. FOLLETT
HTTPS: / /
ASC.ARMY.MIL
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SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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