BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. -- A retired civil servant who dedicated 44 years of his life to the small-caliber ammunition industry was inducted into the Joint Munitions Command's Ammunition Hall of Fame during a ceremony at the Courtyard Marriot Kansas City East/Blue Springs, Mo., July 22.
Bill Melton, who has worked at Lake City Army Ammunition Plant in nearby Independence, Mo., since 1975, was the tenth, and final, member of the 2014 class inducted by Brig. Gen. Kristin K. French, commanding general, Joint Munitions Command.
The Ammunition Hall of Fame was established in 2011 to honor soldiers and civilian employees for significant and lasting contributions to the munitions mission and the U.S. Army.
"The challenge for us is to provide the most reliable and lethal munitions to our joint forces and that is so critical to our military," French said in her opening remarks before the induction.
"You all know that Lake City [Army Ammunition Plant] has been a big part of this. It has experienced many successes with modernization to expand the plant capacity and upgrade production methods to meet the demands of the military. Many of these Lake City accomplishments could not have happened if it wasn't for Bill and all his expertise," said French.
Melton began his career in August 1970 as an intern for the Army Materiel Command at Red River Army Depot, Texas. He then spent two years working with munitions at Picatinny Arsenal, N.J., before relocating to LCAAP in 1975, where he served as the chief of the Engineering and Operations Division for the next 25 years. He was the deputy to the commander and contract operations officer for the last three years of his civil service career before retiring in 2003.
Since then, he's continued to work in the munitions industry at LCAAP with Science Applications International Corporation and finally with Alion Science and Technology, where he is currently employed as a mechanical engineer senior principal since 2011.
"I really don't see myself in that group of folks," Melton said about joining the class that includes retired Maj. Gen. John C. Raaen, Jr. "It's very humbling to be honored -- to be recognized not only because of the very accomplished group of inductees, but because in the 44 years I worked, I worked with a lot of very dedicated, talented and gifted folks."
While Melton was honored by the induction, he told the audience gathered for the Small Caliber Program Management Review later that morning that he had a theory for his selection.
He said that the development, acquisition and logistics communities were all represented in the hall of fame, but that nobody was included from the ammunition plants.
"It's great to be recognized," he said. "It's work I've loved to do. I'm a mechanical engineer -- an industrial engineer -- on a 4,000-acre production facility. It doesn't hardly get any better than that."
Melton said the nation's warfighters count on the ammunition plants in the Joint Munitions Command to provide them a family of products. While he didn't often interface directly with service members through the years, Melton said he led numerous tours for them at LCAAP.
"The reaction was universal among all the service members," he said. "It's one of incredulousness. It's like, 'Wow, I had no idea all of this went into making these rounds that we use' and I would like to believe that's a very powerful endorsement of us and the fact that we're all doing our jobs well because they never give it a second thought."
To commemorate his induction, Melton received a crystal plaque and certificate. The certificate was signed by French; Brig. Gen. John J. McGuiness, program executive officer for ammunition; and Barbara Machak, director, Armament Research Development and Engineering Center, Picatinny Arsenal, N.J.
Melton was joined at the induction ceremony by his wife of 37 years, Marji, daughters Melissa Elkins and Amy Terreros, and granddaughter Briana Elkins.
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