ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, Ill. -- Jim Cox, General Engineer, Joint Munitions Command Quality Directorate, was inducted into the Ordnance Order of Samuel Sharpe during a ceremony held, here, Nov. 24.
"The Samuel Sharpe award is a great honor for me to bestow on you," said Brig. Gen. Kristin K. French, commanding general, Joint Munitions Command. "It is one of the highest awards you can get in the ordnance corps. There are folks out there each and every day [like Jim], that are making sure our ammunition is reliable and ready to issue out to the troops."
The Ordnance Order of Samuel Sharpe is a prestigious recognition, to individuals who have provided selfless contributions to the United States Army Ordnance Corps. First introduced in May 1994 by the United States Army Ordnance Corps Association, the Order of Samuel Sharpe recognizes ordnance personnel, nominated by their peers, who have demonstrated integrity, moral character and professional competence during their federal careers. It recognizes and honors those who have gone above and beyond in providing quality ammunition to the Warfighter.
The Ordnance Order of Samuel Sharpe was created in honor of Samuel Sharpe, a member of the Council of 13 freemen of the original 13 American Colonies. On April 17th, 1629 Samuel Sharpe was appointed the "Master gunner of Ordnance" by the Massachusetts Bay Colonies for his knowledge, expertise and professionalism.
Cox was recognized for his engineering expertise of managing the Army's ammunition stockpile reliability program, as noted in his nomination package. He ensured the ammunition stockpile was consistently safe, reliable, and was assigned accurate condition codes. In addition, he assured the rigorous, thorough and timely execution of the Army's ammunition malfunction investigation program, which provided a root-cause analysis and appropriate corrective action to prevent any future malfunctions.
Cox has served as a general engineer his entire civilian career in the quality division of the U.S. Army Joint Munitions Command and its predecessors on the Rock Island Arsenal. He began his government service in 1983 and was promoted to Division Chief of the JMC Quality Engineering Division in 2006, and currently serves as the ammunition stockpile program coordinator.
Cox, a Des Moines, Iowa, native, moved his family to Rock Island, Illinois, in 1957. He received a B.S. degree in Engineering from Southern Illinois University in 1977. He is a member of the U.S. Army Acquisition Corps with a Level III certification in production, quality and manufacturing. He has completed Black Belt training for Lean Six Sigma, and has served the ammunition community during more than 31 years of government service.
"With the malfunction investigations, we obtained the root-cause using engineering skills," said Cox. "I consider myself a pretty good quality engineer. It was very satisfying [work]."
"Being an engineer for 30 years, this is by far the highest award I have received," noted Cox. "I really appreciate all the opportunities and the nomination for this award really means a lot to me at this point in my career. Thank you all."
JMC produces small-, medium- and large-caliber ammunition items for the Department of Defense. JMC is the logistics integrator for life-cycle management of ammunition and provides a global presence of technical support to U.S. combat units wherever they are stationed or deployed. JMC's logistics operation is unique to the DoD and its industrial base is important to supporting the Warfighter.
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