AMC interns receive insight from senior executive

By Stephanie De Bedout, Army Materiel Command Public Affairs internSeptember 8, 2015

Intern meeting with SES
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. -- Interns in the Army career field, quality and reliability assurance, from all over the country were invited to Huntsville to complete a five-week Quality and Reliability training course.

The 11 interns had the opportunity to visit the U.S. Army Materiel Command headquarters Aug. 24 and meet with James Dwyer, AMC principal deputy chief of staff for operations and logistics G-3/4.

He thanked the students for all their hard work and emphasized how important quality and reliability are, not only to AMC but to the individuals in the field using the equipment. If good quality products are not made or distributed, individuals could die, Dwyer said.

Dwyer serves as the functional chief representative for the quality and reliability assurance career field across the Army. He told the interns the biggest lesson they would learn is to never be bashful.

"I never met a quality guy that is bashful," Dwyer said.

He stressed the importance that they should have courage and conviction when doing their jobs, in order to make the call and not let anyone sway them.

"If a tank stops working or a rifle doesn't fire, it's a pretty serious consequence," Dwyer said about the importance of their career field. "You have to make the call. You have to do what's right for the government, you have to do what's right for the Army and you have to do what's right for the Soldier."

The five-week training focused on missions critical skills in quality inspections and auditing. It included classroom instruction at Calhoun Community College, along with site visits to the Prototype Integration Facility on Redstone Arsenal, and the Mercedes Plant in Vance, Alabama.

"Thank you for what you are going to do for the Army," Dwyer said. "No pressure, but the future of AMC sits with you guys."

* Megan Gully, Army Materiel Command Public Affairs contributed to this report.