ROCK ISLAND, Ill. -- The Joint Munitions Command continues to move forward with Base Realignment and Closure 2005 implementation, closing five of its ammunition facilities and relocating mission, all the while taking care of people.
The JMC BRAC team's most significant accomplishment to date was moving five Sensor Fuzed Weapon production presses from Kansas Army Ammunition Plant, Parsons, Kan., which closed last December, to the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant, McAlester, Okla., according to Perry Reynolds, JMC BRAC Program Manager.
"In accordance with an Air Force and Army Memorandum of Agreement, we could not tear down the production capability at Kansas until we were up and running at McAlester site," he said. "To retain a full production capability at Kansas, we moved the presses in two phases."
McAlester's SFW production facility is now complete and producing, he said.
Mr. Reynolds said the most challenging BRAC relocation will be moving the steel deep- drawn cartridge case mission from Riverbank Army Ammunition Plant, Riverbank, Calif., to the Rock Island Arsenal site because of the impact on readiness, complexity of the equipment and unique production operation,
Riverbank ended production of the cases, used for Stryker and Navy Gun ammunition, on June 10 and disassembled the first production press for shipment to a commercial rebuild facility. Disassembly of the remaining presses for shipment is underway.
"This Riverbank AAP action is unique because it is the only BRAC closure and relocation where the government-owned contractor-operated contractor moves with the mission to the gaining site," he said.
To prepare for the next JMC BRAC closure at Mississippi Army Ammunition Plant, Stennis Space Center, Miss., slated for July 31, the JMC BRAC team completed three milestones, Mr. Reynolds explained.
Production ended in 1990, and limited ammo industrial stocks were moved in 1991, both prior to the BRAC 2005. The move of BRAC production equipment was complete by June 2007, he said.
Another BRAC action, closing the ammunition operations at Sierra Army Depot, Herlong, Calif., will happen one year earlier than scheduled. While Sierra is a TACOM installation, Joint Munitions Command manages the ammunition there.
"This is due to the effective use of the Operation Golden Cargo training exercises," Mr. Reynolds said.
During the operation, Army Reserve and National Guard Soldiers, Marine Reservists and Navy Reservists conduct unit-level training and help the JMC move ammunition from Sierra to Hawthorne Army Depot, Hawthorne, Nev., for demilitarization.
Mr. Reynolds emphasized that although it's not stated in the mission closure requirement, JMC's fourth milestone is taking care of people and treating them with dignity and respect.
"Normally our people would be terminated once we close a site, but we have been able to work with the Installation Management Command to pick up these knowledgeable people to work under caretaker contractor facilities at Kansas AAP and Mississippi AAP," he said. "We expect similar actions at our remaining BRAC closing sites."
The government employees who remain on Kansas AAP are now Ft Riley employees with duty station at the plant. Similarly, Mississippi AAP workers will come under Ft Rucker, but remain at their plant.
The final BRAC change for JMC is the closure of Red River Munitions Center, an ammunition storage facility near Texarkana, Texas, and movement of its stocks to other JMC installations. The center is a tenant on Red River Army Depot, which is not closing.
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