CAMP BEAUREGARD, La. - Ammunition has to be at the right place at the right time to support National Guard training. And the Joint Munitions Command knows that a National Guard Soldier at Camp Beauregard gets it there every time.
Brig. Gen. Larry Wyche, JMC commander, recently commended Sgt. 1st Class John D. Wiley, training site ammunition supply point manager at Camp Beauregard, Pineville, La., for his outstanding support of the Centralized Ammunition Management mission and for making sure that units there have the ammo they need for training.
"Each unit only has two days a month to train at Camp Beauregard. Sgt. 1st Class Wiley always has the ammunition at the range so they don't miss their training," said Tod Marshall, CAM regional manager.
JMC's CAM concept gets ammunition from production in the industrial base to the warfighter in the field. It assesses training authorizations and basic load requirements against stock on hand to determine the correct amount of ammo for its 78 ammunition supply points located in the United States and Puerto Rico.
Wiley handles ammunition coming into Camp Beauregard, a National Guard ASP, from a munitions center in the region. Because forklifts don't fit into the bunkers, he moves it by hand, cutting the bands from the pallets and carrying each box into the bunkers.
"Wiley counts each piece of ammo that comes in or weighs it and has never lost anything. At the bunker, he tracks the ammo on paper and later transfers the information onto a computer," Marshall explained. "He is an outstanding worker and he does the job all by himself."
Another critical function that Wiley performs is transferring ammunition to other ASPs. According to Marshall, Wiley has never missed a date, so no training has ever been missed.
Wiley's work ethic does not go unnoticed at other Louisiana National Guard facilities, noted Maj. Robert K. Raynard, training site Louisiana logistics officer at Camp Beauregard.
"Sgt. 1st Class John Wiley does not operate in the norm. Any unit in the Louisiana National Guard that he works with can contact him at anytime during or after working hours. He will come in to the ASP and take care of business at a moment's notice on a weekend or evening in order to help units meet their training objectives," said Raynard.
Marshall, a former Army staff sergeant and ammunition specialist knows firsthand how important it is to get ammo to support units' training and deployment and commented on Wiley's initiative.
"If Camp Beauregard had too much ammo, SFC Wiley drives the 50 miles to Ft. Polk (another ASP) to deliver ammo. He goes the extra mile," said Marshall.
JMC provides bombs and bullets to America's fighting forces -- all services, all types of conventional ammo from bunker-buster bombs to rifle rounds. JMC manages plants that produce more than 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition annually and the depots that store the nation's ammunition for training and combat.
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