Some venues boast that their contents stretch from soup to nuts, but the Joint Munitions Command (JMC) can legitimately claim that its display room's contents range from bullets to bombs.
When JMC decided to renovate their headquarters, the Command Group envisioned a munitions display room to visually demonstrate the JMC mission to distinguished visitors.
For the display cache, employees were encouraged to donate inert munitions that were sitting on their desks or that were tucked away in closets. JMC employees answered the call and bits and pieces added up to a "truckload" of munitions.
Eventually, JMC's Col. Mark Klingelhoefer, Chief of Staff, and Command Sgt. Maj. David Puig took over the planning duties and, along with Public Affairs staff, completed the design of the display room.
"There was so much potential to tell the JMC story, it would be a shame not to use the room to showcase the work that the great people of JMC do," Puig said.
Since March 2010, the JMC display room has hosted several high profile visitors such as Secretary of the Army John McHugh, Executive Director to the Commanding General Army Materiel Command Teresa Gerton, and AMC Command Sgt. Maj. Jeffrey Mellinger.
Groups that have toured the display room include JMC retiree honorees, Minority College Relations Program interns, and students of Defense Ammunition Center ammunition classes.
In the display room currently, a huge wood and glass case highlights many calibers of bullets, and clips, grenades, land mines, fuzes, mortars and rockets. A mock-up of a storage igloo demonstrates a state-of-the-art bar-coded munitions inventory system, and bombs and rockets are prominently placed.
An award-winning, interactive video features JMC installations and clearly portrays the functions and contributions of each. Soon, a model of the Excalibur XM982, a precision guided extended range 155mm artillery projectile, will be prominently displayed.
As to future additions, Klingelhoefer said, "I would like to see a pictorial display featuring transportation, especially the shipment of JMC munitions from depot to theater."
Puig added, "I contemplate a display on demilitarization of munitions, and anticipate the display room being used for new employee orientation and for current employees to gain additional information."
The JMC display room is described as a "work in progress", as it will be ever-evolving. The possibilities are endless.
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