The U.S. Army Ordnance School is spearheading efforts to modernize maintenance training across career management fields (CMFs) 91 and 94, ensuring Soldiers are equipped to sustain increasingly complex systems. These initiatives focus on improving advanced individual training (AIT), enhancing technical depth in the Advanced Leader Course (ALC), and advancing warrant officer professional military education (PME). Additionally, the Ordnance Corps is exploring cutting-edge solutions through the Meta pilot program, which integrates smart glasses and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven tools to revolutionize training and tele-maintenance capabilities. Together, these efforts aim to create maintainers and warrant officers who possess the knowledge, tools, and resources to repair equipment effectively, rather than simply replacing parts.
Broader Improvements to AIT
AIT has undergone significant improvements to better prepare Soldiers for the challenges of their first assignments. The U.S. Army Ordnance School has shifted its focus from training solely on legacy platforms to teaching the fundamentals of maintaining engines, electrical systems, transmissions, and hydraulics. This foundational knowledge ensures Soldiers are ready to work on the advanced systems they will encounter in operational units, such as the SGT STOUT Maneuver-Short Range Air Defense (M-SHORAD), Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV), M2A4 Bradley Fighting Vehicle, M109A7 Paladin howitzer, and next-generation squad weapons.
The curriculum now emphasizes skills-based training, incorporating hands-on troubleshooting and problem-solving to move beyond routine memorization and basic maintenance tasks. This approach is designed to create maintainers who can independently diagnose and repair complex issues, reducing reliance on field support representatives, logistics assistance representatives, and higher-echelon support to increase unit readiness. Soldiers are trained to think critically and apply their skills to real-world scenarios.
Additionally, the curriculum has been aligned to better prepare Soldiers for maintenance levels 1 through 8 of the Automotive Service Excellence certifications. These industry-recognized credentials not only enhance Soldiers’ technical expertise but also support their professional development and career progression. By integrating skills-based training, advanced troubleshooting techniques, and exposure to cutting-edge systems, AIT is producing maintainers who are ready to meet the demands of modern Army operations and sustainment.
Increasing Technical Depth in ALC
ALC has been redesigned to guide junior NCOs from apprentice-level maintainers to journeyman-level technicians, equipping them with the skills needed to repair more-advanced systems. For CMF 91 maintainers, ALC now focuses on developing a deeper understanding of complex systems, including engines, electrical systems, and hydraulics, while emphasizing advanced troubleshooting techniques. This training ensures NCOs are prepared to diagnose and repair intricate faults during large-scale combat operations (LSCO) within multi-domain operations (MDO), where rapid and accurate maintenance is critical to sustaining combat power.
Additionally, the 91Es receive specialized instruction in advanced manufacturing processes, such as additive manufacturing, subtractive manufacturing, and 3D printing. These skills allow them to design and fabricate repair components using cutting-edge technologies, further enhancing their ability to sustain equipment in demanding environments.
By focusing on advanced technical skills and leadership development, ALC ensures that maintainers are not only proficient in their military occupational specialty (MOS) but also capable of stepping into roles that require greater technical expertise and decision making. This transformation strengthens unit readiness and operational effectiveness.
Advancing Warrant Officer PME
The modernization of warrant officer PME is a critical component of the U.S. Army Ordnance School’s efforts to cultivate the Army’s premier technicians and maintenance leaders. This progressive education model builds on the ALC, ensuring that Soldiers transition seamlessly from journeyman-level technicians to expert-level warrant officers. At the chief warrant officer 2 level, the newly introduced Warrant Officer Intermediate Course (WOIC) expands on the foundational skills taught in the Warrant Officer Basic Course. WOIC focuses on advanced technical skills, preparing warrant officers to provide expert-level support to operational units.
To further enhance the alignment between enlisted feeder MOSs and warrant officer roles, the U.S. Army Ordnance School has created two new warrant officer MOSs: 915S Stryker Maintenance Warrant Officer and 915T Track Maintenance Warrant Officer. These MOSs are tailored to provide specialized expertise in maintaining Stryker and tracked vehicle systems. By equipping warrant officers with advanced technical knowledge and reducing the need for extensive self-study and on-the-job training, these changes ensure that warrant officers can contribute effectively to their units from day one.
Warrant officers are now trained to support and sustain the Army’s most advanced equipment, including the lightweight counter-mortar radar, SGT STOUT M-SHORAD, Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon, Land Phalanx Weapon System, Night Vision Device–Next, Sustainment Transport System Satellite Communications, AMPV, M2A4 Bradley Fighting Vehicle, and M109A7 Paladin howitzer. This exposure to cutting-edge systems ensures warrant officers are prepared to lead maintenance operations in complex environments.
Meta Pilot Program: Integrating Emerging Technologies
The Ordnance Corps is taking significant steps to modernize maintenance training through the Meta pilot program, which focuses on integrating smart glasses and AI-driven solutions to enhance training and tele-maintenance capabilities.
The program began on April 24, 2025, at Fort Lee, Virginia, where Meta representatives collaborated with the U.S. Army Combined Arms Support Command to analyze maintenance variability and environmental factors. Using Meta’s Aria smart glasses, personnel captured video data of maintenance tasks, hand movements, and environmental conditions, integrating this data with technical manuals to explore its application across extended reality platforms.
On September 17, 2025, the pilot expanded to Joint Base Lewis–McChord, where experiments simulated remote assistance during ISV maintenance tasks. Army personnel streamed first-person video and audio to remote experts, who provided real-time guidance. The experiments compared voice-only guidance, video-enhanced interactions, and in-person expert assistance, identifying challenges such as component identification in densely packed areas and proper tool selection.
The pilot program demonstrates the potential of AI-driven tools to simplify training, improve communication, and accelerate learning. The sky is the limit for how we can harness the power of these AI tools, not only to improve training but also to develop technology that could guide maintainers through troubleshooting and repairs in time-constrained situations where setting up a maintenance support device and following step-by-step instructions in the interactive electronic technical manual is not feasible.
Meta plans to refine prototypes by focusing on targeted tasks and benchmarking performance using advanced AI models like Google’s Gemini. These efforts aim to modernize Army maintenance operations and enhance sustainment capabilities for the future.
Conclusion
The school is enhancing AIT with skills-based training and exposure to advanced systems, increasing the technical depth of ALC to develop journeymen-level technicians, advancing warrant officer PME to cultivate expert leaders, and integrating emerging technologies through the Meta pilot program. As a result, the Army is producing maintainers and warrant officers who can sustain readiness in the most complex operational environments.
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CW4 Chase D. Givens currently serves as the career management field (CMF) 91 ordnance warrant officer proponent at the U.S. Army Ordnance School, Fort Lee, Virginia. He is an action officer for the accession, career development, and education of all CMF 91 ordnance warrant officers in the Army. His most recent assignments include serving as a training developer for 915A, 915S, 915T, and 919A military occupational specialties and completing a one-year Training with Industry assignment at Caterpillar Defense. His civilian education includes a Master of Science degree in global supply chain management from the University of Alaska Anchorage.
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This article was published in the winter 2026 issue of Army Sustainment.
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