FORT LEE, Va. (Nov. 7, 2011) -- Brig. Gen. Clark W. LeMasters Jr. seemed to be a study in focus and formality just moments before his promotion ceremony Oct. 18.

As attendees of the event slowly filed in to take their seats, LeMasters, clad in dress uniform, held his body erect, kept his movements to a minimum and not as much cracked a smile. His bearing held to tradition, he seemed to be all business.

Or so everyone thought.

After the formalities - the remarks by former boss Lt. Gen. Mitchell H. Stevenson and the attachment of one-star shoulder boards to his shirt and jacket - LeMasters turned to his wife, Mary, and quickly gave her a kiss reminiscent of Alfred Eisenstaed's "V-J Day in Times Square," flaunting the hunched-over pose and all.

Taken aback, the crowd gasped, "oohed" and erupted into appreciative laughter. When the two came up for air, a flushed Mary wore a tight, expanding smile and the general stood there, chuckling with an "I gotcha" expression.

The moment undoubtedly loosened the crowd and provided an introduction to the general's persona - fun-loving with the ability to put people at ease; business-like and sharply focused when duty calls. He further explained.

"People who know me know that I'm deadly serious about my business," said the 49-year-old son of a former Soldier, "but I'm also a people person. I believe you can form teams and create an environment that people can laugh in, and it's OK to laugh at yourself a little bit and make people feel relaxed. That works for me, and it fits my personality."

LeMasters' will need his people skills and more as the Ordnance School, having completed the consolidation of two schools at Fort Lee, settles into its physical surroundings, assumes its role as the largest tenant on the installation and continues its mission as the largest combat service support entity in the Army.

"I inherited excellence," he said, noting the many accomplishments of his predecessor. "The military and civilian staffs were halfway through the move when I got here. We have the best facilities the Army could build, the best of all the people who came from the schools and all the best practices to bring together. We're in good shape."

LeMasters said now that the school is consolidated, it has to do more to communicate its mission, something he said is vital to gaining the support and goodwill of both the internal and external communities. He said an event that invited 150 local businesses and perennial Ordnance Corps sponsors in September was a good start.

"We're going to do a lot more over the coming year to reach out to the community," he said, "to bring them in and show them what the Ordnance School is all about."

An element of Fort Lee's Combined Arms Support Command, the Ordnance School encompasses three competencies: maintenance, ammunition and explosive ordnance disposal. While most of the schoolhouse is located at Fort Lee, there are several components which are not. The Wheeled Vehicle Mechanic School is located at Fort Jackson, S.C., and a portion of EOD training is held at Fort A.P. Hill and Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. There are also training missions at Fort Gordon, Ga., Fort Sill, Okla. and Fort Bliss, Texas.

The Ordnance School provides training for more than 11,000 military personnel annually in several military occupational specialties. With a footprint roughly double the size of the Quartermaster School (also located at Fort Lee), its diverse training mission required more than 30 new buildings at the new Ordnance Campus, some as wide and long as a football field.

"We want everyone to understand what goes on in those big buildings," said LeMasters. "Not everyone is going to get it, but we may provide training for your son, daughter, niece, nephew or next door neighbor. The diversity of training and Soldiers reflect America's demographic. People here probably have a better understanding of what the quartermasters do, but we want to show them we're just like the quartermasters, only we train in different areas."

As the chief of ordnance, LeMasters is responsible for the development, production, acquisition and sustainment of weapons systems, ammunition, missiles, electronics, and ground mobility materiel during peace and war. Speaking from that perspective, he said the Ordnance Corps has endured a number of changes over the years, noting factors such as Army Transformation and the wars in southwest Asia. Mechanical maintenance is one of the competencies he noted as having seen dramatic change due to the dynamics of modern warfare.

"We've learned a whole new type of recovery operation because of the types of explosive devices used by the enemy," he said. "They're blowing axles off of trucks, causing catastrophic damage to vehicles that don't allow us to tow them and recovery them the way we traditionally have. We've changed our mentality on recovery operations."

In the near future, LeMasters said the Ordnance Corps will roll out a number of initiatives that will strengthen all of its competencies and support the Army of the future. For example, EOD, has undergone critical analysis due to the proliferation of improvised explosive devices that has resulted in hundreds of deaths and injuries to U.S. and allied troops. Changes in the field are imminent.

"We're going through and looking at new robotics, new (protective) suits and new pieces of equipment that will help us deal more effectively with counter IED missions," he said, "while making sure we're not forgetting the old, traditional render-safe procedures."

Although the Corps is braced for change, much of that change will hinge upon funding, which is the subject of great concern as a pullout of U.S. forces in Iraq looms.

"The challenge we have across the board in the Army right now is what the resource situation is going to look like in the near future," said LeMasters, "because that's going to drive everything we do -- how we train and the size of our mission at the school.

"Furthermore," he continued, "will there be organizational and modernization changes? Will we be forced into rethinking how we do our business? It's not just dollar amounts; it's the second and third order of effects that comes with it."

Adequate funding or not, LeMasters said the Ordnance Corps will continue to forge ahead. On the proponency side of the house, it's his intent to comb through all functions with the idea of enhancing the fighting force.

"We need to work with the CASCOM staff to look at material systems, organizations, leader development and force structure and produce doctrine and all those other elements that give us the advantage we need to have," he said.

On the training side, LeMasters said he envisions a schoolhouse that produces Soldiers and leaders who are well-trained and capable of critical and adaptive thinking.

"The Ordnance Creed says to give the advantage of the American Army over its enemy," he said. "Our vision is to watch the changes in the environment taking place and create an environment inside of the Ordnance School that is sufficiently dynamic to adjust to those changes, to train Soldiers and leaders to do it."

The Ordnance Corps will celebrate its 200th anniversary next year.