FORT SILL, Okla., May 8, 2014 -- There is one group of Soldiers who actually envy a drill sergeant's schedule; they're in ammunition supply.
"Drill sergeants they get their 10 days to reset, do what they need to do, take care of business there's none of that for us," said Spc. James Waffle, Service Battery, 434th Field Artillery Detachment ammunition admin clerk. "When one unit is on cycle break, that next unit is not on cycle break. They're still conducting training, so we are out here too."
Twenty Soldiers work Mondays through Saturdays from 5:30 a.m. until whenever the ranges are clear to support all four battalions in 434th FA.
"In my opinion the Service Battery Soldiers are probably the hardest working people," said Capt. Daniel Scarborough, battery commander.
Ammunition Soldiers work feverishly to make sure every training event has the right small arms supplies so future Soldiers can hone their craft.
"When we get out to the ranges we're supplying ammunition for these Soldiers, and they're going to graduate and maybe we'll see them on deployment in Afghanistan or whatever conflict is next. It's rewarding," said Staff Sgt. Joe Gomez, battery ammunition manager.
The service battery Soldiers are split up into teams who work in the bunker, Ammo Supply Point, and as the pickup and drop off, and admin teams.
The longest part of their duties is turning in the ammunition, which can take four to six hours.
"There's a ton of paperwork that comes with ammunition. There are multiple checks and balances to make sure we're doing the right thing, and everyone else is doing the right thing," said Waffle.
Between supplying the materials to the units and making sure every piece of brass is accounted for, the Soldiers work on carefully planned, but erratic schedules.
"We don't eat at the same time as everyone else. It's nonstop until mission complete so usually Soldiers bring their chow in and have a quick 15 minutes and then go back to it. That's every day," said Waffle.
The Soldiers can service up to 14 ranges in a day, and that is a typical Thursday for them.
"We have to accommodate the units the best we can whether we have the personnel or not, the ammo has to get delivered," said Waffle.
In an average week they deliver 300,000 to 500,000 rounds depending on how many units are in cycle.
"That's probably the hardest thing, making all the times and making everyone happy. You have to make it here at a certain time in order for these drill sergeants to meet the requirements of the training," said Waffle.
Their duties stretch into the night as they support the Night Infiltration Course, White Range and all portions of rifle marksmanship which include night fire.
"After the range is done those guys go home and they shower up and go to bed, but the ammo guys have to go back and download everything, count everything and make sure all the documentation is correct," said Gomez.
In an average week the Soldiers only have one-to-two days when they get home before dark.
"There's no such thing as a four-day here. We have Christmas Exodus for two weeks and that's probably the only time there's no training event going on here," said Waffle.
The Soldiers said they maintain their hectic pace by supporting each other when they need time off and remembering the impact they have on training.
"'Service with pride,' that's our motto. It may be tiresome, it may be long days, but everybody still has motivation and drive, and everybody pulls together as a platoon, as a team," said Gomez.
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