RICHMOND, Ky (August 18, 2016) -- When they arrived in late July at Blue Grass Army Depot (BGAD), the 163rd Army Reserve Ordnance Company out of Tustin, California, may have been expecting a little cooler weather than the normal summer heat they are used to in the greater Los Angeles area. As we all learn in life, sometimes you just have to temper your expectations.
What awaited them in Kentucky's Bluegrass Region were near record high temperatures and humidity. However one expectation they didn't have to temper, was that of the new knowledge, skills and abilities they would acquire by going through the unique, well-rounded Mobilized Ordnance Specific Training -- known as MOST.
BGAD's MOST training provided the Reserves invaluable pre-deployment experience in all aspects of handling, inspecting, shipping and packaging various munitions, as well as providing additional manpower and workload support to the installation.
Other training areas included material handling equipment, demolition of obsolete munitions, inventory, maintenance, palletizing and re-warehousing of ammunition, to name a few.
"Despite the weather, I love the training that we're getting here," said one soldier on break. "I may need to bring my rain jacket, but this training goes right to the heart of who we are as an ordnance unit. If and when we're called into action, we know we'll be ready"
The 163rd Ordnance Company has been to BGAD before and appreciated the training and area so much that they decided to return. "We were here a couple of years ago," 2nd Lt. Mike Casillas said. "Our Soldiers really enjoyed the MOST training experience so we decided to come back. We weren't disappointed with that decision."
BGAD Commander Colonel Norbert Fochs understands the importance of what his installation's hands-on MOST program delivers to Reserves and National Guard. "We're very happy the 163rd chose to return to BGAD for MOST training and we hope to see them again soon."
"The Army's #1 priority is readiness," reports Fochs, "which simply means that while we're meeting current demands, we're also doing the necessary tasks to ensure our Warfighters are fully prepared for the next mission. BGAD's MOST training provides that link to readiness."
BGAD's MOST training is designed to support training needs for both ammunition and non-ammunition related units. Units can offset their training costs through direct support of BGAD mission workload.
MOST and other military training is available to units in the Department of Defense Joint Services. BGAD facilities can house up to 300 personnel and involve classroom ammunition training, and hands-on specific technical training.
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