RTC Safety Officer named ATEC Employee of the Quarter

By Christy BarnettAugust 6, 2020

When it comes to safety at the U.S. Army Redstone Test Center (RTC), a subordinate organization of the U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command (ATEC), explosives top the list.

RTC’s explosives safety manager, Mike McKinney, has been named the ATEC Civilian Mission Support Employee of the Quarter for the second quarter of 2020.

McKinney serves as RTC’s Explosives Safety Manager within the organization’s Center Support Directorate. He is responsible for administering all regulatory explosives safety management functions across the center which is comprised of five open air ranges, and more than 180 buildings with explosive site licenses.

McKinney is a relative newcomer at RTC, starting as the RTC explosives safety manager in September 2019, previously serving as the explosives safety lead at the Joint Munitions Command in Rock Island, Illinois.

McKinney immediately made multiple positive impacts to RTC’s explosives program in its entirety; including revamping the Hazard Familiarization Training Program and providing that training to more than 60 RTC employees in the second quarter of 2020.

McKinney made the training more intuitive by including the Military Munition Rule, which establishes an overarching policy for the management of waste military munitions. This training has helped educate more than 700 RTC workforce members who handle and the disposition of ammunition.

“Mike’s knowledge, tireless efforts and attention to detail have better positioned RTC for explosive safety and will enhance our ability to keep everyone safe while performing our critical mission,” said RTC Commander Col. Steven Braddom, upon presenting the award to McKinney on behalf of the ATEC Commanding General.

This past January during an ATEC inspection, McKinney was solely responsible to prepare all explosives safety management programs, previously a two-employee effort. McKinney single handedly executed 13 site visits across the center while evaluating individual division procedures through use of his staff assistance program. As a result, RTC had zero deficiencies noted throughout the rigorous series of audits.

The ATEC Employee of the Quarter award is selected by commanders at all ATEC subordinate organizations.