ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, Ill. — The Joint Munitions Command's approach to operationalizing munitions readiness through Army and AMC priorities was the focus during the quarterly update with Gen. Edward Daly, commander, U.S. Army Materiel Command. Col. Gavin Gardner, JMC commander, led the brief and highlighted strategic initiatives that drive desired effects and outputs that enable munitions readiness from the Strategic Support Area (SSA) to the tactical point of need.
Mr. Stoney Ross, Chief of the Equal Opportunity Employment Division, discussed JMC’s emphasis on putting people first by seeing yourself, understanding organizational and cultural problems and implementing actions to achieve the appropriate effects.
“Through our various initiatives to include conducting unconscious bias training, targeting under-representation and leveraging the Minority College Relations Program, we continue to foster an environment that promotes and practices diversity, equality and inclusion,” said Ross.
Additionally, senior leaders have conducted listening sessions with employees to understand the thoughts and concerns regarding not only diversity and inclusion, but also sexual assault, sexual harassment and suicide prevention. The Commanders of Blue Grass Army Depot, McAlester Army Ammunition Plant, and Tooele Army Depot each shared the results of their listening tour assessments and methods being used to adhere to Army requirements regarding the removal of divisive symbols from Army installations and reservations.“We want to ensure our workforce is diverse and inclusive, and without fear of discrimination,” said Col. Gardner. “We understand we have work to do, and we won’t let up.”
JMC is actively leveraging training opportunities in order to improve core competencies in support of Large Scale Combat Operations. Jeremy Tewkesbury, chief of War Planning, outlined past and present training efforts geared toward posturing the enterprise to execute large scale precision logistics, to include rail surge, truck surge, depot outload, and port exercises. AMC is coordinating with JMC and other MSCs to conduct a munitions ROC drill in September, where they will re-validate contingency playbooks and synchronize mission command.
“The data and lessons learned from these exercises will set the stage for a successful 21st TSC event by demonstrating supply chain flow from the SSA, identifying munitions that require dynamic employment from another area of responsibility, and highlight early indications of supply issues,” said Tewkesbury. “It’s munitions readiness at its core.”
Another top priority for JMC is modernization. Corey Hotle, Government-Owned Contractor-Operated Director, articulated the need to continually assess current and future capabilities required to support Multi-Domain Operations. Working with AMC on a 10-year modernization implementation plan will ensure the enterprise understands the required future capabilities while modernizing for current readiness.
“Requirements will continue to outpace funding; therefore, we will continue to assess the demographics of our requirements, assure projects align with priorities and articulate risks for unfunded requirements for leadership assessment,” said Hotle.
Strategic divestiture was a key reform effort discussed during the brief. Fritz Larsen, GOCO directorate, discussed the continuous enterprise effort required in divesting of Milan Army Ammunition Plant. Larry Gottschalk at Chemical Material Activity
told Daly that they are on track to meet requirements for the destruction of the Chemical Weapons Stockpile at Pueblo Chemical Depot and Blue Grass Chemical Activity.
“We have a detailed transition plan for these installations, and will ensure we continue to stay on glide path by closely monitoring significant milestones for destruction and divestiture,” said Gottschalk.
Daly commended the efforts of JMC on improving munitions readiness to the Warfighter. He ended the update by re-emphasizing the importance of putting people first.
“Diversity is our strength,” said Daly. “We must demonstrate trust, dignity and respect at all echelons. Words whisper, but actions thunder.”
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