McALESTER ARMY AMMUNITION PLANT, Okla. — Commanding General of U.S. Army Materiel Command, Gen. Ed Daly, toured operations here Sept. 8, to see firsthand how MCAAP provides munitions readiness to the warfighter now, and plans to continue to deliver that same readiness in the future.
MCAAP Commander, Col. Shane Upton, hosted the visit, which also included AMC Command Sergeant Major Alberto Delgado; AMC Commanding General’s Initiative Group Director, Col. Mike Siegl; and Aide-de-camp, Lt. Col. Chris Jones.
The Army’s senior sustainer surveyed multiple production facilities spread across the plant’s more than 45,000 acres, observing MCAAP’s modernization efforts to sustain its munitions readiness capabilities executed safely by a civilian workforce.
The general’s tour included stops at current munitions production facilities as well as the site of MCAAP’s future Ammunition Demilitarization Facility, and the future Multi-Purpose Load Facility.
Gen. Daly also viewed MCAAP’s “outload pad,” where munitions are prepared for distribution, to assess MCAAP’s deployment and surge capabilities. As the U.S. Army’s senior sustainer, Daly ensures that the materiel enterprise, which is responsible for providing all munitions, vehicles and equipment for Soldiers, best provides ammunition assets and avoids potential breaks in the munitions supply chain.
“We are focused on looking enterprise-wide and identifying our most important production areas and our single points of failure,” Daly said. “Then we determine how to modernize those areas. We have to leverage all we can to improve those facilities.”
MCAAP’s modernization initiatives require planned funding for years to come, as technology and infrastructure age.
MCAAP’s future modernization strategy focuses on multipurpose, flexible space that can be adapted to produce a broader array of munitions safely, while mitigating the cost associated with process change or new production items.
As a critical hub in the U.S. Army’s organic industrial base, MCAAP strives to maximize capacity while growing the right capabilities for the future force.
Explosives safety technology saturated discussions throughout the tour of current production facilities and modernization project sites. MCAAP continues to pursue innovation in the practical science of safety throughout the workforce. In April, MCAAP began the installation of GPS trackers to its fleet of more than 1,300 government vehicles, including material-handling equipment (MHE) and rail cars. This provides the capability to make data-driven decisions, along with real-time tracking and management of all MCAAP vehicles, wherever the vehicles might deploy across the globe.
"This visit gave us the opportunity to showcase our dedicated civilian workforce and demonstrate to Gen. Daly that we are executing the vision of providing ready, reliable, lethal munitions, to sustain global readiness for our nation’s warfighters," said Upton.
Gen. Daly concluded his visit by addressing members of MCAAP's workforce. “I just want to tell you ‘thanks for everything you’re doing.’ I refer to a lot of you at these locations, especially McAlester, as a workforce that is absolutely critical to the sustainment of the warfighting function,” said Daly. “I like to refer to you all as the linemen and women of football, so to speak. Your names and numbers are seldom called, but we can’t fight wars without you.”
McAlester Army Ammunition Plant delivers Joint Force Readiness through ammunition production, maintenance, storage, shipment, and demilitarization operations. It was originally commissioned as the Naval Ammunition Depot McAlester in May 1943, and began its first production in August 1943. The facility was transferred to the Army in October 1977, under the Single Manager for Conventional Ammunition Act. MCAAP is part of the Joint Munitions Command and the U.S. Army Materiel Command.
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