In July, in anticipation of the return of full production at the Quad City Cartridge Case Facility, Joint Munition Command’s summer 2021 class of interns from the Minority College Relations Program visited the facility and received a brief tour. QCCCF is a state of the art, government-owned, Navy-operated production facility located on Rock Island Arsenal capable of producing deep-drawn steel and brass cartridge cases, including those used for the Navy’s 5” system, the Army’s 105mm tank ammunition, and other cartridge case requirements for all Services.
During a brief tour, the MCRP interns learned about the origins and history of the QCCCF, which was established after the original facility, located at River Bank Army Ammunition Plant in California, was the subject of Base Realignment and Closure 2005. In 2011, the equipment was successfully proved out on the steel case line. However, lack of resources led to the facility being placed in layaway status in 2014. The Joint Manufacturing and Technology Center maintained standby maintenance efforts through May 2017. Then, with the help of a contractor, the Navy worked to reactivate QCCCF production facilities in June 2017. Since reactivation, the Navy has reactivated nearly all equipment at the facility.
At this time, a Memorandum of Agreement is being finalized as the Army recognizes the value of QCCCF and the capability it brings to the Joint Warfighter. The MoA will be signed by the Navy, JMC, and Program Executive Officer Armaments and Ammunition, for the Navy to assume operation of QCCCF. The primary reason is that the Navy has definite ongoing requirements for their 5” system, whereas the Army had none in May 2017. Since May 2017, the Army’s interest in 50mm and 105mm systems have grown, but not to a significant extent. While JMC owns the equipment, the Navy will maintain and use it. The Navy plans to use a mix of government and contractor employees to run the QCCCF to alter 27,000 Mk9 cartridge cases currently in inventory, while producing an annual quantity of 10-20,000 new MK109 cartridge cases. QCCCF is also being considered as a potential source for 50mm cartridge cases for the Next Generation Combat Vehicle.
The MCRP initiative gives students from colleges with high minority populations the opportunity for training and experience within the federal government. During their summer session at JMC and affiliated organizations, the MCRP interns received a crash course in what JMC and its installations do for Army Materiel Command, the Army, other services, and the Department of Defense. In addition to learning about various manufacturing missions and techniques, the interns received hands-on training in fields and offices aligned with their educational goals, including information technology, engineering, finance, drafting, and human resources.
QCCCF is just one of 17 plants, depots, and arsenals used by JMC for the production and storage of 900 million training and combat rounds annually.
Social Sharing