MCALESTER, Okla. — Colonel Gabriel Pryor, commander of McAlester Army Ammunition Plant, addressed key educators and influencers at Kiamichi Technology Center-McAlester’s “Sending School" Appreciation Luncheon, Jan. 12.
"Sending Schools" are partner schools that send vocation-focused 11th and 12th grade students to Kiamichi Technology Center (KTC) for specialized training.
The audience included area counselors, principals, and superintendents from secondary schools across KTC’s broad service area, which covers multiple counties in southeast Oklahoma.
Pryor said the Army is building high performing well-led teams, by drawing on the backgrounds and strengths of individual Soldiers to maximize its warfighting capabilities to protect our nation.
"The Army provides opportunities to individuals looking for a sense of purpose in life with over 200 ways to serve as a Soldier — including science, cyber security, combat forces, aviation, medicine, and law," said Pryor. "All of which are needed for the Army to accomplish its mission."
However, Pryor said these opportunities are not exclusively for those wearing the Army uniform.
"The high-level skills we need for our Soldiers are the same ones we need for our Army Civilians," said Pryor. "At MCAAP, we employ over 1,500 Army Civilian professionals to accomplish our missions to produce, store, distribute, and DEMIL conventional ammunition."
MCAAP provides all the DOD’s large bombs and stores approximately one-third of the DOD’s ammunition. The plant also distributes ammunition by train and truck each day and safely removes thousands of pounds of obsolete ammunition each year.
Additionally, the Army is undertaking its most significant modernization plan in over 40 years, and MCAAP is an integral part of it. MCAAP is expected to receive more than $50 million to repair some of its 80-year-old infrastructure and modernize production equipment and manufacture processes.
To execute the modernization plan, MCAAP requires engineers, technicians (electronic industrial controls), x-ray technicians, chemists, and IT/cybersecurity professionals. Electricians, plumbers, and construction workers are also in demand.
"We need to recruit a trained workforce — people who can read instructions, follow processes while dealing with explosives and dangerous equipment," said Pryor. Due to these factors, MCAAP employees must also be drug free, including medical marijuana.
KTC-McAlester Campus Director, Raymond Wilson, underscored MCAAP’s impact to the community, the nation, and thanked Col. Pryor for MCAAP’s continued partnership with KTC. “Education generates power and that’s what drives our country," said Wilson. “It all starts with our young people; with the skills they are taught right here at KTC.”
Kiamichi Technology Centers (Kiamichi Tech) has played a significant role in the growth of southeast Oklahoma communities for more than 50 years, serving 10 full and three partial counties. With a mission to 'Prepare People for Success," Kiamichi Tech meets local workforce needs through full-time career training programs, short-term courses, and customized training for businesses and industries like McAlester Army Ammunition Plant. The district is led by Superintendent Shelley Free and a seven-member Board of Education.
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