"Coming to McAlester Army Ammunition Plant (MCAAP) and seeing the patriotic people recharges my batteries," said Gen. Ann Dunwoody, commanding general, Army Materiel Command, during her Aug. 8 visit here. Commenting on AMC's civilian workforce, she said that "our workforce is every bit as patriotic as Soldiers in the foxhole" and the civilian workforce at MCAAP reflects this.
While on tour of MCAAP's wide range of capabilities, she paused long enough to fill a 500 pound bomb with plastic bonded explosive. She also inscribed her signature on the nose cone of the world's third largest bomb, the inert Massive Ordnance Air Burst bomb, on static display in front of the plant's headquarters building.
Along with touring the bomb production line, she also saw the missile maintenance facility, the main outload pad, the Sensor Fuzed Weapon and the demilitarization of the 155mm Dual Purpose Improved Conventional Munitions (DPICM) Artillery Projectile.
At the missile maintenance facility MCAAP trained electronic technicians, under the supervision of Raytheon employees, test and recertify the Stinger, Maverick, and Chaparral missile systems. This facility provides world wide support for U.S. and foreign military sales customers.
The sensor fuzed weapon, currently supporting overseas contingency operations, is a 1,000 pound class U.S. Air Force weapon containing sensor fuzed munitions for attacking armor. Demilitarizing 155mm projectiles demonstrates MCAAP's ability to download grenades and expulsion charges and is one of several demilitarization capabilities the plant has.
MCAAP's outload and deployment capability was front and center during her tour. Dunwoody was briefed about MCAAP's power projection capability and how critical it is to the Combatant Commander's strategic operations in the event of an overseas crisis. The plant recently proved its capability to load 435 20'x8' military vans every 24 hours for 30 days.
She also saw military packaging training being conducted at the Defense Ammunition Center, the Army's sole source of such training.
Dunwoody commented that there was generation after generation of military service at MCAAP which made her proud to be a Soldier in today's Army.
McAlester Army Ammunition Plant is the Department of Defense's (DoD) premier bomb producer and stores one-third of all DoD munitions.
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