Army, Air Force partners talk bomb demand, capacity
By Kevin Jackson, Army Materiel Command
/ Published July 07, 2016
McALESTER ARMY AMMUNITION PLANT, Okla. -- The Air Force executive responsible for the planning and execution of lifecycle activities for air-delivered munitions recently spent a day here touring the facility and talking to Army officials about the requirements of the joint force and bomb production capacity.
Brig. Gen. Shaun Q. Morris, Program Executive Officer for Weapons and Director of the Armament Directorate, visited to get a firsthand look at the facility and to discuss the longstanding partnership with the Army munitions facility.
During the visit, Col. Sean M. Herron, commander, McAlester Army Ammunition Plant, or MCAAP, provided Morris with an overview of the plant's capabilities demonstrating the efficiency, effectiveness and best value MCAAP provides its customers.
The majority of the time was spent touring the production lines, where Morris observed bomb preparation, explosive fill and final assembly, and the Sensor Fuzed Weapon, which is a public-private partnership with Textron Systems Weapon and Sensor Systems.
It also included a tour of the outload pad, where he learned about two of the plant's critical capabilities, storage and distribution.
"Our business is readiness," said Todd Stone, director of Depot Operations. "And to be ready, we must be prepared to ship ammo at a moment's notice. Our long-range storage plan facilitates our ability to quickly meet any urgent customer requirement."
Following the tour, the leaders returned to the headquarters to discuss efforts that could be undertaken to improve the time it takes to produce bombs for the warfighter.
Morris expressed his desire to better understand the lengthy acquisition process and asked if the Air Force could help with supply chain issues.
"One of our three strategic initiatives this year has been addressing the supply chain," Herron said. "We had the same questions you are asking us. We're absolutely part of the team and we want to be part of the solution."
MCAAP has made improvements to its production facilities in recent years and continues to make more to ensure it is positioned to meet future customer requirements.
Morris acknowledged the plant's efforts to modernize and address the Air Force's critical needs.
"You guys are doing great work," he said. "We just need to determine a sustainable production level so you can optimize and not have to react to big surge workload swings from us."
The visit to MCAAP was Morris' first since becoming the Air Force's program executive officer for weapons in April 2015.
"I have a greater appreciation, from a facilitization perspective, what we're doing with you after spending the day here," Morris said.