Ammo Flight inspects 'everything that goes boom'

Published April 18, 2013
By Airman 1st Class M. Ryan Throneberry
Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Public Affairs

JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. -- The men and women of the 305th Maintenance Squadron Ammo Flight work day in and day out to ensure 'everything that goes boom' is handled safely and professionally at the munitions site here.

Tucked away in a secluded area on the joint base, the flight stores, sorts, inspects, handles and accounts for any ordinance needed for operations or training carried out by the Air Force and Marines.

"We are the 'behind-the-scenes' guys when it comes to any ammo used on the Air Force and Marine side," said Senior Airman Shayne Pratte, 305th MXS Ammo Flight munitions crew chief. "We control every munition they need to use. Without us, they literally can't blow anything up."

The flight is divided into four sections; each with their own responsibilities and duties which contribute to achieving the ammo mission. The sections include accountability, munitions control, storage and munitions inspection.

"Say (Combat Arms Training and Maintenance) needs 10 boxes of 9 mm rounds, they call the accountability section to place the order," said Staff Sgt. Jawara Fragher, 305th MXS Ammo Flight NCO in charge. "The order is then scheduled with munitions control, giving the customer a date and time to pick it up. Storage removes it from a storage structure so inspection can 'bless' it for use."

Not only does the Ammo Flight issue rounds, they also take them back after being used. Airmen sort through thousands of shell casings each day after they have returned from the range to find any duds. The casings are then packaged to be sold through the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Office.

The Flight doesn't deal with bombs and other types of large ordinance because Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst is part of Air Mobility Command, allowing the Airmen to work in more than one section Fragher said.

"We do service the (Marine Aircraft Group 49) with their attack helicopter weapons, but the majority of our inventory is mostly small arms ammunition," said Fragher. "This allows us to transition through each section easier which is great for the Airmen to see different aspects of the job."

Safety is a major priority for the Airmen working at the Muns site due to the nature of their product and workplace.

"No matter what we are doing, we always have a crew book with us," said Fragher. "The crew book contains everything you need to know about the proper way to store and deal with different munitions. It also outlines what needs to be done if an ordinance were to explode. It says who will man the fire extinguishers, who takes accountability and who takes charge and how far back to evacuate."

The Airmen here know they contribute to the greater mission, even if in a 'behind-the-scenes' way.

"I think my favorite aspect of this job is knowing when the 87th Civil Engineer Squadron Explosive Ordinance Disposal unit blows something up, I inspected that blast cap or dynamite," said Fragher. "Years back, I was preparing to deploy to Iraq. We were training with grenades and my name was on the box, having inspected them for safety. That made me feel good."

Display

ammo