Keeping the Army's industrial base healthy

"If the soldier shoots it, drives it, flies it, wears it or eats it, AMC provides it." Army Materiel Command's motto tells it all. AMC is one of three U.S. Army logistics operations supported by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory team members on site at AMC in Alexandria, Va.

PNNL's Susan Alten and Maude Wickline work with the Armament Retooling and Manufacturing Support (ARMS) Program and Headquarters AMC in making the Army's industrial base for ammunition as efficient and cost effective as possible. "You need to make sure the Army can get what it needs in a contingency and that during times of peace that capacity doesn't go away," Alten said.

The team analyzes plant production and the best use of excess equipment. They facilitate ARMS conferences and analyze legislation that might affect the military's industrial base. PNNL's Richard Auger and Tom Shirk make recommendations and provide reports to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees.

"We want to make it in a company's best interest to help the Army maintain industrial base readiness," Alten said. "Sharing costs is one way to make the facilities more cost effective. Often we have contractor-operated facilities bring other companies in to share the facility, and in some cases idle equipment, which lowers overhead and brings down the cost of ammunition."

The PNNL group also supports the Army Ammunition Community in forecasting ammunition needs and determining the most cost-effective means of meeting these requirements, particularly under changing demands. "Right after Sept. 11, the PNNL team spearheaded the Ammunition Community's effort to determine required combat loads for munitions for the predicted force deployments.

It was a huge effort in a short time, but it paid real dividends," Alten said.