Matthew Hamer, Small Arms Integrated Product Team chief, on Leadership Log

Nearly every Airman at some point and perhaps many points in their career will carry a rifle, pistol, revolver or some sort of small arms. It's one of the things that keeps our more than 300,000 Airmen members of an "armed" force. Matthew Hamer, Small Arms Integrated Product Team chief, explained on a recent episode of AFLCMC's Leadership Log podcast how his office at Robins AFB, Georgia, ensures Airmen have the right arms and right ammunition at the right time to accomplish their mission. (U.S. Air Force graphic by Jim Varhegyi)

Office keeps force armed and ready

Published April 19, 2022
By Daryl Mayer, AFLCMC Public Affairs

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB, Ohio (AFLCMC) – Nearly every Airman at some point and perhaps many points in their career will carry a rifle, pistol, revolver or some sort of small arms. It’s one of the things that keeps our more than 300,000 Airmen members an “armed” force.

Matthew Hamer, Small Arms Integrated Product Team chief, explained on a recent episode of AFLCMC’s Leadership Log podcast how his office at Robins AFB, Georgia, ensures Airmen have the right Small Arms/Light Weapons and Sighting, Targeting, and Night Observation (STANO) equipment at the right time to accomplish their mission.

“It’s a relatively small team, it consists of only 4 government persons. We have two engineers, an equipment specialist and myself as the team lead. But we do have a very important cadre of nine contractor Advisory and Assistance Services (A&AS) personnel that work with our team,” Hamer said.

The office orchestrates thousands of moving pieces to get specialized work on specific systems by other organizations within industry or DOD. Case in point, much of the depot repairs are performed at the USAF Small Arms Depot in San Antonio, while machine guns are normally maintained by the Army at the Anniston Army Depot in Alabama.

They also work hand in glove on new acquisitions with the Army, which is the lead agency for small arms standardization purposes.

“If a weapon system is being phased out and the Army and Air Force have made the determination to adopt a new weapon, we will partner with the Army and go do the acquisition piece to that,” Hamer said. “We’ll accomplish market research, legal reviews, Non-Nuclear Munitions Safety Boards (NNMSB) to ensure it is safe for Air Force users.”

The Small Arms IPT manages everything from pistols for Security Forces, rifles for the Honor Guard and compact rifles for aircrew protection.

“We’ve recently completed a contract for the M-18 with Sig Sauer that will replace all the old Beretta M-9 side arms,” Hamer said.

To hear the full conversation, you can watch Leadership Log on YouTube at https://youtu.be/66m1qVJi4Uo. You can also listen by searching “Leadership Log” on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Spotify, Overcast, Radio Public or Breaker.