Enlisted teams keep ammo flowing

  • Published
  • By Daryl Mayer, AFLCMC Public Affairs
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB, Ohio (AFLCMC) – A key element to the success of AFLCMC program offices is using teams of enlisted Airmen experts to use their specific career field knowledge and experience to guide programs. 
 
Specifically at Hill AFB in Utah, teams of enlisted Munitions Systems specialists are rotated from jobs in field units to guide the worldwide transfer and accounting of all Air Force munitions.  
 

Staff Sgt. Timothy Bench and Tech. Sgt. Justin Salinas support the Standard Air Munitions Packages or STAMP program, which ensures the right ammo gets shipped to the right place when needed.  Tech. Sgt. Rachel Shelly and Staff Sgt. Louis Sansone support the Theater Integrated Combat Munitions System, also known as TICMS, which maintains 100% accountability of munitions worldwide.  In a nutshell, these teams keep the warfighter armed and ready.       
 
With more than 12,000 users, TICMS maintains the inventory and serviceability for everything from a single round of 5.56mm ammo all the way up to missiles or bombs, said Sansone. 
 
“Everything that has any type of bang or boom has to go in there,” said Shelly.  “Including some things people don’t realize like for egress from an aircraft.  If a pilot is going down and they have to eject, that is a munitions item that we have to account for and make sure is serviceable and inspect appropriately.”
 
STAMP, on the other hand, allows a commander to rapidly deploy munitions to the theater through airlift channels, according to Salinas.
 
“We have an initial stockpile here at Hill AFB that is dedicated to the STAMP mission,” Salinas said.  “That being said, once that is depleted, there are plans in place to restock and continue to ship more assets.”    
 
The program covers just about any type of munition or component. 
 
“What we like to say is ‘low availability, high demand’ assets that we can get to specific locations in a rapid timeframe,” said Bench.  
 
To hear the full conversation, you can watch Leadership Log on YouTube at https://youtu.be/WGAHAJXsdAI.  You can also listen by searching “Leadership Log” on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Spotify, Overcast, Radio Public or Breaker.