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Team supplies ammo to win the fight

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Rachel Martinez
  • 455th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
KANDAHAR AIR FIELD, Afghanistan --  Ammo makes the mission - as the saying goes. At Kandahar Air Field the ammo mission falls to a three-man flight.

"We maintain and provide munitions to U.S. and Coalition Forces," said Master Sgt. James Bradley, the munitions accountable systems officer for the 451st Air Expeditionary Group Logistics Readiness Flight-Ammo. "We maintain a munitions stockpile supporting security forces, explosive ordnance disposal, the rescue squadron, then the guys on the flightline."

The munitions stockpile they are responsible for includes 560 line items with a total value of more than $11 million.

"Imagine how strict higher ups are about a $100,000 missile," said Staff Sgt. Jared Wood, deployed from Langley Air Force Base, Va. "They want to know where it is, when it was last inspected, why it is moving this way. And that's for every single asset we have - that all has to be tracked and it all has to be right. If it is wrong, then we're wrong."

While the job can be stressful knowing that leadership has an eye on what they are doing, Sergeant Bradley says it provides a good stress.

"It gives you more job satisfaction because now you know you're working and it's not just for no reason," he said. "It's job satisfaction because you know people are actually watching what you do and how you do it."

"Somebody really high up cares about what we're doing," added Staff Sgt. Aaron Ciccocioppo, a native of Lancaster, Penn., who is deployed from Langley AFB.

As with any job, ammo has its challenges, especially in a deployed environment. Whereas at home station there would normally be nine different ammo shops, at Kandahar all the work is done by the one three-man flight. Additionally, they are responsible for delivering the munitions, too--something they wouldn't normally do.

"You've got to be a jack of all trades and well-rounded in everything," said Sergeant Bradley, who is deployed from Minot Air Force Base, N.D. "You've got a day to learn how they do business here, then after that you are on your own, because the other guys are gone. So, you've got to come in and hit the ground running. If not, you're lost."

Fortunately, this team was able to do just that. In their first two months on the job, they have successfully completed more than 150 custodial transactions, nearly double the amount of transactions completed by the previous rotation in four months. They credit this to the experience and communication among teammates.

"I think we got real lucky - we have a lot of experience working all different sorts of ammo jobs," said Sergeant Wood, a native of Philadelphia, Penn. "I think all three of us have worked just about every shop there is. We all have our little jobs here, but for big things we all come together. Yeah, we do a lot more work, but the communication is there and makes it so much easier."

For each of the ammo team members, doing this job while deployed is the biggest reward. Sergeant Bradley, a native of Summerville, S.C., said not everyone may know what it takes to do his job, but at the end of the day he can still tell his wife he made a difference. Sergeant Wood compares the job to football.

"Back at home station, imagine yourself on a football field -- you practice, you practice, you practice," he said. "Finally, you get a chance to play in the game. This is the game. Over here we are doing what we practiced every single day, and we actually get to see it accomplish something."

"These (bombs) are built for a reason. They are not going to be here for a long," added Sergeant Ciccocioppo. "Just knowing that what I am doing here is actually having an effect on the rest of the world - that's the cool part."