Upon surveying the weapons storage area upon their arrival here in November, airmen of the 355th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron munitions flight quickly saw that a dump is what they had -- an expansive area of land that had become a dumping ground for anything even loosely related to munitions.

Bombs, mortars, mines and other weapons were strewn haplessly about in the area’s cavernous storage bunkers.

In the surrounding fields of mud and waist-high grass were even more munitions dangerously rusting away under the elements. Unexploded landmines were scattered throughout the area and hundreds of munitions storage boxes, pallets and aging weapon systems littered the ground.

“The area was a mess. It was also dangerous,” said 2nd Lt. Andrew Slaughter, munitions accountable system officer. He said conditions forced the team to store U.S. munitions in ways that would not be acceptable at an established base.

The huge stockpiles of Iraqi weapons aggravated the problems, and more weapons were being added regularly as the Army uncovered caches throughout the area around Kirkuk, Lieutenant Slaughter said.

Upon seeing the challenge, the 25-person munitions contingent, deployed from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., quickly developed a plan. They needed to clean up the area and make it safe and functional so they could fulfill the flight’s primary mission to provide munitions to the base’s A-10 Thunderbolt II fighters.

“We’ve had men and women working above and beyond their areas of expertise to clean the storage area to make it more useful and to increase safety,” Lieutenant Slaughter said.

Airmen dug channels and built dirt berms to keep water from flooding the storage bunkers during the winter rainy season.

“When it rained, we’d get up to a foot of water in the bunkers,” Lieutenant Slaughter said. “Through the efforts of the munitions teams we’ve been able to reduce that to almost nothing.”

To provide an enclosed area to build weapons for the A-10s, two tents were erected on a cement pad recently cleared of Iraqi weapons.

To assist in getting rid of some of the weapons, an Army M-1 Abrams tank was brought in to make piles of components unserviceable by running them over.

The fire department performed a controlled burn of tons of crates and other debris removed from the area.

Working with the 506th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron’s explosive ordnance disposal flight, hundreds of tons of captured Iraqi munitions have been safely removed and destroyed in the last 90 days making room for the proper storage of U.S. munitions. Most of the munitions had to be palletized by hand, a chore made more challenging because technical order information was not available on many of the items, which came from as many as 13 countries, Lieutenant Slaughter said.

“It’s remarkable the teamwork and can-do attitude each member of the flight displayed in turning this place around,” he said. “They’ve been very busy and accomplished a lot in a short time.”

The result of the efforts is an almost 300-percent increase in useable storage space and a weapons storage area that serves the needs of the base.

“This place was a mess when we arrived,” said Master Sgt. Steven Douglas, munitions flight chief. “It now operates much like a stateside base’s weapons storage area. The teamwork has been incredible.

“Still, it’s a unique operating environment and there are unique challenges we’ll continue to face,” he said.

KOREAN DEFENSE SERVICE MEDAL UPDATE

1: The 2003 NDAA Public Law 107-314 authorized the Establishment of a Korea Defense Service Medal for military personnel who served in the Korean theater after July 27, 1954. DoD has now announced the creation of the Korean Defense Service Medal (KDSM) to recognize the contributions of U.S. armed forces members who have served or are serving in the Republic of Korea. The area of eligibility includes the land area of the Republic of Korea, and the contiguous water out to 12 nautical miles, and air spaces above the land and water areas. The period of eligibility, which began July 28, 1954, is currently open-ended. Due to the extensive time period for KDSM eligibility, the nonconsecutive service period for eligibility remains cumulative throughout the entire period. The KDSM may be awarded posthumously, and only one award of the KDSM is authorized for any individual. Each military department is tasked to implement procedures concerning the KDSM and ribbon, to include application procedures.

A member must have been assigned, attached, or mobilized to a unit operating in the area of eligibility and have been physically deployed in the area of eligibility for 30 consecutive or 60 non-consecutive days or meet one of the following criteria:

Has engaged in actual combat during an armed engagement, regardless of the time in the area of eligibility.

Was wounded or injured in the line of duty and required medical evacuation from the area of eligibility. Participated as a regularly assigned air crewmember flying sorties into, out of, within, or over the area of eligibility in support of military operations. Each day that one or more sorties are flown counts as one day toward the 30 or 60-day requirement.

Has served in operations and exercises conducted in the area of eligibility as long as the basic time criteria is met, which is cumulative throughout the entire period.

More than 40,000 members of the U.S. armed forces have served in the Republic of Korea or the waters adjacent thereto each year since the signing of the cease-fire agreement in July 1953, which established the Demilitarized Zone.

The award appearance and symbolism is described as: RIBBON: Dark green represents the land of Korea; blue indicates overseas service and commitment to achieving peace. Gold denotes excellence, white symbolizes idealism and integrity. MEDAL OBVERSE: A bronze-color disc bearing a Korean "circle dragon" within an encircling scroll inscribed "Korea Defense Service Medal" with, in base, two sprigs, laurel to dexter side, bamboo to sinister. Symbolism: The four-clawed dragon is a traditional symbol of Korea and represents intelligence and strength of purpose. The sprig of laurel denotes honorable endeavor and victory; the bamboo refers to the land of Korea. MEDAL REVERSE: A representation of the landmass of Korea surmounted by two swords points up saltirewise within a circlet garnished of five points. Symbolism: The swords placed saltirewise over a map of Korea signify defense of freedom in that country and the readiness to engage in combat to that end. The circlet enclosing the device recalls the forms of five-petal symbols common in Korean armory. [Source: DoD News Release No. 088-04 9 Feb 04 & NAUS Update for 13 FEB 04]

On October 18th the ACA held its first ACA Awards Night.  While the big crowds will surely take part in future Awards Nights this one only caught the attention of about 30-40 of our members and guests.   In the year we do not have a reunion, we thought it would be proper and fitting to have an ammo social and perhaps at the same time recognize some outstanding ammo people for jobs well done. This proposed event would keep the momentum of our reunion every other year active, it would provide an opportunity for members of the ACA to come together socially, and it would afford the ACA an opportunity to recognize and present awards to a few outstanding ammo people. From that perspective the event was a total success.  Thanks to Bill Poe and John Matthews for these pictures.

Tom Zima and Larry Diamco holding up award.

All of the usual suspects: (left to right) Darrell Beasley, Billie Campbell, Steve Foster, Mark Madamba, Tom Zima, and Don Hamilton.

And a fine social event it was too!