Beyond question, General Marquez understood a peacetime atmosphere is not a good training ground for the rigors of wartime munitions tasking orders. He also understood, before it was too late, before we had lost much of the expertise in producing massive frags gained during the Vietnam War, that we needed an institution that perpetuated the knowledge we had gained and helped preclude some of the disasters we had experienced. AFCOMAC perpetuates that knowledge and provides a scenario where in a peacetime world AMMO troops get a real-world feel for the demands of a wartime environment.
The following Beale AFB News Article came out in 2006 – on the 20th
anniversary:
AFCOMAC celebrates 20-year anniversary
Posted 10/6/2006 Updated 10/6/2006 Email story Print story
by Airman 1st Class George Cloutier
9th RW Public Affairs
10/6/2006 – Beale AFB, Calif. — One of Beale’s least known units in
fighting the Global War on Terror is celebrating its 20th anniversary today.
The 9th munitions squadron, or the Air Force Combat Ammunition Center, has
consistently provided the Air Force with the finest training for ammo troops
for two decades, teaching Airmen the skills they need to take the fight to
the enemy.
AFCOMAC is a mandatory course for those in the munitions career field who
are training for their seven and nine-level status.
“When you look back at the history, AFCOMAC was started because of the draw
back that happened after the Vietnam War, because there weren’t as many
people putting bombs together in a combat setting,” said Maj. Jeffrey
Stremmel, AFCOMAC commander. “Lt. Gen. Leo Marquez put together an action
team to look at this, and the team came back to him with the idea for
AFCOMAC.”
One of the major faults the action team found with the training munitions
troops were receiving was the fact that there was little to no realistic
training taking place, according to Major Stremmel.
“General Marquez then told his team to build the bombs for real, and they
found out they lacked that vital skill,” said Chief Master Sgt. Partrick
Adams, AFCOMAC munitions superintendent. “The bottom line is that they were
not able to build the bombs as they would need to in a real combat setting.”
After it was realized that ammo troops lacked such critical skills, AFCOMAC
was set up to give troops the realistic training they would need to perform
in a real wartime scenario.
“This program was originally introduced to the Air Force in 1986, when it
was at the Sierra Army Detachment in Herlong, Calif.,” said Senior Master
Sgt. David Nixon, AFCOMAC munitions flight chief.
While much has changed in the munitions world over the years, the core
facets of the training program have remained intact.
“From the outside, you might not think the program has changed all that
much,” Chief Adams said. “If you just measured the number of bombs with the
number of days in the exercise, if you look at it in numbers, you might
think it hasn’t changed at all.”
Though on the outside the program may seem the same, AFCOMAC has stayed up
to date with the latest munitions technology, according to Chief Adams.
“Back when I first came through, we were in the middle of the cold war and
were making a lot of dumb bombs,” he said. “Seeing it again I’m just amazed
at how this school has managed to help stay in touch with the Air Force
munitions mission.”
“One of the ways the school has managed to stay in touch with the Air Force
mission is by the emphasis the course now puts on smart munitions,” Major
Stremmel said. “As the years have gone by, we’ve developed more varieties of
smart weapons.”
When the school made the jump to smart munitions, other facets of the course
changed as well.
“One of the major changes we made in the late 90s was doubling the number of
students that made precision guided munitions,” the chief said. “We were
trying to get 60 to 70 percent of our munitions to precision guided
munitions. When we made that change, we doubled the amount of people we were
putting through the course. Our classes now have 70 Airmen each.”
Since then, AFCOMAC students have used the knowledge they obtain from the
course to rain fire on the enemy, according to the major.
“I know we’ve provided realistic training to the career field supporting
combat operations,” Major Stremmel said. “When Al-Zarqawi was taken out in
June, it was done with two 500-pound bombs. The professionals who put those
bombs together came through this school.”
Students and instructors of the school have also contributed in other ways
over the years as the war on terror has raged on.
“When Desert Storm started, the school was closed down, and they sent
AFCOMAC down range to build bombs and run operations,” Chief Adams said.
“Some guys went to the Pentagon Air Operations Center. Some went to Air
Force Central Command Air Operations Center. When Operation Iraqi Freedom
kicked off, the whole unit shut down and forward deployed.”
Throughout the Global War on Terror and even before, the AFCOMAC mission has
been and will remain a critical asset to the Air Force.
“We’ve made huge contributions throughout the years,” Chief Adams said.
The Air Force can be proud knowing that Beale’s Ammo Warriors are on the
job.
