Col. Gardner

Col. Summinsby

Chief Toohey

Fellow Chiefs

Ladies and gentlemen.

I would like to thank you all for attending today. It is indeed an honor for me to have you here…

To all the AMMO troops in attendance, thank you.

But most importantly my family, Song O, my best friend and companion, through thick and thin, for the last 25 years. You are just Ansong matchum. And yes, Song O, I picked the best of the best grapes from Ansong. Words could never describe my love for you. I promised her this would be a no-tears speech so that is as far as I go. And to our son Robert, thank you for sticking with your mother and me throughout all this; we’re very proud of you. We regret that our daughter Mary Anne and grandson Dominic couldn’t be present but are enduring a tough assignment at Hickam.

I would like to recognize just two more people who couldn’t make it today who had a huge influence on my life. First of all to my father who had the most impact on me and whom I know would have loved to have been here for this ceremony. Who, by the way, was a combat veteran of WWII who flew hundreds of hours as a Liaison Pilot in the CBI Theater of operations under General Stilwell. Some of you will find this interesting but while he was in combat in Burma in 1943 he was promoted to the rank of TSgt. Yes, he was an enlisted pilot/ a flying sergeant. God rest his soul.

And lastly to my mother who will be turning 83 next month, who by the way is another WWII veteran. She served proudly in the US Navy as a WAVE stationed in San Francisco as an MP throughout the war. I would really like to have my Mom here for one good reason and that would be to show her that I could at least hold a steady job. For according to her the furthest place I would ever go was to jail.

I am honored that you all have attended. Now, I have been in the military for a little while so I do know that a lot of you are here only because your supervisor said it’s mandatory. Others are here only for the free beer. As a matter of fact that’s why I’m here. Or at least to pay for your free beer.

So, because I know why you’re really here I want you to leave better off than you came in. So, just consider this a mandatory briefing. At least that way the poor taxpayers get something for their money. So sit back and listen to an explanation of what AMMO is all about. This is something I have waited a long time to say.

There are really two parts to this brief. The first being the meaning of AMMO and then I’ll end up with a couple of comments about the future.

Why should I talk about this? Well, there are many in this room today that think they understand us but those in AMMO know you do not. And never will for that matter. You can say you do, pretend you do, and even try to. But you never will until you experience us by being one. It’s not your fault we all have our lot in life. Long ago I resolved myself to that fact. But I have always wanted to put something into words to at least try to have outsiders understand. And here is my humble attempt…

I have been bothered for many years trying to explain to others what we are. But I didn’t understand it myself. Because it was apparent from the very beginning that there was something definitely different about this group of people called AMMO.

I guess my questioning of this phenomenon all started when I got to my second base as an A1C. It was with the 400 MMS on Kadena. The first thing I noticed as I was being led into the barracks was a gigantic anchor sitting in the middle of the lawn in front of where I was going to be residing. I don’t mean a small one; I’m talking about one that was about 2 stories tall and a good 5 tons. And after a few days I asked someone why there was the anchor out there; aren’t we in the AF? And I was told that about a month earlier AMMO went across the base to the Navy side and stole it from in front of their HQ building. And of course the first thing I am thinking is, don’t people get in trouble for doing things like that, and that must have been quiet an operation picking that up and hauling it off and doesn’t anyone care that it is still sitting over here. As it turned out the Navy folks who it belonged to were trying to figure out how they were going to retrieve it. And our commander was extremely proud of his troops and their ingenuity. But our commander was an AMMO troop himself that had dedicated himself to over 20 years of just munitions. It was in his blood.

And in those days I still believed that everyone in the AF was like this. But I would have other Airmen come up to me and ask why are you people so different? I couldn’t figure it out. But I started to feel good inside to be labeled as an AMMO troop. I have tried to put into words what AMMO is but just couldn’t put my finger on it. There was always something missing in my words. Other career fields would comment about the closeness of AMMO troops and why we were so different. We were always acting like a family that could be loud, troublesome and arrogant sometimes. We even had our own symbol and cheers that separated us from the crowd. But why?

I’m kind of slow when it comes to these things but over the years, I finally put all the pieces of the puzzle together. I was pontificating to another member of the choir, another AMMO Chief when I said something quite by accident. And that was the price of things and that put the last piece in place.

Some years back my maintenance squadron commander at Misawa Air Base approached me one day and said he wished he could take the camaraderie that AMMO has and put it in the rest of the squadron. And this was coming from a man who publicly despised us. He asked me what it was that made us what we are. And he wasn’t joking. He said it with pure sincerity and looking for answers as if he were desperate. And since that time I have always felt sorry for maintenance commanders because of the difficult task of trying to coral all the different AFSC’s that are so very different from one another into a cohesive unit. I can’t remember exactly how I answered him but it was something about locked behind a fence or something. But I wasn’t satisfied with my answer and it only caused me to contemplate longer on the question.

The one ingredient we never hear about is the most important one and that is adversity.

You have to look at human nature and what brings people together. When someone goes through rough times together with a group of folks who are doing the same duty; they form a bond. People are naturally drawn together during difficult times. Much like the doe-boys in the trenches during America’s first world war. Bonds and friendships are forged that last a lifetime. And that is where battle cries are developed and symbols created for identity. AMMO has both of these trademarks.

And then when I think back to the commander at Misawa who was asking what the formula was and how he could get it. It dawned on me that what he was asking for was too expensive. Not for sale at any price. While the rest of the base is having a celebration for a successful exercise, AMMO still has two days of work cleaning up the mess from the exercise. Who is going to go out and purposely make life difficult for all the folks? No one is. But it comes by default to us in AMMO. It’s just the way life is for those who work behind the fence. And one becomes proud of this fact. Thus, the arrogance and the camaraderie with others who live this way. How does one relate to others up on base? You can’t. So, you recognize your own. And that is how the, "If you aint AMMO attitude…" all started.

And for those of you older AMMO troops in the room, you will understand this one. Think back on all the different bomb dumps you have worked in. Some were tighter than others. Why? The bomb dumps that are fondest in your minds are the ones that you went through most difficult times in. You performed particularly difficult operations with like people and bonds were forged. And you look back at those times with favor. Even if you were worn to a frazzle at the time and you even complained.

Through out history people who have worked with explosives have had a tradition of being separated from the rest of the camp, post or base. And for good reason, you don’t want a bunch of guys tinkering with stacks of explosives in the middle of your camp. That would be a bad thing. And because of that we have grown up a little different than others in the same branch of service. Only by nature are we pushed away from everyone else.

As far back as the American Civil War our counterparts had a reputation of being a little non-compliant as well. There are accounts of ordnance troops having a different idea than the rest of the military. One in particular it seems the bureaucracy in the Army decided to change to a more modern button style after the war. Well the ordnance troops refused to change and stayed with the original style of 1836. They didn’t care much for unnecessary change. Man, I can relate to that. You see, AMMO has always gone against the grain. Must be human nature…

AMMO is practically a separate force inside the Air Force. Most of the rest of the Air Force has no idea of what we do or are responsible for. And many times we can’t even talk about the things we do, to anyone. And airman AMMO troops have much more responsibly than the average AF airman of equal rank. This is a fact.

It is a known fact that the biggest factor that brought the communist leaders back to the Paris peace talks during the Viet Nam war was the continual bombing from our B-52’s. During Desert Storm captured Iraqi soldiers who were surrendering by the thousands were saying their biggest fear were the contrails given off by the mighty B-52 bombers. Ladies and gentlemen in both cases it wasn’t really the airplane that they were fearful of. It was what that aircraft was about to unleash upon them. It was mass amounts of bombs build by the simple AMMO troops like those in this room today.

We are what make our nation powerful for you can’t have military dominance without the destructive power that our munitions bring. Besides the American spirit of freedom, perseverance and determination, AMMO is what our enemies really fear. The romantic aircraft we see on the flightline only deliver our munitions for us. We are what make these airplanes lethal. The death and destruction from our various munitions are the true force and the AMMO troops who’s duty it is to build and maintain these weapons are the heroes behind the scenes. As our mechanical bombs were called in the American Civil War, " those infernal machines".

By this time in the speech you may have gotten the impression that I am rather fond of AMMO. Well, I am and it would break my heart to hear about it failing in the future. And I do see some storm clouds on the horizon in this regard.

Most of you in this room today don’t know it yet but there is something brewing way up the chain and that is a Generalist versa Specialist debate. They may call it something else but that is exactly what it is.

I can only speak for the AMMO world but we have a desperate need for all ranks to know the complex business of maintaining the modern munitions we are responsible for. It is not a simple task, as the Ops community would have you believe. Our bombs are not ready made out of the package.

I like to think of the AF mission much like the construction of the Cathedral of Notre dame in Paris. The individual guilds of the Middle Ages took pride in their portion of the construction and carvings they were responsible for. The guild that created one small area of carvings didn’t know how to put the flying buttresses together. However, each guild worked in harmony respecting the various disciplines and together they produced on incredible structure that is still quite functional and viewed in utter awe today. But they took tremendous pride in their portion of work. Imagine how this beautiful structure would have looked if everyone had to know how to do everything. The church would look like Eagle housing today. Career fields are just like the guilds of old and AMMO is just another guild with a lot of pride. If we do away with our modern day guilds there will be a day when we will all be asking, what ever happen to the pride, where is the camaraderie?

Some may call this myopic. But if we had more people with a myopic view of things we all would be better off.

And I don’t care how many retired Chief Master Sergeants of the AF (whom by the way have never been an AMMO troop) tell you other wise. We need specialists. We need experts in the field. Not folks with a general idea of many different responsibilities. Our duty to our country is far too important to experiment with things like this. Sometimes I think these Chiefs spend too much time in the pentagon with politicians and begin thinking like them. They need to spend more time in the trenches… today. Maybe that’s why they are kept around; respected enlisted leaders used to legitimize all the Rand Corp. think tank social schemes.

But in defense of our military leadership today they are fighting unprecedented manning and budget cuts and I believe these initiatives are only a result of trying to find a way of surviving under huge constrains.

We in the enlisted ranks are supposed to be specialists. Years ago our own PFE manual used to teach us this very fact. During WWII it became obvious that the machinery that it took to have an effective military was becoming more complex and needed trained individuals to maintain these. And that is where these separate career fields came from. And munitions were certainly no exception to this.

We need experts. Militaries work best when there are enlisted folks who are experts in their field. We do not want to become that hollow force we here so much about. And having small numbers that we say can do all these different duties is a sure way of becoming one. We are strong on paper but not in reality. We are successful today. Why break this process and risk mission success?

Now I know you are all chomping at the bit for me to end this thing but I have just a few more comments to make that are important.

We need AMMO officers whose primary duties are to lead AMMO troops with confidence, which comes only with experience. As I have already stated, this is a complex business and we need good officers in the bomb dump. What good are these leaders when you really need them when they have little knowledge of duty? These officers need to feel the pain and the frustrations that come from dealing with customers who do not understand this business. So, the more experienced rank in the bomb dump, the better life, the average AMMO troop has, who is really doing the hard duty. Cross-flow should mean getting experience in the multitude of munitions related responsibilities.

And the good news is the Air Force is finally coming around and munitions is going back to being its own Squadron once again. AMMO’s status is being raised back up to where it once belonged within most Wings in the Air Force. AMMO has endured under the yoke of maintenance squadrons for far too long. The needless layers of bureaucracy are slowly being eliminated.

And for the new AMMO troops here, carry forth the AMMO Standard. Stay in munitions, it needs so desperately experts. Not people who have little bits of knowledge. We need confident leaders who have been there and know how a well-organized bomb dump works in both peacetime and wartime. That is where you belong. Don’t abandoned us… Stay AMMO…

Things are not easy in the AMMO career field and it won’t get better for you in the future. But it’s just human nature… It would be against the grain to think things will become comfortable for our benefit. You just have to learn to cope with it… And enjoy our being different from the rest of the Air Force. And for those non-AMMO troops in the room who think we act like we are better than everyone else: well that’s because we are.

It’s been a great 30 years serving with the greatest bunch of hard working, arrogant, narrow minded folks on the face of God’s earth. I wouldn’t trade the experience for the world. AMMO ensures our great nation has the finest array of destructive power in which to destroy our enemies or to frighten them into submission… I am proud to have had a hand in killing our nations enemies for her along side of you…

Once AMMO, always AMMO. Stay proud…God speed to you all…

Stand away from the podium and Salute the audience…