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***image2***With 50 percent of their manpower slashed, Ramstein’s 435th Munitions Squadron is looking for new ways to do business.
As Europe’s central munitions hub, 435th MUNS maintains a war readiness materiel munitions stockpile that is housed across two separate munitions storage areas encompassing 111 storage facilities. Of the 111, Ramstein has 79 facilities and the remaining 32 are in the geographically separated Hochspeyer munitions storage area.
In preparation for their future, the munitions squadron is in the midst of pioneering a newly re-organized squadron. This training-intensive organizational structure ensures Airmen are capable in a wider range of munitions maintenance activities and is the result of an Air Force Smart Operations 21 initiative.
A second and more imminent point to their plan includes emptying one of their munitions storage areas in order to conserve manpower and resources while continuing to meet mission requirements. The Hochspeyer munitions storage area is located approximately 40 minutes east of Ramstein. With the vast majority of the 435th MUNS equipment, personnel, and other supplies being quartered at the Ramstein MSA, moving Hochspeyer munitions to Ramstein will make most efficient use of future manpower and resources.
The 569th U.S. Forces Police Squadron will also benefit from the move: the necessity for a constant security forces presence will be alleviated, reducing their manpower requirements.
This is an objective that the munitions squadron has been working toward achieving by means of international organization of standardization outloads and ongoing truck shipments since September 2006. Their recent ISO outload marks the last large munitions ISO shipment out of the Hochspeyer MSA. After more than 50 years of U.S. munitions activity, the final ammo-laden train is leaving town courtesy of the Hochspeyer MSA.
(Courtesy of the 435th MUNS)
