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Aviation and Missile Command assumes management of its depots Oct. 1

by Skip Vaughn

REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala., (Army News Service, Sept. 22, 1998) - Aviation and Missile Command will be doing more with less beginning in October.

The depots that maintain aviation and missile systems; Corpus Christi, Texas, aviation depot; and Letterkenny, in Chambersburg, Pa., missile depot, will go under the operational control of AMCOM Oct.1.

"This action is driven by QDR (Quadrennial Defense Review) directed cuts or reductions at the Industrial Operations Command at Rock Island Arsenal, Ill.," Dan Kruvand, the depot transition team leader, said. The Industrial Operations Command headquarters lost 278 jobs in the quadrennial defense review.

As a result of these cuts, the Army Materiel Command directed the major subordinate commands assume responsibility of their maintenance depots. The Communications Electronics Command, at Fort Monmouth, N.J., assumed operational control of Tobyhanna, Pa., last October, and will assume full command and control Oct. 1.

The Tank Automotive Command in Warren, Mich., is picking up the tank automotive depots at Anniston, Ala., and Red River in Texarkana, Texas, and will assume full command and control October 1999.

The depots will stay put at their respective locations but will answer directly to the major subordinate commands they serve. The commands in turn will assume this additional management role without getting more people.

"It means we take over responsibility for management of all phases of the depot operations including responsibility for planning, budgeting, workloading, program execution and net operating result," Kruvand, director of business management in the Integrated Materiel Management Center, said.

This represents a major additional workload here. The Industrial Operations Command had 112 people dedicated to these functions. The Integrated Process Team, led by Kruvand, has identified 197 activities spread across 10 functional teams and eight staff elements of AMCOM. These include operational activities, major oversight, policy, reporting metrics, and staff support.

"What we're trying to do is re-engineer, streamline or eliminate the required workload transitioning or transferring to AMCOM," Kruvand said.

The Industrial Operations Command is losing 278 jobs-- by which it formerly supported the commodity depots -- but keeps responsibility for managing the ammunition depots and arsenals. This includes the ammunition activity at Letterkenny. So while AMCOM will manage the missile depot, the IOC will continue to manage Letterkenny's ammunition activity.

Beginning in October the depot commanders at Corpus Christi and Letterkenny will report directly to AMCOM's commanding general.

(Editor's note: Vaughn is a writer with the Redstone Arsenal's public affairs office.)