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'Do more with less': armory device saves time, money

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Frank W. Miller III
  • 20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. --  "I need you to block your ammo," is something few security forces personnel want to hear at an armory window after a long day.

After completing a shift, Airmen are often required to strip their issued magazines of the 5.56 mm rounds they house, "blocking" them so that they can be counted, checked for serviceability then reloaded in the magazine.

A typical blocking process can take approximately 10 minutes per Airman.

"A purpose of ammo blocking is that if someone loses a round they can't just go to Wal-Mart to buy a replacement," said Staff Sgt. Alexander Nastas, 20th Security Forces Squadron armory NCO in charge.

During the past year managing the Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., armory, Nastas has mentored six Airmen.

One accomplishment Nastas and his armorers have made is improving the lot integrity of more than 25,000 rounds of 5.56 mm ball and tracer ammunition stored in the armory.

A lot is a serial number assigned to each round in the Air Force.

"There are thousands of lots out there and every so often there is a bad lot, a bad batch of numbers," said Nastas. "When this happens a recall of all the rounds in that batch must take place."

Recalls can prevent mishaps such as exploding rounds.

"If you have the proper number when they are recalled they know exactly which rounds you will need to turn back in," said Nastas.

To increase lot integrity at the armory, Airmen brainstormed ideas to improve round accountability procedures and efficiency.

Senior Airman Richard Sapp, 20th SFS armorer, was key to the development of a device to aid his fellow armorers. Sapp's idea was designed to ensure that every round is swiftly identified for lot, serviceability and correct round ratio.

Using an existing ammo crate lid, Nastas and Sapp drilled holes in the lid to allow both sides of the rounds to remain visible for inspection, a feature that was not available with the old blocking method.

With the primer at the flat end now visible, armorers can ensure rounds are from the same lot and the primer is serviceable.

Due to the shape of the lid, it allows the armorers to lift it and view the tips of the rounds for serviceability.

A further enhancement to the device was to paint the lid black to create visual contrast between the light colored rounds.

"It's made it more efficient when blocking ammo," said Sapp.

"We used to only have one block which allowed only one side of the round to be viewed," said Senior Airman Eric Krueger, 20th SFS armorer.

The ammo crate lid turned ammo block has made a common Air Force expression "do more with less" a reality.

Because of the high supply of ammunition crates, armory personnel are able to create as many new devices as needed and streamline the blocking process by allowing multiple people to block their rounds simultaneously.

If rounds were to be recalled, the altered lid can still be used to repackage the rounds.

Since implementation of the blocking device, Nastas has had zero rounds physically lost from his account and continues to maintain his 100 percent accountability of lot integrity.

Ammunition rounds are not the most valuable resource in the Air Force, but the men and women in uniform who carry them are. It is all about keeping our Airmen safe while doing the mission and our Airmen here at Shaw AFB continue to meet and improve on the challenges they encounter, said Nastas.