Content area
Full text
Introduction
One of the Army's major contributions to interoperability of the Services is its role as Single Manager for Conventional Ammunition (SMCA). The Army maintains an industrial base that provides most of the explosives used in Defense weapon systems and loads bomb and missile warheads for the other Services. The Army also provides ammunition used in weapons such as M16 rifles, 20mm cannon (fired from a variety of fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft), Army and Marine Corps artillery (e.g., howitzers), Air Force Spectre gunships, and Navy guns. During Operation Allied Force, the Army made a major contribution to the Nation's success without firing a shot-virtually every munition used by the Air Force and the Navy was either made in an SMCA facility or included major components and subassemblies manufactured in SMCA facilities.
Background
In 1975, the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) directed the establishment of SMCA. The Secretary of the Army (SA) was designated the new single manager because the Army controlled the majority of the industrial base. This made the Army proponent for the manufacture and distribution of 13 classes of ammunition and the operator for the CONUS wholesale ammunition storage system. Navy and Air Force resources and several installations transferred to the Army. However, the Services retained control of developing new munitions and producing Service-unique munitions.
DOD Instruction 5160.65 delineates SMCA responsibilities and structure. It also divides conventional munitions into two categories-"SMCAmanaged" and "Service-managed." The Army's SMCA facilities procure all mature SMCA-managed munitions and provide an industrial capability to support the Services' program, project, and product managers (PMs) in development and production of Servicemanaged munitions.
Structure
Essentially, the SA delegates mission execution authority to the Commanding General, Army Materiel Command (CG, AMC). The SMCA Center at the Munitions and Armaments Command, Operations Support Command (OSC), Rock Island Arsenal, IL, implements the SMCA mission.
The SA separately delegates acquisition authority to the Army Acquisition Executive (AAE). The AAE further delegates milestone decision authority and contracting authority to program executive officers (PEOs) and heads of contracting activities. For most SMCA procurements, these authorities flow back together in the OSC Headquarters (OSC HQ). However, many ammunition programs managed by PEO, Ground Combat and Support Systems (GCSS); PEO, Tactical Missiles; and Deputies for Systems Acquisition...