When Soldiers are asked about the U.S. Army Materiel Command, many know little or nothing about the organization that supplies their bullets and batteries, tanks and trucks, weapons and food, and which stores and destroys chemical weapons.

AMC focuses on Soldiers' needs and strives to get them what they need, when they need it, AMC officials said.

To do so, AMC has had to make some recent changes, streamlining its procurement processes, researching and developing new weapon systems and technology, and destroying chemical-weapons stockpiles.

In August 2004 Army Chief of Staff GEN Peter Schoomaker approved what's called the Life-cycle Management Command Initiative that brings the acquisition, logistics and technology communities together to improve the way the Army develops, buys and maintains the equipment Soldiers use -- from the first day they receive it to the day it's removed from the Army inventory.

“We're able to be more efficient and more responsive to the needs of Soldiers in the field today,” said GEN Benjamin Griffin, AMC commanding general.

So far, four AMC major subordinate commands have evolved into life-cycle management commands: the Aviation and Missile Command; Communications-Electronics Command; Tank-automotive and Armaments Command; and the Chemical Materials Agency.

The Joint Munitions Command, which will eventually be dubbed the Joint Ammunition LCMC, will begin operating in the near future.

The commands were chosen based on their alignment with corresponding program-executive-office communities. And CMA was already functioning as a LCMC, officials said.

The new life-cycle commands can reach to the lowest level and drive depot and ammunition production. They also affect the life of a weapon system by introducing improved parts to existing systems that will save maintenance time and money. The “cradle-to-grave” support has a direct link to logistics and contract representatives in the field, which is all critical in today's environment, Griffin said.

While the war on terrorism was not the sole reason for establishing LCMCs, it definitely added to the sense of urgency for the realignments and will affect the way the commands do business, said Barbara Bishop, AMC'S senior LCMC project officer.

“Old and new military equipment is getting a lot of use in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Bishop said. “The LCMCs are focusing on acquiring new equipment and maintaining old equipment to support unit readiness.

“Everything we do is for Soldiers, and we'll assist them by reducing acquisition-cycle time, making good products better, and minimizing life-cycle cost,” Bishop said.

Making good products better is the number-one goal of many AMC scientists and engineers. They're always looking for ways to improve weapon systems and capabilities. One such system is the unmanned aerial vehicle.

UAVs have been around for decades. They were used during the first Gulf War and in Bosnia, and are being used extensively in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Currently, four types of UAVs are being used in Southwest Asia: the Shadow, I-GNAT, Raven and Hunter. Each differs in its capability to search and “call” for fire on enemy targets, and monitor safe-house locations.

“Soldiers find great value in that ‘eye in the sky,'” said Tim Owings, deputy project manager for Army Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems. “When UAVs are in place, mortar and rocket attacks decline.”

Currently, there is only one I-GNAT and one Hunter system in Iraq. The latter weighs 1,800 pounds, has a wing span of 34 feet, and requires about 45 Soldiers to operate in two separate locations.

By contrast, the Raven, significantly smaller and hand-launched, emerged when the Army identified a need for something more functional for dismounted Soldiers. There are more than 170 Raven systems (three aircraft per system) in theater. Each Raven aircraft weighs just under four pounds, has a wing span of 4.5 feet, and only requires two to three Soldiers to operate.

Weighing about 10 times as much as the Raven, the Shadow is the most widely used system in Iraq and requires round-the-clock manning.

Each UAV is flown by enlisted personnel, some of whom have given positive remarks and suggestions for upgrades, officials said.

“There is an intense upgrade effort on every platform in the fleet,” Owings said. “And 100 percent of the upgrades come from lessons learned in the field.”

The Hunter, which is primarily used for recon activities, is getting a laser designator for targeting missions. This new feature reduces the risk to helicopters and provides much greater survivability for aviators, Owings said.

In addition, the Hunter now has the ability to identify, engage and kill targets directly with Viper strike missiles. This feature is on a system currently in Iraq, although it hasn't been used yet, he added.

Other systems have been or are being researched and developed by AMC engineers.

Among them are the Omni-Directional Inspection System and the Full Spectrum Active Protection Close-in Layered Shield, often referred to as FCLAS.

The ODIS, which looks like a robotic vacuum cleaner, can inspect cars and trucks at checkpoints, and perform other missions on paved or packed dirt roads, Tank-Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center officials said.

The robots can be equipped with radiation and chemical/biological detectors. Researchers are also evaluating the feasibility of outfitting them with a disruptor mount, which neutralizes potential improvised-explosive devices and remote-controlled devices.

Currently, more than 30 units are supporting the global war on terrorism in the United States and abroad.

TARDEC engineers developed the FCLAS, which helps to deflect short-range, rocket-propelled-grenade attacks through the use of a counter-munition radar. The technology, which can be integrated into any vehicle platform, is controlled by a computer system located inside the vehicle. Once fielded, the FCLAS, combined with vehicle armor, will provide Soldiers with robust protection against RPGs, officials said.

Two time zones and more than 2,000 miles away from Southwest Asia, a new command, Army Field Support Brigade-Europe, is the product of a merger between Combat Equipment Group-Europe and AMC Forward-Europe.

The unit, formed in November 2004, provides modular, expeditionary logistics support to units throughout U.S. European Command and into the Central Command area of operations.

Since its formation, elements of the unit have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, providing logistics support to combat forces, said COL Xavier P. Lobeto, commander of Army FSB-Europe.

“By harnessing all AMC elements in the theater, we're giving commanders a single point of entry, which certainly makes us more responsive,” Lobeto said.

Commanders and elements of field-support battalions, formerly called combat-equipment battalions, in Luxembourg and Hythe, England, have also deployed and formed battalions in Iraq and Afghanistan. The battalions bring 20 years of experience in delivering combat-ready equipment to the battlefield.

“Many of the tanks and trucks the 3rd Infantry Division drove to victory in Operation Iraqi Freedom were delivered by CEG-E, which has become an arm of the new brigade,” Lobeto said.

By linking up with representatives from TACOM, AMCOM and other AMC subordinate commands, the battalions and Army FSB-Europe are better able to solve problems and provide faster results than ever before, Lobeto said.

New field-support brigades are currently forming and will ultimately replace Army FSB-Europe in Southwest Asia.

While Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan are fighting, civilians, contractors and military personnel in the United States are working to destroy the nation's chemical-weapons stockpile by December 2007, to reduce risks to national security.

CMA director Michael Parker said the destruction of chemical munitions at Johnston Atoll, a U.S. territory in the North Pacific, was completed in 2004. Some 6,500 tons of chemical munitions have also been destroyed at Deseret Chemical Depot, Utah.

“Also, the entire mustard-gas stockpile at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., has been drained and neutralized,” Parker said.

CMA will soon begin chemical-munitions disposal operations at Newport Chemical Depot, Ind.

Disposal facilities are currently operating at Anniston Army Depot, Ala.; Aberdeen Proving Ground and Edgewood, Md.; Pine Bluff Arsenal, Ark.; Umatilla Chemical Depot, Ore.; and Deseret Chemical Depot.

Always a Soldier

“YOU'RE not in this fight alone,” Steve Clark often tells wounded Soldiers when he visits them at Army and Navy medical centers in the Washington, D.C., area.

Through a U.S. Army Materiel Command program called “Always a Soldier,” Clark, the program's coordinator, ensures no Soldier is left behind when he or she leaves the battlefield.

The program honors the sacrifices of wounded service members by assisting them with civilian job placement within the command.

Every Friday Clark visits the outpatient treatment facilities at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., to give patients with job information, help them to get food and clothing, and explain the medical-board process. Clark, himself a wounded Soldier, was hired through the program.

Thus far, five people, including Clark, have been hired for jobs within AMC. Program coordinators throughout the country are hoping to recruit more people with help from the Disabled Soldier Support System, the Military Severely Injured Joint Operations Center and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

“There are a lot of Defense Department resources out there, and I want to make sure injured Soldiers benefit, just as I did,” Clark said.