Ordnance Corps (United States Army)

The United States Army Ordnance Corps is a Sustainment branch of the United States Army, headquartered at Fort Lee, Virginia.

Mission Statement
The U.S. Army Ordnance Corps mission is to support the development, production, acquisition, and sustainment of weapon systems, ammunition, missiles, electronics, and ground mobility material during peace and war to provide combat power to the U.S. Army.

Colonial Period to War of Independence
In the British colonies in America, each colony was responsible for its own supply of ordnance material. The first written record of an ordnance officer in British colonial America was Samuel Sharpe in the Massachusetts Bay Colony appointed in 1629 as Master Gunner of Ordnance. By 1645, the Massachusetts Colony had a permanent Surveyor of Ordnance. He was responsible for the supply and maintenance of weapons and munitions.

Prior to forming the Continental Army on 14 June 1775, the Second Continental Congress appointed a committee on 27 May to study methods of arms and ammunition procurement and storage and to appoint a Commissary General. On 19 July 1775, Ezekiel Cheever was appointed by General George Washington as Commissary of Artillery Stores, soon to be called Commissary of Military Stores with Major General Henry Knox, the Chief of Artillery. During the course of the American Revolution, each major group of American forces in the field had a Commissary of Military Stores to support the soldiers.

In 1776 the Board of War and Ordnance was created for issuing supplies to troops in the field, and in 1777 a powder magazine was established at Carlisle, Pennsylvania and a foundry at Springfield, Massachusetts. In January 1777, General Washington appointed Benjamin Flower as the head of the Commissary General of Military Stores. Benjaming Flower was given the rank of Colonel and served in that capacity throughout the American Revolution. The Commissary General of Military Stores was an echelon above the Commissary of Military Stores in the field.

In 1794, the Springfield Armory would become the first national armory, producing arms and ammunition until its closing in 1968. Harper's Ferry armory began production in 1798.

Continental Expansion and Civil War
Part of the War Department since 1789, Congress created the separate Ordnance Department, supervised by the Secretary of War, on 14 May 1812, as part of the War of 1812 preparations with responsibility for arms and ammunition production, acquisition, distribution and storage. The act also created a new position, the Commissary General of Ordnance. On 5 February 1815 Colonel Decius Wadsworth, the former Commissary General of Purchases was chosen as the Commissary General of Ordnance. The act also directed the new Commissary General of Ordnance to "...enlist artisans and laborers to direct the inspection and proof of all cannon and small arms to direct the construction of gun carriages equipments implements and ammunition to make estimates and contracts for and purchases of ordnance supplies and stores and to issue them to the army to exact from armories and arsenals quarterly returns of property and to receive from all responsible officers reports of damages to ordnance material to establish ordnance depots to prepare regulations for the government of the Ordnance Department and forms of returns and reports ".

In order to improve and reform the military’s organization following the end of the War of 1812 the Army Reorganization Act of 3 March 1815 was passed, that among many other important changes modified the responsibilities of the Ordnance Department “to include the procurement of arms and ammunition, supervision of the Army’s arsenals and armories, and recruitment and training of artificers ” with the responsibility to arm and equip the militia from the permanent appropriation of $200,000 per annum provided by the law of 23 April 1808.

In 1821, all officers assigned to the Ordnance Department were re-commissioned into the artillery branch. The Ordnance Department would continue to function with officers from artillery. In 1832 an act of Congress would re-establish the Ordnance Department.

On 3 August 1861 an act of Congress added to the Ordnance Department the actual title of Chief of Ordnance "with the rank pay and emoluments of the Quartermaster General (132)". On 1 January 1861 Brigadier General James W. Ripley was promoted over the current Commissary General of Ordnance Colonel Henry K. Craig to become the first formally recognized Chief of Ordnance.

During the American Civil War, the Ordnance Department procured and provided massive amounts of weapons and supplies, and with the establishment of Sandy Hook Proving Ground, New Jersey, in 1874 the Army acquired its first full-scale testing facility. The Spanish-American War was the first conflict in which the department deployed materials overseas and provided close combat support.

World War I
At the start of World War I, the Ordnance Department was “charged with supplying the Army with arms, equipment, and ammunition…establishing and maintaining arsenals and depots for the manufacture, repair, and safe-keeping of ordnance, and provide horse equipments and field outfits for Soldiers, such as canteens, tin cups, knives, forks, and spoons ”.

During World War I, the Ordnance Department mobilized the United States industrial base, jointly developed weapons with European allies, and established overseas supply depots and Ordnance training facilities. In 1919, testing was moved from Sandy Hook Proving Ground to the Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland.

World War II
By 1940 all Ordnance training, officer and enlisted was moved from Raritan Arsenal, New Jersey to the Aberdeen Proving Ground, forming the Ordnance School.

World War II expanded the Ordnance Department's responsibilities to include production, acquisition, distribution, and training missions for the Army Ground Forces, the Army Air Force, and, in some categories the Navy. In August 1942, the Ordnance Department assumed responsibility for procurement and maintenance of all wheeled and motored vehicles.

Beginning in 1942, with the authorization of the Chief of Ordnance, a computing branch at the University of Pennsylvania's Moore School of Electrical Engineering was established as a substation of Aberdeen Proving Ground under the code name “Project PX”. On 15 February 1946, the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC), the world’s general-purpose electronic computer, was formally dedicated. ENIAC was designed to calculate artillery firing tables for the United States Army Ballistic Research Laboratory. The ENIAC's first use was in calculations for the hydrogen bomb.

In August 1945, Colonel Holger Toftoy, head of the Rocket Branch of the Research and Development Division of the US Army’s Ordnance Department, offered initial one-year contracts to German rocket scientists as part of Operation Paperclip, a program used to recruit the scientists from Nazi Germany for employment by the United States; 127 of them accepted. In September 1945, the first group of seven rocket scientists arrived at Fort Strong, New York and then moving to Fort Bliss, Texas in January 1946.

In 1949, the German scientists were transferred from the White Sands Missile Range Fort Bliss Range Complex to the Redstone Arsenal Ordnance Rocket Center.

Korea, Vietnam, and the Cold War Era
The Ordnance Department was renamed the Ordnance Corps in the Army Organization Act, 28 June 1950. In both Korea and Vietnam, the Ordnance Corps provided materiel supply and maintenance, characteristic of its tradition of "service to the line, on the line, on time," and was active in the development of rockets, guided missiles and satellites.

War on Terrorism
Under the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) authorization, announced in 2005, the U.S. Army Ordnance Center and School was directed to relocate from Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland to Fort Lee, Virginia.

Branch Insignia
The Ordnance Corps branch insignia is represented by the “shell and flame”. Its use by the Ordnance Corps dates back to 1832; it is considered to be the oldest branch insignia of the Army. Similar insignia had been used by the British Army. After its adoption by the American Army, the design was used by the Artillery as well as the Ordnance until 1834 when the crossed cannon were adopted by the Artillery. In 1835, the shell and flame was used on a button for members of the Ordnance Corps and the design had been used in various items worn on the uniform since it was first adopted. The simplicity of the shell and flame harmonizes with the armament of days gone by, while the action it connotes is applicable with equal force to the weapons of today.

Branch Plaque
The plaque design has the branch insignia, letters, and rim in gold. The background is crimson.

Regimental Insignia
The regimental insignia for the Ordnance Corps was approved on 25 March 1986. It is gold color metal and enamel device 1 1/8 inches in height overall consisting of two gray antique cannons in saltire on a white disc behind an encircling scroll in the form of a buckle red belt with, between the intersecting cannons and the belt, a black antique bomb, its scarlet flames issuing at the top of the device from behind the belt, which bears the inscription "ORDNANCE CORPS U.S.A." in gold letters.

The crossed cannons are representative of the Ordnance Corps' early relationship to the Artillery. The flaming bomb, also known as the shell and flame, represents the armament of days gone by, while the energy it connotes is applicable to the weapons of our own day. The cannoneer's belt, which encircles the flaming bomb and crossed cannons, is embossed with the words "ORDNANCE CORPS U.S.A." and represents the traditional association between munitions and armament. The white background symbolizes the Ordnance Corps' motto, "ARMAMENT FOR PEACE”.

Ordnance Soldier’s Creed
As an Ordnance Soldier of the United States Army, I will utilize every available talent and means to ensure that superior mobility, firepower, and communications are advantages enjoyed by the United States Army over its enemies. As an Ordnance Soldier, I fully understand my duty to perform under adverse conditions and I will continually strive to perfect my craft. I will remain flexible so that I can meet any emergency. In my conduct, I will abide by the Soldier's code. In my support mission in the field, I will use every available skill to maintain superiority; I will always be tactically and technically proficient As an Ordnance soldier, I have no greater task.

Army Ordnance Song
The words and music to Arms for the Love of America were originally composed by Irving Berlin and published by the Army Ordnance Association in 1941. It was dedicated to Major General C.M. Wesson, the Chief of Ordnance from 1938 to 1942.

On land and on the sea and in the air We've gotta be there, we've gotta be there America is sounding her alarm We've gotta have arms, we've gotta have arms

Arms for the love of America! They speak in a foreign land, with weapons in every hand Whatever they try, we've gotta reply In language that they understand

Arms for the love of America! And for the love of every mother's son Who's depending on the work that must be done By the man behind the man behind the gun

-Lyrics to Arms for the Love of America
 * Arms For the Love of America Performed by Kay Kyser and his Orchestra; Vocals by Harry Babbitt
 * Arms For the Love of America Performed by Barry Wood and the Lyn Murray Singers

The Ordnance Order of Samuel Sharpe
On 26 February 1628 the Court of Assistants in London directed that “five pieces of ordnance and a great quantity of other arms and great shot” belonging to a settlement near modern day Salem, Massachusetts be placed under the control of Mr. Samuel Sharpe, making him the first European “Master Gunner of our Ordnance” on the American continent.

Chiefs of Ordnance
In 1962 the Office of the Chief of Ordnance was abolished and all ordnance-related administrative functions were performed by other Army agencies. The position was re-established in 1983, as a proponent agency for all ordnance related occupational specialties and career management fields. The Ordnance Corps would join the regimental system of the U.S. Army in 1986, with the Chief of Ordnance as the head of the Corps.

Commissary Generals, Commissary Generals of Ordnance, and Chiefs of Ordnance listed below:

• 2

Commissioned Officer Areas of Concentration (AOC)

 * 89E Explosive Ordnance Disposal
 * 91A Materiel Maintenance and Munitions Management Officer

Warrant Officer Military Occupational Specialties

 * 890A Ammunition Warrant Officer
 * 913A Armament Systems Maintenance Warrant Officer
 * 914A Allied Trades Warrant Officer
 * 915A Automotive Maintenance Warrant Officer
 * 915E Senior Automotive Maintenance Warrant Officer
 * 919A Engineer Equipment Maintenance Warrant Officer
 * 948B Electronics Maintenance Warrant Officer
 * 948D Electronic Missile Systems Maintenance Warrant Officer
 * 948E Senior Electronics Maintenance Warrant Officer

Enlisted Military Occupational Specialties (MOS)

 * 89A Ammunition Stock Control and Accounting Specialist
 * 89B Ammunition Specialist
 * 89D Explosive Ordnance Disposal Specialist
 * 91A M1 ABRAMS Tank System Maintainer (formerly 63A)
 * 91B Wheeled Vehicle Mechanic (formerly 63B)
 * 91C Utilities Equipment Repairer (formerly 52C)
 * 91D Power Generation Equipment Repairer (formerly 52D)
 * 91E Allied Trades Specialist (formerly 91E and 91W)
 * 91F Small Arms/Artillery Repairer (formerly 45B)
 * 91G Fire Control Repairer (formerly 45G)
 * 91H Track Vehicle Repairer (formerly 63H)
 * 91J Quartermaster and Chemical Equipment Repairer (formerly 63J)
 * 91K Armament Repairer (formerly 45K)
 * 91L Construction Equipment Repairer (formerly 62B)
 * 91M Bradley Fighting Vehicle System Maintainer (formerly 63M)
 * 91P Artillery Mechanic (formerly 63D)
 * 91S Stryker Systems Maintainer
 * 91W Metal Worker (formerly 44B)
 * 91X Maintenance Supervisor (formerly 63X)
 * 91Z Senior Maintenance Supervisor (formerly 63Z)
 * 94A Land Combat Electronic Missile System Repairer
 * 94D Air Traffic Control Equipment Repairer
 * 94E Radio and Communication (COMSEC) Security Repairer
 * 94F Computer/Detection Systems Repairer
 * 94H Test Measurement and Diagnostic Equipment (TMDE) Maintenance Support Specialist
 * 94L Avionic Communications Equipment Repairer
 * 94M RADAR Repairer
 * 94P Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) Repairer
 * 94R Avionics and Survivability Repairer
 * 94S PATRIOT System Repairer
 * 94T AVENGER System Repairer
 * 94X Senior Missile Maintenance Supervisor
 * 94W Electronic Maintenance Chief
 * 94Y Integrated Family of Test Equipment (IFTE) Operator/Maintainer
 * 94Z Senior Electronic Maintenance Chief