Radford Army Ammunition Plant

Joint Munitions Command (JMC)
Active	2003 - present
Country	United States
Type	Major Subordinate Command of the United States Army Materiel Command (AMC)
Role	Operate a nationwide network of facilities where conventional ammunition is produced and stored.
Size	Employs 20 military, over 5800 civilians and 8300 contractor personnel
Colors	red, yellow, white, black, blue
Website	www.jmc.army.mil
Commanders
Current; commander	Brigadier General Larry Wyche

The primary mission of Radford Army Ammunition Plant (RFAAP) is to manufacture propellants and explosives in support of field artillery, air defense, tank, missile, aircraft and Navy weapons systems. RFAAP is currently operated by BAE Systems making it the sole supplier of TNT to the US Department of Defense.^[1]

On May 12, 2011, the Army announced that BAE Systems had won the "facilities use" contract to become the operator of the plant. BAE Systems also operates Holston Army Ammunition Plant in Kingsport, TN.

Capabilities[edit | edit source]

Capabilities of the center include: manufacturing propellant, manufacturing explosives.

History[edit | edit source]

RFAAP was established April 5, 1941 as Radford Ordnance Works and New River Plant. In 1945, the works was renamed Radford Arsenal and the New River Ordnance Works was assumed as a subpost until 1950, when it became an integral part of the Radford Arsenal. The arsenal was renamed Radford Ordnance Plant in 1961 and RFAAP in 1963.^[2]

In 1995, Alliant Techsystems, parent company ATK Armament Systems, obtained a “facilities use” contract. In 1999, RFAAP gained the load, assembly and pack mission with the closure of Joliet Army Ammunition Plant, Joliet, Ill.

At one time, the facility used an ALCO MRS-1 military diesel locomotive, road number B2072, for switching, but it was retired by the 1980s and was scrapped at Cycle Systems in Roanoke, Virginia c. 1993.

The RFAAP was listed #2 on the Mother Jones Top 20 polluters of 2010, releasing 12,006,602 pounds of nitrate compounds into the New River - one of Virginia's major waterways.^[3]^[4]

Facilities[edit | edit source]

RFAAP is housed on 6,901 acres (27.93 km²) with 1,038 buildings, 214 igloos and storage capacity of 657,003 square feet^[5] in rural Pulaski and Montgomery counties, near Radford, Virginia.