Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Eduardo T Otero | 200921-N-KH151-0380 NAVAL STATION ROTA, Spain (Sept. 21, 2020) Sailors assigned to...... read more read more
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As Naval Station (NAVSTA) Rota’s weapons supply unit, Navy Munitions Command (NMC) Detachment Rota supports local units, forward-deployed Naval Forces (FDNF) and host nation ammunition requirements for overall mission completion. NMC Det. Rota’s area of responsibility extends throughout 6th Fleet and includes units transiting within the area.
“In the overall picture, NMC is representing a fraction of the weapons world and doing our part to assist to keep the mission on a progressive and efficient route,” said Senior Chief Aviation Ordnanceman Laura Colby, senior enlisted advisor at NMC Detachment Rota. “NMC's team consists of 35 hard-charging Aviation Ordnancemen, Gunners Mate, and a Logistic Specialist that handle the receipt, storage, handling and issuing of ammunition.
One of these team members is Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class Mariana Baca, a Sailor working on what she describes as supply and demand.
“Whenever a ship or an aircraft needs ammunition or assistance with loading or offloading ammunition, we are the ones they go to,” said Baca. “NMC Weapons supplies and distributes vast amounts of explosives to multiple commands – local and non-local – for various missions and detachments. We provide what the Fleet needs to stay mission ready at all times, as well as keeping and maintaining 43 magazines which store ammunition from small arms to missiles inspection ready.”
A typical day for Baca starts at 9 a.m. with a command muster where the plan of the day is discussed. According to her, the workload maintained on a daily basis depends on the mission at hand.
“It can involve anything from magazine scans to breaking out ammunition for a ship or a flight mission,” said Baca. “Here, we work in teams divvying up the work load between the qualified people as well as training those that have just come to the command or those that are looking to make it to the next qualification level.”
Baca considers the most interesting part of her job to be being able to understand the logistics side of the Navy as it pertains to ammunition.
“Most people just see .50 Cal rounds but I see a NALC (Navy Ammunition Logistic Code) and LOT number specific to that round of ammunition along with being able to determine if that piece or box of ammo is safe for others to use,” said Baca.
On the other hand, Aviation Ordnanceman 2nd Class Edgar Cisneros, an ammunition accountant plays a different role in the team.
“My responsibility is the requisition, receipt, inspection, storage, issue and shipment of all ordnance line items in our system,” said Cisneros.
Part of his job is to direct and coordinate ordnance reports, inventories, incoming and outgoing missions and ensure compliance with current ordnance directives.
“One day the people that work in the field can be fleet sentencing ammunition, making sure everything is ready to go for any receiving unit,” said Cisneros. “On the other hand, we can be on the pier for 14 hours on a mission helping the waterfront. The accountants are constantly reviewing paperwork to make sure everything runs smoothly with no issues.”
From Cisneros' perspective, one of the most rewarding parts of his job is “the feeling you get when completing a mission, because the amount of communication, planning, preparation and execution that has to be done does take a toll.”
“So knowing that we did everything 100%, we had zero mishaps, the ammunition is fleet sentenced down to publication standards and the receiving unit is fleet ready because of us is something that we can take back at the end of the day,” said Cisneros.
While team members may have different positions, jobs and perspectives within NMC Det. Rota, at the end of the day – and according to them – it’s their work as a team that gets the job done.
“Something that I do believe people do not get to see is the behind-the-scenes planning stage and man-hours spent to support just one request,” said Colby. “The amount of time and moving parts that goes into a mission includes, but is not limited to: planning with the requester, our controller in Naples, and the host nation along with the base; communicating with the receiving unit, base explosive officer, base security and Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC); pre-staging; identifying ammo; prepping operations in advance; days of operation; putting ammunition away; paperwork for all assets; clean-up. All that just to turn around and to do another mission the next day, week or month – whatever it may be. The work these Sailors put in is incredible!”
Colby mentioned an event called “Rollback,” which involves distributing ammunition considered bad, broken, or in need of repair to where it needs to go.
“This has been a 2-year buildup of cancellations,” said Colby. “Once it finally happened, with the amount of work and little time to complete – while having other missions at the same time – the command maintained the high pace, as well as still provided their daily task even with COVID taking the world by storm. These group of Sailors were able to pull it off.”
“Rollback can be a very stressful mission to complete, but it is essential to NMC Det. Rota because we are shipping defective ammunition out to make room for ammunition that is readily available and in good condition by Navy Standards,” said Baca. “For an NMC to have good ammunition it’s extremely important to the Fleet in terms of always being able to complete the mission without hiccups or incidents.”
“To have that operation over and done with is something seen as a giant accomplishment around here,” said Cisneros. “Something special I would say about that is the amount of people that worked on this for more than a calendar year and the operation having to get passed on to different personnel due to people transferring out of the command and to maintain the high level of constant communication and attention to this big operation. So much time just for it to be completed in a couple of days, that is what was amazing to see. That just shows the work this command does.”
Rollback is just an example of the level of support NMC provides to the Navy’s overall mission. For the team members at NMC Det. Rota, knowing the role they play within this mission is a source of pride.
“NMC's mission is important because we supply the Navy,” said Baca. “We are a naval munitions command, which means that we are always ready to deliver explosives and ammunition to the local and non-local commands that need it. Here in Europe we play an essential role to the ships that are deployed or in port by being able to refuel them so to speak with what they need to defend our position if ever needed. If NMC Det. Rota were not to be mission ready, the ships and submarines would not be mission ready to complete the tasking given to them, which would force them to travel farther and spend a longer time at sea than necessary.”
“I can personally say that being in this specific role as ammunition accountant and more importantly an Aviation Ordnanceman, I have seen the bigger picture of the Navy and it has given me more pride into the things I do for this job and command,” said Cisneros.
| Date Taken: | 09.23.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 09.23.2020 09:59 |
| Story ID: | 378447 |
| Location: | ROTA , ES |
| Web Views: | 789 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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