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Interview with Mr. Al Beuster

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In 2003, Army Field Support Command (AFSC) and Joint Munitions Command (JMC) - then a unified major subordinate command of Army Material Command - began a comprehensive oral history project aimed at chronicling a full-spectrum slice of the command's role in Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom and the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) broadly defined. Because the command was over 90 percent Department of the Army (DA) civilians and heavily augmented by contractors, by 2003 the command realized they were managing the largest ever deployment of DA civilians and contractors into a combat area and, as such, over 150 interviews were conducted focusing on the GWOT-related experiences of DA civilian members of the two commands during 2003-2004. Starting at the same time, Mr. George Eaton - currently command historian at US Army Sustainment Command (ASC), established in 2006 - has to date conducted almost 200 more interviews with DA civilians, contractors and uniformed military. This oral history project aims at delivering an overall picture of the activities and duties of the various components of AFSC and JMC and their combined efforts to support the Army's worldwide operations. The interviews look at growing trends in areas of both success and concern, while also accounting for how logistics support commands have completely transformed operational- and strategic-level logistics since 2003. ASC personnel are forward deployed at every forward operating base in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Qatar and Djibouti, among others. Indeed, what began as a small operation in 2003 has become a robust organization, globally deployed, and is now a key player in all four Army imperatives: to sustain, transform, reset and prepare. The following interview with Mr. Al Beuster, chief of the Industrial Base Assessment Division, covers such topics as the ammunition industrial base, transformation after 9/11, transformation of technology, installation security at ammunition plants, contracting and ammunition sustainment.

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In 2003, Army Field Support Command (AFSC) and Joint Munitions Command (JMC) - then a unified major subordinate command of Army Material Command - began a comprehensive oral history project aimed at chronicling a full-spectrum slice of the command's role in Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom and the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) broadly defined. Because the command was over 90 percent Department of the Army (DA) civilians and heavily augmented by contractors, by 2003 the command realized they were managing the largest ever deployment of DA civilians and contractors into a combat area and, as such, over 150 interviews were conducted focusing on the GWOT-related experiences of DA civilian members of the two commands during 2003-2004. Starting at the same time, Mr. George Eaton - currently command historian at US Army Sustainment Command (ASC), established in 2006 - has to date conducted almost 200 more interviews with DA civilians, contractors and uniformed military. This oral history project aims at delivering an overall picture of the activities and duties of the various components of AFSC and JMC and their combined efforts to support the Army's worldwide operations. The interviews look at growing trends in areas of both success and concern, while also accounting for how logistics support commands have completely transformed operational- and strategic-level logistics since 2003. ASC personnel are forward deployed at every forward operating base in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Qatar and Djibouti, among others. Indeed, what began as a small operation in 2003 has become a robust organization, globally deployed, and is now a key player in all four Army imperatives: to sustain, transform, reset and prepare. The following interview with Mr. Al Beuster, chief of the Industrial Base Assessment Division, covers such topics as the ammunition industrial base, transformation after 9/11, transformation of technology, installation security at ammunition plants, contracting and ammunition sustainment.

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