Blue Grass depot mission extends beyond WMD - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Blue Grass depot mission extends beyond WMD

RICHMOND, Ky. — The Blue Grass Army Depot may be a bit misunderstood by the general public, and depot commander Col. Joseph A. Tirone is proud to say the depot’s mission is about more than just storing chemical weapons.

“The chemical weapons storage mission is extremely important and part of what we are responsible for,” Tirone said. “It is also a very small part of what we do.”

Many in the Madison County community think the depot is only used for storing chemical weapons, “and that’s the farthest thing from the truth,” he said.

“We have 14,000 acres of ammunition storage,” he said. “A small part of that is chemical munitions. The rest is conventional munitions, which is non-chemical.”

The conventional weapon manufacturing mission is something that goes on 24 hours a day, seven days a week at the depot.

“We have ammunition shipments going out of here, some small, some very large,” he said. “We provide a tremendous amount of ammunition support in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

The depot manufactures Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles for military service members. It also makes a multipurpose key that soldiers can use in combat, allowing them to be able to access vehicles other than their own in case of emergency.

The depot also serves as a large training ground for service members.

“In the past, we had on average 300 to 500 service members train here annually,” Tirone said. “In fiscal year 2009, we trained/hosted over 2,000 service members and in fiscal year 2010, we are on track to train/host almost 4,500. Many of these service members were here training for deployments in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.”

There are more than 1,300 employees from Madison and surrounding counties working at the depot.

Tirone is the mission commander, responsible for providing high-quality, worldwide ammunition, combat vehicle and chemical defense equipment support to the joint war fighter. He is also responsible for base operations support, including facility maintenance, security, emergency response and environmental support.

The depot’s environmental mission is not only to benefit the planet, but also the taxpayer.

When is comes to the ammunition maintenance and disposal mission, old weapons are either destroyed or recycled.

“We have a washout facility,” Tirone said, which is where the explosive material inside the weapons are steamed out and reused.

“We shred the steel canister and then use that money to buy material handling equipment,” he said. “Being a good steward of taxpayer dollars is an extremely important part of what we do.”

Saving taxpayers money and helping funnel economic development dollars into the county both are important missions at Blue Grass.

“We contribute significantly to economic development,” Tirone said. “In 2009, we contributed $200 million.”

That amount, he said, “has nothing to do with the chemical weapons.”

“When you compare our average salary here at the depot, we are second only to Scott County because of Toyota,” he said. “It kills me when you hear people say the depot is a bad thing because it is so far from the truth. We have a wide variety of employment opportunities out here.”

The average salary in Madison County is $29,389, according to a Bureau of Economic analysis. The average salary for a Blue Grass Army Depot worker is $44,376.

Aside from supporting America’s military service members, the depot also hosts several events for the community.

Toy drives, Wounded Warrior wild game hunts, commissary case lot sales for retired veterans and support groups for family members of service men and women are just a few examples of what is offered, Tirone said.

An effort to acknowledge community service members who have lost their lives in battle should be complete by the time Tirone leaves his command July 13.

The living memorial will feature a large memorial stone located in a chained-in area, individual markers for each service member and a memorial garden.

It will honor 93 Kentucky service members who have died supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.