ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, Ill. — The Joint Munitions Command runs the Quality Assurance Specialist (Ammunition Surveillance) Career Program.

JMC, headquartered at the Rock Island Arsenal in Illinois, provides the Army with technical and logistical experts who play a crucial role in directly supporting sustainment and materiel readiness for the expeditionary global force. QASAS personnel ensure service members around the world and across the Department of Defense have access to reliable, effective, and lethal munitions ranging from small arms ammunition to missiles and large rockets. This is achieved under the Single Manager for Conventional Munitions charter through the Ammunition Stockpile Reliability Program.

“All of us are mandatory mobility; we have a worldwide commitment,” said Ron Mathewson, who works out of the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant in Oklahoma and is the current QASAS program manager. “Mandatory mobility serves two purposes. The primary purpose is that it provides continuous developmental training at all grades. The secondary purpose, and they can be kind of flipped depending on how you look at it, is that we are centrally managed, and individuals who go overseas have return rights to the program versus a specific location.

“We have a continuous rotation of new ideas and thoughts,” Mathewson added.

Darrin Lampman, who in April will become the next QASAS program manager, echoes Mathewson’s thought.

“The benefit of the rotation is it exposes QASAS to all of the different ammunition that we have,” he said. “It exposes them to the same experiences but under different conditions—from wholesale to retail, to contingency operations around the world.”

The QASAS program has a rich and storied history which dates to April 1920, when the U.S. Civil Service Commission established the first military civilian career program by appointing ammunition inspectors under the Chief of Ordnance. For over a century, QASAS have been the voice of authority on explosive safety and ammunition serviceability, tirelessly promoting their critical message to the Army, the DOD, and all who will listen.

By providing logistical support, technical expertise, managing risks, and optimizing munitions management, QASAS experts help give warfighters the confidence they need to carry out their missions effectively, while also minimizing waste, reducing costs, and improving overall efficiency.

Currently, over 350 QASAS provide surveillance support at over 130 locations under 29 commands. They work in a variety of settings across the continental United States, including arsenals, depots, and other logistics facilities. They may also be deployed to support combat operations or other military activities, where they provide critical expertise and support to warfighters.

The Army Civilian Career Management Activity recruits and hires potential members of the QASAS workforce, and those individuals, who must be U.S. citizens or Green Card holders, only need a high school diploma or GED.

Once one is admitted as a QASAS fellow, a 12-to-14-month academic training program is provided by the Defense Ammunition Center, and individuals learn all aspects of ammunition surveillance, explosive safety, logistics, transportation, storage, handling, and demilitarization of munitions. When the academic portion is completed, fellows partake in on-the-job hands-on training for 10-to-12 months.

“We hope to recruit Soldiers at the 10-to-12-year mark who have opted to get out of the military but still want to contribute to warfighters,” Mathewson said. “We look for those non-commissioned officers who are Air Force, Army, Marines, so that we have a collection of people with various backgrounds.

“We also look for people who have worked in the private sector in logistics functions. They might come in with no experience, but they come in with new ideas,” Mathewson added. “We train them to what they need to know.”

Senior Army leaders rely on QASAS for expert guidance on planning, logistics, and ammunition operations worldwide. With their comprehensive training and global experience, senior QASAS bring valuable tactical insights to the table, shaping strategic decisions that drive mission accomplishment and operational superiority.

“It’s good to have the subject matter expertise because you never ever know what the questions are going to be that you get out in the field and from commanders,” Lampman said.