F.E. WARREN AIR FORCE BASE, Wyo. -- The 90th Missile Wing has 150 Minuteman III ICBMs, but it might get lost in translation that it still requires more conventional types of ammunition for the safety and security of the base and its assets in the missile complex.
The 90th Munition Squadron's mission is to enable nuclear deterrence by maintaining combat-ready munitions in defense of global freedoms safely, securely and effectively. Munitions used on the base must go through the 90th MUNS before they are distributed to the appropriate members of the wing.
“All ammunition for the entire wing goes through me,” said Staff Sgt. Bryan Thompson, 90th MUNS munitions operations NCO in charge. “I manage the forecasting allocations, requisitions, issuing, inventorying, expending and turning in of every single explosive asset in the wing.”
F.E. Warren has increased its ammunition needs by approximately 1 million rounds, meeting the requirement to have more than 7 million rounds of munition for the base.
“I work the conventional munitions non-nuclear aspect which is 9mm, 7.62mm, grenades, etc.” Thompson said. “Our side of the squadron's mission is to provide the operational and training ammunition for the entire wing, to include Camp Guernsey, in order to provide protection and security for our nuclear arsenal and base defense.”
The 90th MUNS is unique in that it is split into two camps. One focuses on the conventional side of ordering munition for the base’s security forces and the other focuses on the nuclear enterprise aspect.
Tech. Sgt. Aaron Grissom, 90th MUNS assistant flight chief, reiterated 90th MUNS is out of the ordinary because the conventional weapons shop is only nine people, compared to a flight line base which has 100 to 200 ammunition Airmen.
The nuclear side of the 90th MUNS has substantially more personnel which perform limited life component exchanges and initial build operations for the Mk-12A and Mk-21 nuclear re-entry systems that are on the ICBMs.
“I believe my section in the 90th MUNS has shown they are reliable, efficient and have excelled at each new challenge that arises,” Thompson said. “Our section also did very well during the Unit Effectiveness Inspection. It was evident we knew what we were doing and had the knowledge and compliance to get the job done.”
Grissom has been Thompson’s supervisor for more than five months and has seen the amount of work and dedication that Thompson shows every day.
“Thompson has a lot of drive to better the shop to where we want it to be,” Grissom said. “He has a lot of passion in his job, wants to learn and overall produces a better product.”
Outside of work, Grissom mentions that Thompson is family oriented and finds ways to better himself as a family-man and also as a NCO through professional development opportunities the base offers.
Thompson and the rest of his team ensure that F.E. Warren is ready and capable to perform the mission and enable other agencies to do theirs.
“Without us, there would be no ammunition on the base and personnel wouldn't be armed and trained,” said Thompson. “We ensure the accurate accountability and management of every explosive asset in the wing in order for the mission to be accomplished.”