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Civilian Workers on Arsenal Island Manage Ammo for 3-Month Training

WVIK, Quad Cities NPR | By Michelle O'Neill

Published July 27, 2021 at 4:50 PM CDT

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TAPA CENTRAL TRAINING AREA, Estonia — U.S. Army Sgt. Casey Bookout of Montrose, CO a M270 Missile Launch Rocket System crewmember from the Bravo Battery, 1st Battalion, 77th Field Artillery Regiment, 41st Field Artillery Brigade, and waiting until further orders for the live fire exercise in support of Fires Shock, a series of fires exercises in support of DEFENDER-21, here, May 5, 2021. This portion of Fires Shock is in support of Swift Response 21, a linked exercise of DEFENDER-Europe 21 which involves special operations activities, air assaults, and live fire exercises in Estonia, Bulgaria, and Romania, demonstrating airborne interoperability among NATO allies. DEFENDER-Europe 21 is a large-scale U.S. Army-led exercise designed to build readiness and interoperability between the U.S., NATO allies and partner militaries. This year, more than 28,000 multinational forces from 26 nations will conduct nearly simultaneous operations across more than 30 training areas in more than a dozen countries from the Baltics to the strategically important Balkans and Black Sea Region. Follow the latest news and information about DEFENDER-Europe 21, visit www.EuropeAfrica.army.mil/DefenderEurope. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Christian Cote).

Thanks to hundreds of employees on Arsenal Island, US forces had all the mortar rounds, bullets, rockets, and bombs they needed for a huge training exercise.

JoEtta Fisher is the civilian deputy to the commander at the Joint Munitions Command. It employs around 700 people on the island and more than 5,000 worldwide. She says the exercise called, DEFENDER-Europe 21, began in March. It involved 28,000 participants from 27 nations over three months.

The command handles logistics for munitions across all branches of the military. And Fisher says the ammunition for this exercise came from five Army depots and plants under its authority.

Now that DEFENDER-Europe 21 is over, the Joint Munitions Command is re-stocking all the ammo used in the exercise.