“It’s a relatively small team, it consists of only four government persons. We have two engineers, an equipment specialist and myself as the team lead. But we do have a very important cadre of nine contractor Advisory and Assistance Services personnel that work with our team,” Hamer said.
The office orchestrates thousands of moving pieces to get specialized work on specific systems by other organizations within industry or Department of Defense. Case in point, much of the depot repairs are performed at the USAF Small Arms Depot in San Antonio, while machine guns are normally maintained by the Army at the Anniston Army Depot in Alabama.
They also work hand in glove on new acquisitions with the Army, which is the lead agency for small arms standardization purposes.
“If a weapon system is being phased out and the Army and Air Force have made the determination to adopt a new weapon, we will partner with the Army and go do the acquisition piece to that,” Hamer said. “We’ll accomplish market research, legal reviews, Non-Nuclear Munitions Safety Boards to ensure it is safe for Air Force users.”
The Small Arms IPT manages everything from pistols for Security Forces, rifles for the Honor Guard and compact rifles for aircrew protection.
“We’ve recently completed a contract for the M-18 with Sig Sauer that will replace all the old Beretta M-9 side arms,” Hamer said.
To hear the full conversation, you can watch Leadership Log on YouTube at https://youtu.be/66m1qVJi4Uo. You can also listen by searching “Leadership Log” on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Spotify, Overcast, Radio Public or Breaker.
About the Author