Much more dangerous to the war fighter is a failure of the ammunition industrial base to produce an adequate supply of ammunition. Such an event could prove fatal to those dependent on ammunition for their survival and catastrophic to the operations of the U.S. military.

Having enough ammunition available for training is vital to the success of our military forces in completing their missions, and the Radford ammunition plant is the heart of the U.S. ammunition supply chain.

At the height of World War II, the United States ammunition industrial base consisted of some 34 facilities, virtually all brand new, that together produced annually tens of billions of rounds of ammunition and millions of bombs, torpedoes and explosive devices.

Today, that once-mighty national asset has been reduced to 14 aging production plants, 11 of which are government-owned but contractor-operated and three of which are both government-owned and -operated.

Three of the 11 GOCO plants -- Lake City in Missouri, Milan in Tennessee and Radford in Virginia -- are producers of the Department of Defense's small- and medium-caliber ammunition. The other facilities make a range of products, including large-caliber ammunition, aerial bombs, pyrotechnics, demolitions and explosives.

The 2005 Base Closure and Realignment Commission recommended closure of four of the 14 facilities: Kansas, Lone Star, Mississippi and Riverbank. Critical activities and production lines at these facilities will be transferred to the remaining plants. Also, the Louisiana plant has been transferred to the National Guard. As a result, the remaining base will consist of nine facilities.

From the three GOGO plants, Crane produces detonators and ordnance components. McAlester produces air-delivered weapons, and Pine Bluff produces incendiaries and chemical weapons.

From the GOCOs, Iowa produces large-caliber ammunition, mines and missile warheads. Holston produces explosives, Lake City produces small-caliber ammunition, Milan produces medium- and large-caliber ammunition, Radford produces propellants, powders and medium-caliber ammunition, and Scranton produces large-caliber ammunition.

The U.S. government-owned ammunition industrial base exists to ensure the ability to meet critical defense requirements, particularly in wartime. The base produces items and materials that are not available in the commercial sector and maintains the capability -- demonstrated in the current conflicts that the U.S. armed forces are waging in Iraq and Afghanistan -- to produce quantities of ammunition that would be unavailable from commercial sources.

Part 6: The importance of producing and acquiring the basic materials -- including propellants and explosives, metal parts, detonators and fuses -- that are needed to manufacture ammunition

(Daniel Goure is vice president of the Lexington Institute, an independent think tank in Arlington, Va.)

(United Press International's "Outside View" commentaries are written by outside contributors who specialize in a variety of important issues. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of United Press International. In the interests of creating an open forum, original submissions are invited.)

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