Courtesy Photo | Al Voelkelt (left), a quality assurance specialist ammunition surveillance, for the...... read more read more
Alfred “Al” Voelkelt, a quality assurance specialist ammunition surveillance, for the Joint Munitions Command, likes to spread the knowledge he’s acquired about ammunition.
And the 78-year-old has been doing so for six decades and counting.
As a 17-year-old, Voelkelt enlisted in the U.S. Army as a private. He did three tours during the Vietnam War (1966, 1968, 1971), and Voelkelt spent 22 years, eight months and 10 days donning a military uniform. Along the way, he learned a lot about ammunition.
“The military gave me a lifetime profession,” said Voelkelt, who retired from the Army on Sept. 1, 1985, as a master sergeant.
After hanging up his Army duds, Voelkelt began wearing a uniform in Denver, Colorado, for the U.S. Postal Service.
In 1987, Voelkelt entered the QASAS intern program at the Army Defense Ammunition Center and School in Savanna, Illinois, and began his Civilian career, which has included eight deployments and stops in Afghanistan (three), Bosnia (two), Kuwait (once), and Iraq (twice).
“I’ve been traveling my entire life,” Voelkelt said. “I came over to the U.S. as a refugee with my parents and brothers and sisters from Czech Slovakia in 1951 on the USS Gen. Hersey. We left to get away from communism.”
Voelkelt, who recently returned from an eight month stay in Iraq, has volunteered for each deployment. The experience offers Civilians an opportunity to spread their knowledge, as well as elevate their skills and expertise, while actively contributing to operations of national importance.
“I feel like I’m a trainer and a mentor to the young Soldiers,” said Voelkelt, who began working for JMC in 2009. “I give them a good feel of how the ammunition community works and how things are done. I’ve been doing ammunition since 1963. It’s been my whole life.
“I like being out there with the Soldiers,” he added. “I always tell people that I’ve got a head full of ammunition knowledge that I love to share. I want to pass it on to the younger generation.”
Why hasn’t Voelkelt called it quits?
“I like what I do. I like my job,” he said. “I’m not ready to retire. God has been gracious to me. He’s given me good health and has let me continue to work.
“I don’t hunt, and I don’t fish,” Voelkelt added. “I can’t see myself on the front porch rocking, so I keep doing what I do.”
And Voelkelt does his job well.
“I’ve worked directly with Al these past couple of years here at JMC, but during my decades as a QASAS, I’ve often heard his name and his exploits. He is well known in our program,” said Mark Featherston, chief of JMC’s QAS Division. “Al is always the first in the door at work, the first to raise his hand for temporary duty and deployments, and always willing to mentor and train our incoming staff. His depth and breadth of knowledge make Al a very keen asset for JMC. Not only can he explain how processes should currently be performed, but he can also explain the paths that were taken to develop the processes.”
| Date Taken: | 01.30.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 01.30.2024 08:29 |
| Story ID: | 462708 |
| Location: | ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, IL, US |
| Web Views: | 63 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Six decades and counting: JMC’s Voelkelt loves sharing his ammunition knowledge, by Matthew Wheaton, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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