One of the Army’s seven basic Sustainment branches, the Ordnance Corps was officially established on 14 May 1812 with the creation of the Ordnance Department. It’s self-stated 21st-century mission is to Train, educate, and develop adaptive Ordnance professionals and synchronize DOTMLPF (Doctrine/Organization/Training/Materiel/Leadership/Personnel/Facilities) solutions across the institutional, operational, and self-development domains in order to build and preserve Army readiness.” Surprisingly, the Corps was disestablished from 1962 to 1985 and placed under the Army’s Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, with Army Materiel Command handling the tasks of ordancne research and development, procurement and production, and storage. And with the establishment of the Logistics Corps in 2008, Officers in the Ordnance who reach the rank of Captain and pass the appropriate course are moved out of Ordnance and into the officers-only Logistics Corps.
The Ordnance Corps’ Regimental Distinctive Insignia (unit crest) is made up of two crossed antique cannons behind a “scroll” that is actually a red belt. In the area above the intersection of the cannons is an antique black bomb emitting flame that emerges outside the scroll/belt. The two cannons reflect the close relationship between the Ordnance and Artillery Corps, while the bomb—often referred to as the “shell and flame”—recalls the early days of explosive ordnance.
Related Ordnance Corps Items