{"id":11039,"date":"2026-02-11T14:43:52","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T14:43:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/?p=11039"},"modified":"2026-02-11T14:44:02","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T14:44:02","slug":"maryland-national-guard-armorers-help-fort-meade-restore-weapons-compliance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/2026\/02\/11\/maryland-national-guard-armorers-help-fort-meade-restore-weapons-compliance\/","title":{"rendered":"Maryland National Guard armorers help Fort Meade restore weapons compliance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Maj. Benjamin Hughes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, Md. \u2014 When the Logistics Readiness Center \u2013 Fort
Meade, found itself with a backlog of more than 1,000 weapons in need of maintenance
in December of 2025, it called on the state\u2019s National Guard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Within weeks, a team of five Maryland Army National Guard armorers and equipment
readiness specialists arrived on-site to complete the mission.<\/p>\n


The team, which is a part of the Guard\u2019s Surface Maintenance Combined Support
Maintenance Shop at the Havre de Grace Military Reservation, treated the request as
an immediate safety issue, said Chief Warrant Officer 2 James Hawley, 1729th Support
Maintenance Company.<\/p>\n


\u201cEnsuring every Soldier and law enforcement officer can safely execute their duties is a
no-brainer,\u201d said Hawley. \u201cWhen there\u2019s concern about operator safety, that becomes
the top priority.\u201d<\/p>\n


As top priority, it took the team just three days to inspect and service the M4 rifles, M17
pistols, M500 shotguns, M249 squad automatic weapons, and M240B machine guns
that made up most of the backlog. Tasks included preventive maintenance checks,
gauging and inspections, parts replacement, minor repairs, and closing out safety and
maintenance action messages.<\/p>\n


The assistance could be the difference between life and death, said Carlos W. Hill,
maintenance division chief, LRC-Fort Meade.<\/p>\n


\u201cSmall-arms maintenance directly affects a Soldier\u2019s ability to fight and safely perform
daily missions,\u201d said Hill. \u201cThe Guard ensured our weapons were compliant and ready,
which is critical for Fort Meade units that carry weapons during daily operations.\u201d<\/p>\n


After addressing the immediate needs of LRC-Fort Meade and those who depend on
them, the National Guard team also helped prepare LRC-Fort Meade for a critical
inspection scheduled by Army Sustainment Command twice a year. The next inspection
is set to take place this summer.<\/p>\n


The Guard Soldiers focused on training and collaboration while here, as the newly hired
weapons specialist was unable to perform small-arms repair and services because they
were awaiting a slot at the armament school.<\/p>\n


Hawley is proud of his team and believes they personify the motto of the National Guard
\u201cAlways Ready, Always There.\u201d<\/p>\n


\u201cThey didn\u2019t just show up to do a job,\u201d said Hawley. \u201cThey shared their knowledge,
taught inspections and on-the-spot repairs, and acted as a force multiplier.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

George S. Yokas, a logistics management specialist with LRC-Fort Meade, said their
assistance even helped the newest employee at LRC-Fort Meade get some experience.<\/p>\n


\u201cThe LRC is extremely grateful for the incredible support,\u201d said Yokas. \u201cThey closed out
all of our safety messages and helped our new small-arms repair specialist by taking
the time to teach and mentor.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Maj. Benjamin Hughes FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, Md. \u2014 When the Logistics Readiness Center \u2013 FortMeade, found itself with a backlog of more than 1,000 weapons in need of maintenancein December of 2025, it called on the state\u2019s National Guard. Within weeks, a team of five Maryland Army National Guard armorers and equipmentreadiness specialists  Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":161,"featured_media":11042,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11039"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11039\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11044,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11039\/revisions\/11044"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}