RICHMOND — The Blue Grass Army Depot may be a bit misunderstood by the general public, and depot commander Col. Joseph A. Tirone is proud to say the depot’s mission is about more than just storing chemical weapons.

“The chemical weapons storage mission is extremely important and part of what we are responsible for,” Tirone said. “It is also a very small part of what we do.”

Many in the Madison County community think the depot is only used for storing chemical weapons, “... and that’s the farthest thing from the truth,” he said.

“We have 14,000 acres of ammunition storage,” he said. “A small part of that is chemical munition, the rest is conventional munitions, which is non-chemical.”

The conventional weapon manufacturing mission is something that goes on 24 hours a day, seven days a week at the depot.

“We have ammunition shipments going out of here, some small, some very large,” he said. “We provide a tremendous amount of ammunition support in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have greatly expanded that mission over the last two-and-a-half years.”

The depot now manufactures Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles for military service members.

“We did it very low-cost, very high-quality and got it to where it needed to be every time,” Tirone said.

That mission has expanded based on the voiced needs of those men and women on the battlefield.

A request for a material solution was sent to the Department of the Army by a war fighter when he realized that the key to his MRAP vehicle would not work on the vehicle in front of him when it overturned into a canal of water.

This need created the combat lock tool which is now being manufactured at the depot. It is a multi-purpose key that allows war fighters access to MRAPs other than their own in the case of an emergency.

“It has about six or seven different tools on it so you can unlock every variant,” Tirone said.

The depot serves as a large training ground for service members.

“In the past, we had on average 300 to 500 service members train here annually,” Tirone said. “In fiscal year 2009, we trained/hosted over 2,000 service members (all services and all components) and in fiscal year 2010, we are on track to train/host almost 4,500. Many of these service members were here training for deployments in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.”

There are three main parts to the Blue Grass Army Depot’s mission: To provide a full range of defense products and services “... at the right price, place and time,” Tirone said; maximize war fighter capability through standard depot operations (store, issue, receipt, inspect, maintain and demilitarize) of conventional (non-chemical) munitions, missiles, non-standard ammunition and chemical defense equipment; and produce weapon systems, combat vehicle and ammunition components to fill critical war fighter requirements.

There are more than 1,300 employees from Madison and surrounding counties working at the depot.

Tirone is responsible for the entire installation — which is 15,000 acres — its security and facility maintenance.

He is the mission commander, responsible for providing high-quality, world-wide ammunition, combat vehicle and chemical defense equipment support to the joint war fighter.

He is responsible for maintaining an annual operating budget in excess of $200 million and maintaining the other duties as commander include responsibility for base operations support including facility maintenance, security, emergency response and environmental support.

The depot’s environmental mission is not only to benefit the earth, but also the taxpayer.

When is comes to the ammunition maintenance and disposal mission, old weapons are either destroyed or recycled.

“We have a wash-out facility,” Tirone said, which is where the explosive material inside the weapons are steamed out and reused.

“We shred the steel canister and then use that money to buy material handling equipment,” he said. “Being a good steward of taxpayer dollars is an extremely important part of what we do.”

Saving taxpayers money and helping funnel economic development dollars into the county both are important missions at the Blue Grass Army Depot.

“We contribute significantly to economic development,” Tirone said. “In 2009, we contributed $200 million.”

That amount, he said, “... has nothing to do with the chemical weapons.”

“When you compare our average salary here at the depot, we are second only to Scott County because of Toyota (manufacturing plant),” he said. “It kills me when you hear people say the depot is a bad thing because it is so far from the truth. We have a wide variety of employment opportunities out here.”

The average person’s salary in Madison County is $29,389, according to a Bureau of Economic analysis. The average salary for a Blue Grass Army Depot worker is $44,376.

“We have a huge variety of work going on here, and the support we provide to the joint war fighter is reflected in our employees,” Tirone said. “Kentucky can be very proud of the workforce we have here.”

Aside from supporting America’s military service members, the depot also hosts several events for the community.

Toy drives, Wounded Warrior wild game hunts, commissary case lot sales for retired veterans and support groups for family members of service men and women are just a few examples of what is offered, Tirone said.

An effort to acknowledge community service members who have lost their lives in battle should be complete by the time Tirone leaves his command on July 13.

The “Living Memorial” will feature a large memorial stone located in a chained-in area, individual markers for each service member and a memorial garden.

It will honor 93 Kentucky service members who have died supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.

Ronica Shannon can be reached at rshannon@richmondregister.com or 624-6608.