Command Sergeant Major
John L. Hoffman

John L. Hoffman served as the Command Sergeant Major of the USAOMMCS between 31 July 1991 and 11 January 1996. During his tenure, he succeeded in accomplishing a number of noteworthy objectives that were important to the well being of the school and thus enhancing the Ordnance Corps. One major objective involved the consolidation of enlisted courses in Career Management Field 55 (Ammunition) in order to meet the demand of declining resources. He oversaw the development of a draft proposal, outlining the consolidation, that led to the establishment of three new programs of instruction for Advanced Individual Training, Basic Noncommissioned Officer Course, and Advanced Noncommissioned Officer Course. The consolidation eliminated separate courses for these classes.

In another area of munitions, CSM Hoffman played a major role in the inactivation in 1992 of the school's 515th Ordnance Company whose mission centered on training soldiers in Nuclear Weapons Specialty. That action was in direct response to a presidential order directing the Army to reduce its nuclear weapons capability.

CSM Hoffman was heavily involved in updating the Army's Noncommissioned Officer Leader Self-Development Career Map explaining how a noncommissioned officer could become a better leader and improve the chance for promotion. CSM Hoffman participated in a major initiative affecting the Reserve Components Regional Training Sites for ammunition where the Army's Total Force could conduct needed training in support of wartime missions. That initiative had gained acceptance during Operation Desert Shield/Storm, when the army had identified training requirements peculiar to the use of the combined active and reserve component forces on the battlefield. CSM Hoffman forwarded the concept plan for the sites to the appropriate army commands in May 1992.

He played an instrumental role in the establishment of a new training department at Fort Eisenhower, under the control of the USAOMMCS, for the purpose of training soldiers in electronic maintenance specialties. When the army removed the HAWK missile system from its inventory in 1993, CSM Hoffman oversaw the consolidation of the system's training to meet the needs of the Marine Corps and the National Guard that still used missile system.

Undoubtedly one of the most important undertakings in which CSM Hoffman was involved while in the position of Command Sergeant Major of the school was the CASCOM Reorganization of 1994. As the most senior noncommissioned officer, he planned and directed various changes within the organizational structure of the school to comply with the guidelines of the Army's directive. The result of the most extensive reorganization to ever occur at the school was a change in organizational structure from a USATRADOC standard school model to a USATRADOC Brigade structure for combat service support schools.

CSM Hoffman's numerous years of dedicated service and significant contributions to the Ordnance Corps ensured a place for him in our history and the Ordnance Hall of Fame.