Ordnance Corps (United States Army)

U.S. Army Ordnance Corps
United States Army Ordnance Corps Regimental Insignia
Active	14 May 1812 – present
Country	United States of America
Branch	United States Army
Type	Sustainment
Home of Ordnance	Fort Lee, Virginia
Motto(s)	Armament for Peace Service to the Line, on the Line, On Time
Colors	Crimson piped with yellow
Commanders
Chief of Ordnance	COL David Wilson

The United States Army Ordnance Corps is a Sustainment branch of the United States Army, headquartered at Fort Lee, Virginia. The broad mission of the Ordnance Corps is to supply Army combat units with weapons and ammunition, including at times their procurement and maintenance. Along with the Quartermaster Corps and Transportation Corps, it forms a critical component of the U.S. Army logistics system.

The U.S. Army Ordnance Corps mission is to support the development, production, acquisition, and sustainment of weapon systems, ammunition, missiles, electronics, and ground mobility materiel during peace and war to provide combat power to the U.S. Army. The officer in charge of the branch for doctrine, training, and professional development purposes is the Chief of Ordnance. The current Chief of Ordnance is Brigadier General Kurt J. Ryan.

In the British colonies in America, each colony was responsible for its own supply of ordnance materiel. The first written record of an ordnance officer in British colonial America was Samuel Sharpe in the Massachusetts Bay Colony appointed in 1629 as Master Gunner of Ordnance. By 1645, the Massachusetts Colony had a permanent Surveyor of Ordnance. He was responsible for the supply and maintenance of weapons and munitions.

Prior to forming the Continental Army on 14 June 1775, the Second Continental Congress appointed a committee on 27 May to study methods of arms and ammunition procurement and storage and to appoint a Commissary General. On 19 July 1775, Ezekiel Cheever was appointed by General George Washington as Commissary of Artillery Stores, soon to be called Commissary of Military Stores with Major General Henry Knox, the Chief of Artillery. During the course of the American Revolution, each major group of American forces in the field had a Commissary of Military Stores to support the soldiers.