Base Ordnance Depot

History of Base Ordnance Depot dates back to 1950. The first Ordnance Depot was established on 1st February 1950. At that time, the Ordnance Depot was located in Kirulapone, and after the establishment of Panagoda Cantonment in July 1955, the Ordnance Depot was shifted from Kirulapone to Panagoda. The present premises of 1 SLAOC unit had been used as the Ordnance Depot at that time.

With the expansion of the Army, Ordnance Depot has been expanded to the level of a Base Ordnance Depot under a Officer Commanding. According to the available written sources, the first Officer Commanding of the Base Ordnance Depot had been Major ED Ebert (29.01.1962-16.02.1962). Until 1992, Base Ordnance Depot had been located at the Panagoda Cantonment. Consequently, with the expansion of the Ordnance Corps, Base Ordnance Depot was shifted from the Panagoda Cantonment and was established at the Maradana Tripoli camp with effect from 01 July 1992.

Since the establishment of the Base Ordnance Depot at the Tripoli Market in 1992, the Depot has been engaging in supply of Ordnance Stores to all the Ordnance units and other establishment in the Army under three Commanding Officers and Commandants. The Clothing Depot in Kadawatha, and Ordnance Store Section in Colombo and Katubedda were functioning under the Base Ordnance Depot.

During the times of intense fighting in operation areas, The BOD has done an exemplary service in the Forward Dilivery of Ordnance Stores to fulfill the needs of fighting troops.

With the dawn of a new era of peace and harmony after the war, the Base Ordnance Depot maintains its momentum by striving to offer a productive and quality Ordnance Service to the entire Army.

The Depot was established in a building belongs to the railway department closer to the Tripoli Trade Complex considering the ease of delivering of goods to the local suppliers, forward delivery, its vicinity to the Colombo Port and the Bandaranake International Air Port and ease in transporting the goods to the SLAOC Regiments. However, to pave way for the current Colombo City development plan undertaken by the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development, the Base Ordnance Depot moved to Ragama, ware houses belonging to the Sri Lanka Railways. Construction of the new depot commenced on 17th April 2013 and is nearing its completion at the moment. The construction of the first phase of the Base Ordnance Depot was completed on 14th August 2014.

Role and Tasks of BOD

ROLE

To provide effective and efficient Ord supply(except clothing / arms & ammo / vehs /comm eqpt) to all dependent Ord estbs / local units whilst ensuring responsibility / accountability and professional / modern technological / user friendly approach in all Ord functions.

TASKS

• Maintenance and bi - annual update of database of aval human, vehs, machinery, eqpt etc & applicable scales, staff tables relevant to Ord supplies to all dependent Ord estbs / local units.
• Provision, receipt, inspection, storage, accounting, maintenance, fwd delivery / issue of all types of Ord stores (except clothing/ arms & ammo/ vehs/ comm eqpt) to dependent Ord estbs / local units as per relevant FRs, Treasury circulars, AHQ/DOS instrs and also ensure smooth functioning of Automated Material Management System.
• Vetting and scrutinizing of all types of Ord stores (except clothing/ arms & ammo/ vehs/ comm eqpt) received both from local and overseas sources to ensure acceptable quality standards and productive Ord supply system.
• Carrying out of all activities in the entire procurement cycle for all types of Ord stores (except clothing/ arms & ammo/ vehs/ comm eqpt) through Minor Procurement Committees whilst ensuring "value for money" and proper financial management.
• Design & development, manufacture, repair or modify the relevant types of Ord stores through all Ord Wksps in the depot whilst ensuring the acceptable quality standard and proper accounting for all raw materials.
• Ensure Proper accounting & maintenance of sufficient stock reserves of all types of controlled stores as directed by the respective controlling authority in AHQ.
• Conduct of annual Ord insps in all dependent military estbs in AOR and submission/ review progress of such insp reports to Dte of Ord Svcs/ dependent units in time.
• Holding/ safe custody of approved samples/specs of relevant Ord items for references as required by AHQ/ TECs and Scrutinizing teams.
• Provision, procurement, receipt, inspection, storage, accounting, maintenance, fwd delivery/ issue of all types of Printed forms, books required by all Army establishments through the Department of Government Printing.
• Publication/updating of the price index for all types of Ord stores (except clothing/ arms & ammo/ vehs/ comm eqpt) annually.
• Monitoring and supervision of all Ord functions in all under command Stores Sections & ensure proper accountability, responsibility and maximum productivity.
• Nomination of Ordnance representatives for all types of Bds of surveys in AOR on time and conducting of trg activities (lectures/ seminars etc) to educate relevant Q staff on material management functions in liaison with respective dependent units/ estbs in AOR.
• Conduct of all types of special to Arm trg incl on the job trg for all Ord functions for all Ord personnel under command within the AOR to ensure high level of technical competence among them.
• Maintain op readiness to provide relevant Ord supply assistance to mil/ civil authorities during an emergency/ disaster situation as per SOPs laid down by AHQ.

Details of the Officers whose unblemished service brought credit to the SLAOC since the inception of the Base Ordnance Depot.