The 7849th Ord Stock Control Center (7849th OSCC) at Feudenheim near Mannheim is responsible for supplying all Army ordnance items in USAREUR and essential ordnance materiel in USAFE.

Formed originally in Paris in 1945 to dispose of ordnance materiel declared as surplus after the end of the war in Europe, the unit has expanded since then its mission and grown in size as the central stock control point for USAREUR's largest technical service, the Ordnance Division. The center encompasses all phases of the ordnance supply system in Europe except for ammunition.

The center controls 600 major items and more than 150,000 spare parts. Items such as tanks, guns, trucks, and thousands of spare parts are directed by the 7849th from the manufacturer in the US to the using units in Europe.

CO of the center is Col James D. Peterson. His organization is responsible for insuring a continuous supply of all ordnance items. Its tasks include supervising procurement of ordnance materiel, forecasting future needs and maintaining a parts-replacement program for every ordnance item used by US troops in Europe.

The center comprises two primary divisions:
Major Items Division
Spare Parts Division

Major Items Div
Head of the division is D.C. Knox. The division receives approximately 7,200 major line items (tanks, trucks, jeeps, guns, small arms, and hundreds of other items) each year. The division handles more than 600 requisitions on controlled items each month.

The division is also responsible for forecasting the requirements for major ordnance items throughout USAREUR for a six-month to four-year period.

Another function of the division is to license all military vehicles (with exception of those in the "combat" category). It serves as the central clearing agency through which all such vehicles are procured and distributed - it can determine within minutes to which unit a vehicle is assigned based on the license or registration number.

Spare Parts Div
Head of the division is Lester J. Wilkinson. Requisitions for more than 1,000,000 line items pass through this division each year. The division processes and records around 2,500 shipping orders each month.

There are approximately 220,000 spare parts cataloged by the division - ranging from nuts and bolts to large motors.

Rebuild Program
The 7849th also plays a major role in the rebuild program. Under the program some 50,000 WWII-vintage US Army vehicles are being rehabilitated and turned over to allied countries participating in the Mutual Defense Assistance Program (MDAP).

The center is able to determine the exact location of all surplus vehicles through its records and direct the shipment of these vehicles to ordnance rebuild shops. The center also supplies these rebuild shops with spare parts. After the vehicles have been completely rebuilt, the center ships them to the MDAP countries.

Electric Accounting Machines
All the information pertaining to ordnance items throughout USAREUR is poured into electronic accounting machines at the 7849th Ord Stock Control Center. These machines are operated primarily by WACs from Detachment A of the 7849th. The WAC personnel and a small number of enlisted men process approximately 40,000,000 card transactions each month.