u.s. army newsletter from the watervliet arsenal - september 2016

SALVO

Story on Page 3

Face New Face of the Arsenal

U.S. Army Watervl iet ArsenalSeptember 2016

Salvo Sept. 30, 2016

The Arsenal Salvo is an authorized monthly publication for members of the Department of Defense. Contents of the Salvo are not necessarily the official views of, or an endorsement by the U.S. Government, the Depart-ment of Defense, the Department of the Army, or the Watervliet Arsenal. News may be submitted for publication by sending articles to Public Affairs Officer, 1 Buffington Street, Bldg. 10, Watervliet, NY 12189, or stop by office #102, Bldg. 10, Watervliet Arsenal. The editor may also be reached at (518) 266-5055 or by e-mail: [email protected]. The editor reserves the right to edit all information submitted for publication.

Commander, Col. Joseph R. MorrowPublic Affairs Officer, John B. SnyderEditor, John B. SnyderPhotographer: John B. Snyder Arsenal Facebook Page @https://www.facebook.com/WatervlietArsenal?ref=hlCover photo: By John B. Snyder

Colonel Joseph R. Morrow

Commander’s Corner

Ahhh, the end of the fiscal year. Budgets get closed, revenue figures get locked in, and the final delivery rate percentage gets tallied. Although it may be several more weeks before we have certainty on the final numbers, it is not too early to talk a little about the past year and about the next fiscal year. Suffice it for me to say, that you, the entire workforce, achieved very good success in not only supporting the U.S. warfighter, but also many of the troops in allied armies. The end state of what we produced in FY 2016, is no differ-ent than that of your predecessors who established the arsenal in 1813. In es-sence, we manufactured the weapons and their associated parts that have al-lowed our servicemen and women to come home safely from areas of combat. Although just a small percentage of our workforce cut and molded the steel that went into our weapons production, everyone had a role in ensuring that we delivered on-time, tubes and their as-sociated parts for such weapon systems as the Paladin self-propelled howitzer, Abrams tank, and all three mortar systems. In addition to manufacturing parts for legacy weapon systems in FY 2016, we also worked hard with our part-ners at Benét Laboratories to make product improve-ments, while also working prototype projects that may provide our Army with a next generation of howitzer systems. One of the product improvements of this past year is

the lightweight bore evacuator for the 155mm Paladin howitzer. The new bore evacuator, which helps to reduce propellant gases and pressure from venting back into the vehicle’s firing compartment, dramatically reduced the

weight of the legacy evacuator from 203 pounds to about 110 pounds. We be-lieve, and so does the Army leadership, that this new lightweight evacuator will make a rather difficult maintenance job much easier for the artillery crewmem-bers. This coming year will prove to be no less exciting as we have recently manufactured prototype extended-range howitzer tubes that will be undergoing testing this fiscal year. Additionally, the likelihood of significant foreign military sales may finally come to fruition. And so, please do what you have been doing but do it better. The Defense Department remains in a constrained, uncertain budget environment, which may continue to restrict the develop-ment of new weapons programs, while also making program managers more

reluctant to place orders. Therefore, we must continue to enhance our value to the Department of Defense and to the American taxpayer. Finally, we are about to enter the winter season. Please, don’t be lulled into a false sense of security after last winter’s warm weather. Review your personal pre-paredness plans and be ready for early and heavy snow or adverse weather.


Story continues on page 4, “Apprentice”

By John B. Snyder

Arsenal Apprentices ... Creating parts, careers on

day one Is there heresy in the ranks at the Watervliet Ar-senal? After all, apprentice Corey LaBounty did not follow his instructions exactly as his trainer here prescribed them. At other defense manufacturing centers, the failure to follow instructions might have got him fired. Here, his disobedience got him a pat on the back. LaBounty is one of 11, first-year apprentices who made their first machining cuts on September 14. But not all of the apprentices came from a machin-ing background, to include LaBounty, who sold cars before being accepted into the arsenal's apprentice program. So, the stress level, which was quite obvi-ous by the body language, was high for some.

To add pressure to the apprentices' first machin-ing cuts, Tool Room supervisor, Anthony Polsinelli, approved the first cuts to be on actual parts the arsenal would use to repair machinery. In previous classes, ap-prentices would make their first cuts on scrap steel just in case they made a mistake. And so, when LaBounty's coach, machinist Jona-than Morehouse, told LaBounty to measure twice and cut once on a part that would be used in the production of lightweight bore evacuators for the 155mm howit-zer system, LaBounty said he measured five times and cut once. After all, he was the first apprentice in his class to cut steel.

Machinist Jonathan Morehouse

Apprentice Tayler Lee


Apprentice Cont.

"I know there were a lot of people watching me and so, I didn't want to mess it up. Especially, because the part was to be used in production," LaBounty said. "But after I made my cuts and measured the bearing, my motivation went 'sky high' because I actually made something the arsenal can use." Morehouse, who is typically very stoic, had a smile as large as LaBounty's when LaBounty's part passed a fit, form, and function test. "Great job," Morehouse said as he patted LaBounty on the back. "It only gets harder from here." Following LaBounty on the lathe was Tayler Lee and Todd Herold. Even though they watched every step and listened to every teaching point Morehouse provided to LaBounty, Lee and Herold each took a significant amount of time to set up their first machin-ing cuts. "Although I had watched Corey and Tayler ma-chine before me, I was still very tense," Herold said. "This (making his first machined part) was a true mo-ment of pride and I am very thankful that the arsenal trusted us enough to work on actual parts that will be used to repair machines." To add to the apprentices' machining experience in the tool room, two other lathes, with entirely different machining requirements, were set up by second-year apprentices Anthony Dudwoire and Anthony Mosca. Dudwoire, who not so long ago was in the same

situation as these first-year apprentices, said he taught his group something he learned on his first day. "Machines don't think," Dudwoire said. "And so, you must carefully think about each machining opera-tion before you do any operation." Zackary Watkins, a first-year apprentice who was working with Dudwoire, said he really liked learning from a fellow apprentice. "I thought it was good to be mentored by a more senior apprentice because they know exactly how we feel on our first day of machining," Watkins said. Watkins added that the joy and pride he felt ma-chining his first part was truly heartwarming, espe-cially because he didn't mess it up. Watching the first-year apprentices' body language as they were setting up the lathe made it easy to see the high amount of stress each felt as they prepared to cut chips on an actual part. Then, something magi-cal happened as each measured their final cut…broad smiles broke out as if they didn't have a care in the world. Not only were parts created that day, careers were, too. The apprentices will undergo a challenging 8,000 hours of hands-on training at the arsenal and four years of schooling at the Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, N.Y., before they are called a machin-ist.

Left: Apprentice Zackary Watkins, left, making final adjustments on a lathe, while 2nd-year apprentice Anthony Dudwoire mentors.Right: 2nd-year apprentice Anthony Mosca, center, showing apprentices Patrick Fisher, left, and Anthony Salvatore how to set up a lathe.

Photos by: John B. Snyder

Long-overdue upgrade improves dignity, respect at final resting place


By John B. Snyder

Story continues on page 6, “Cemetery”

Photo from Arsenal Historical Files

According to historical documents, the arsenal did not have a cemetery until 1919 when it acquired land south-west of building 110 to expand manufacturing operations. On the acquired land was a cemetery, as depicted in this 1918 photo. Most of those interred were relocated to the Albany Rural Cemetery, while some remained here.

Former arsenal public affairs officer Maureen Gour wrote in 1978 that the arsenal’s cemetery “doesn’t get much attention these days.” It took another 38 years after Gour made that assessment before the cemetery did get attention and boy, did it.

For those few who have visited the small, 12-grave cemetery located on the northeast corner of the arsenal, they probably walked away wondering what had these people done to deserve a final resting place of weath-ered headstones corralled by a chain-link fence.

There are probably hundreds of reasons why the cemetery did not receive much tender-loving care

through the years, but in historical correspondence, some dating to the 1940s, there was a question as to who was responsible for its upkeep.

The arsenal did not have a cemetery until 1919. That is when the arsenal acquired land adjacent to Building 110 for about $1,000, which was the old Gib-bonsville Cemetery. About 300 graves were removed from that plot of land and relocated. Although most of the graves were moved to the Al-


Photos by John B. Snyder

Cemetery Cont.

bany Rural Cemetery, 10 sites were relocated to the present location on the arsenal. There are no records as to why those sites were kept here. But in 1929, a Soldier assigned to the arsenal became ill and died. His remains are here. Then in 1942, the remains of eight persons were uncovered during an arsenal exca-vation project by Building 110. Their remains were reinterred here, too. Those were the last remains to have been buried here.

The ages of those interred here range from 12-year-old John Tisdale to 42-year-old Henry Nadeu. Tisdale was an armorer here. It was not uncommon for the ar-senal to employ children in the very risky manufacturing of ammunition. Nadeu was a Soldier assigned here. It is not known how both died.

But the question kept surfacing. Was the arsenal cemetery a federal cemetery or a private cemetery? In 1983, it became clear who was responsible.

Lt. Col. Joe Cannon, the arsenal's Director of Facility Engineering, then wrote to the commander of the Armament Materiel Readiness Com-

mand and asked that the arsenal cemetery be formally listed as an Army cemetery.

He based his recommendation on an Army Regula-tion effective in 1977 that stated “It is Department of the Army policy to acquire title to all private cemeter-ies within the boundaries of installations … Further-more, since possession is nine-tenths of the law when proper ownership cannot readily be determined, it must be presumed at this point in time that the cem-etery situated on the Watervliet Arsenal belongs to the United States …”

Nevertheless, it wasn’t until this year when an inspection team from the Army found the arsenal’s cem-etery as having a few areas requir-ing improvement that triggered this recent resurgence of interest in the upkeep of the cemetery.

Funding was quickly approved by the Army Materiel Command and as a result of a Public Works' project, the cemetery now meets all pre-scribed requirements to ensure that the final resting place of Soldiers and arsenal civilians is well preserved and maintained.

Top photos show the before, left, and after pictures of the arsenal's cemetery that received a significant upgrade in the last few weeks. The bottom photo shows one of the contract workers finishing up work near the grave of 12-year-old John Tisdale, an arsenal armorer.


Simply putting up a fence or locking doors does not provide protection from all-hazard threats. Living in the northeast, provides ample envi-ronmental threats, such as ice and snow storms, that may impact arsenal operations and families' lives.

Arsenal, family preparedness helps ensure viability, life

Story continues on page 8, “Preparedness”

By John B. Snyder

Artwork by: Historical Post Card & https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jail_Bars_Icon.svg

Just as the arsenal’s annual “shutdown” period is a misnomer, because the arsenal never truly shuts down, maybe the same is true for September’s National Preparedness Month. In essence, should we ever focus our protection against natural or man-made emergencies and disasters just one month out of the year? Not falling into the discussion of proper word usage, Joe Claus, the arsenal’s chief of Emergency Services, said the calendar forces us to think hard about our preparedness’ at home and at work each September, which is a good thing. But that being truly prepared for emergencies, which may range from an active shooter to a blinding snowstorm,

requires daily vigilance. “Our efforts to safeguard the 1,200 people who drive in and out of our gate each day does not start on September 1st and end on September 30th,” Claus said. “We not only think about the safety of our workforce, infrastructure, and operations every day, we take actions to protect the arsenal 24 hours a day, seven days a week.” But despite Claus’ team’s efforts, he says it is not enough. “When you consider what it would take to know what is going on in each of the 72 buildings,


in each corner of the arsenal’s 143 acres, or in the homes and neighborhoods of the 1,200 people who work here, there is no way we can say with 100 percent certainty that we have every threat or safety concern covered,” Claus said. “But just think how much better our situational awareness would be if we had all 1,200 workers take a more active part to protect themselves, their families, and their fellow workers.” Individuals can take a more active part in the arsenal’s preparedness by being more aware of what is going on around them, Claus said. Information on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s homepage gets to the point that Claus is trying to make in that everyone has to be a partner in the security of our arsenal and community. According to the website, no one is better able to determine if something is amiss in the daily routine of their lives than themselves. Claus said that his team takes many actions to safeguard the arsenal, many of which may not be obvious to the workforce. But there are other actions that emergency services do take that are or will be clearly visible to anyone who drives in our out of the arsenal gate. Some overt examples are of the “Giant Voice” and AtHoc message systems that alert the workforce to training exercises or to real-world events. The Giant Voice is a loud speaker type of warning, while the AtHoc sends alerts and messages through the arsenal computer network and to individuals’ cell phones. And soon, the arsenal will put in place an ID scanner at the entry

gate to check workers and visitors. But not every threat to our preparedness is in the form of a direct attack, Claus said. Threats may be discovered in adverse weather reports, as well as from social media sites. Not long ago, a video that was posted on social media sites had made broad threats against many Army installations, to include the Watervliet Arsenal. This posting was reported to arsenal security by an arsenal employee on her way into work. Not only did this warning provide a good heads up to arsenal leadership regarding a possible threat, it also provided the arsenal time to prepare for what would become a very busy day engaging the media. And so, if there is only one thing to take away from the National Preparedness Month, if you see something, say something … works!

Preparedness Cont.

Although the arsenal has for many years conducted active-shooter exercises, as seen in these photos, some threats to the arse-nal and to the arsenal's families may not be as ob-vious as seen here. Silent threats from cyber thieves or environmental threats such as snow storms may also harm the livelihoods and lives of the workforce.

Photos by John B. Snyder


By Heather Durr

RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) is the nation's largest anti-sexual violence organization and was named one of "America's 100 Best Charities" by Worth magazine. RAINN created and operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline (800.656.HOPE, online.rainn.org y rainn.org/es) in partnership with more than 1,000 local sexual assault service providers across the country and operates the DoD Safe Helpline for the Department of Defense. RAINN also carries out programs to prevent sexual violence, help victims, and ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice.

Many WVA employees have college-age relatives going back to school this fall. Here are RAINN’s TIPS on increasing safety on campus:

• Know your resources. Who should you contact if you or a friend needs help? Where should you go? Locate resources such as the campus health center, campus police station, and a local sexual assault service provider. Notice where emergency phones are located on campus, and program the campus security number into your cell phone for easy access.

• Stay alert. When you’re moving around on campus or in the surrounding neigh-borhood, be aware of your surroundings. Consider inviting a friend to join you or ask-ing campus security for an escort. If you’re alone, only use headphones in one ear to stay aware of your surroundings.

• Be careful about posting your location. Many social media sites, like Facebook and Foursquare, use geolocation to publicly share your location. Consider disabling this func-tion and reviewing other social media settings.

• Make others earn your trust. A college environment can foster a false sense of se-curity. They may feel like fast friends, but give people time earn your trust before relying on them.

• Think about Plan B. Spend some time thinking about back-up plans for poten-tially sticky situations. If your phone dies, do you have a few numbers memorized to get help? Do you have emergency cash in case you can’t use a credit card? Do you have the address to your dorm or college memorized? If you drive, is there a spare key hidden, gas in your car, and a set of jumper cables?

• Be secure. Lock your door and windows when you’re asleep and when you leave the room. If people constantly prop open the main door to the dorm or apartment, tell security or a trusted authority figure.

SHARP SKILLS: What’s RAINN?


Arsenal Upcoming Events

Blood Drive: American Red Cross Bloodmobile will visit the arsenal on Tuesday, 4 October, and Wednesday, 5 October, from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The location is the post restaurant. Appointment cards now have an area for the supervisor to sign to ensure there is coverage for the em-ployee to leave their work site. Please be sure to receive prior approval from your supervisor and your supervisor must sign your blood drive appointment card.

Fire Prevention Week: October 9-15 ... Promoting this year’s Fire Prevention Week campaign, “Don’t Wait - Check the Date! Replace Smoke Alarms Every 10 Years,” to better educate the public about the critical importance of knowing how old their smoke alarms are and replacing them once they’re 10-years-old.

Columbus Day Federal Holiday: Monday, October 10

Town Hall: Wednesday, October 19, 3 p.m., in Building 110

Childrens Halloween Party: Saturday, October 22, 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m., at the Pavil-ion

Veterans Day Parade: Friday, November 11, 10:30 a.m., at Central Avenue and Partridge Streets, Albany

Albany County Veterans’ Day ParadeFriday, 11 November

10:30 a.m.You have a chance to join us this November as we honor our Nation’s Veterans by marching in this year’s Albany County Veterans’ Day Parade. In addition to two Arsenal/Benét Labs floats, we plan to field several of our emergency service vehicles and several historic military vehicles from the Hudson-Mohawk Military Vehicle Club.

So, please gather your family members and march with us as we pay proper recognition to our Veterans, as well as to showcase the arsenal to the community. If you have any questions, give John Snyder a call @ 266-5055.

SAVE THE DATE

Nov. 11, 2016

Veterans Day Parade


Watervliet Arsenal Workforce and Families,

Does your home have a smoke alarm? According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), the answer is likely yes: NFPA research shows that most American homes have at least one. But do you know how old your smoke alarms are? If you’re like most people, you’re probably not so sure. That is the motivating factor for this year’s Fire Prevention Week campaign, “Don’t Wait: Check the Date! Replace Smoke Alarms Every 10 Years”

A recent survey conducted by NFPA revealed that only a small percentage of peo-ple know how old their smoke alarms are, or how often they need to be replaced. That lack of awareness is a concern because smoke alarms don’t last forever. In many of the home fires that we respond to in the cities around the Watervliet Arse-nal there are oftentimes very few or no functioning smoke detectors. This is ex-ceptionally dangerous considering the volume of home fires that occur overnight when people are sleeping and that half of all fire deaths occur between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.

During last year’s fire prevention week we emphasized that every bedroom should have a working smoke detector. This year it is important to remind the public to ensure that these units are in good working order. NFPA 72, National Fire Alarm Code®, requires smoke alarms be replaced at least every 10 years, but because the public is generally unaware of this requirement, many homes have smoke alarms past their expiration date, putting people at increased risk.

As the official sponsor of Fire Prevention Week for more than 90 years, NFPA is promoting this year’s Fire Prevention Week campaign, “Don’t Wait - Check the Date! Replace Smoke Alarms Every 10 Years,” to better educate the public about the critical importance of knowing how old their smoke alarms are and replacing them once they’re 10 years old. Fire Prevention Week is October 9-15.

To find out how old your smoke alarm is and its expiration date, simply look on the back of the alarm where the date of manufacture is marked. The smoke alarm should be replaced 10 years from that date (not the date of purchase). Smoke alarms should be tested monthly, and batteries should be replaced once a year or when they begin to chirp, signaling that they’re running low.

The Watervliet Arsenal Fire Department has fire prevention materials on hand in the station for both children and adults. Feel free to stop in and grab something.

For more information on smoke alarms check out: www.firepreventionweek.org.

u.s. army newsletter from the watervliet arsenal - september 2016

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