Newsletter from the Army's Oldest Operating Arsenal - September 2017

Arsenal trying to enhance "Soldier Readiness"

by enhancing its own Readiness

SALVOU.S. Army Watervliet Arsenal - Since 1813

September 2017

Story on Page 3

Salvo September 20, 2017

The Arsenal Salvo is an authorized monthly publication for members of the Department of Defense. Contents of the Salvo are not necessar-ily the official views of, or an endorsement by the U.S. Government, the Department 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 pub-lication.

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: 1st Year Apprentice Jason Nixon, left, with 3rd Year Apprentice Jamey Gray.

Colonel Joseph R. MorrowCommander’s Corner

What a busy end to fiscal year 2017, closing out one of the best years in recent memory for new con-tract orders. As we now tally up our final produc-tion results, we are already talking about production challenges for fiscal years 2020 and 2021. Despite several years of unpredictable and de-clining defense budgets, we have once again sur-vived the outflow of defense requirements and are now looking at several years of increasing work-load. To put this into perspective, we now have more than $100 million in new orders over what we had at the same point in time last year. We should greet this increase in workload as good news for Army and DOD Readiness. But with this good news comes significant challenges for us to overcome. The bottom line is that we have made a lot of promises and now our performance must meet our promises. One of the critical ways that we can generate momentum to meet our promises is to increase our capacity by improving our personnel in numbers and quality, as well as with bringing on new ma-chinery. So, I have asked each division chief to develop a divisional plan to align with increasing capacity requirements that begin in fiscal year 2018. You have probably seen in recent months signifi-cant actions to bring on more workers and not just any worker, but truly the best. Several job fairs and

our social media sites have created a lot of interest for thousands to come work here. Increasing the base of interest is very important to enhancing the quality of our future workforce. As the base of ap-plicants grow, so will our opportunity to be more selective in who we hire. We will also increase our capacity to meet future promises by bringing on line newer and more capa-ble machinery. We will invest several million dol-lars in the near future to bring state-of-the-art ma-chines in to replace many critical pieces of equip-ment that have been extremely well used. Although it may take up to two years to put in place new machinery, we are working hard with our higher headquarters to fast track some of these purchases in order to cut procurement and installation time. Yes, this has been a busy year but now we face an even busier year. It will take us time to ramp up our capacity with new employees and equipment and so, I need everyone here to perform better than last year and to do so safely. Thank you for what you have done and for what you are about to do.

mailto:[email protected]


Story continues on page 4, “Readiness”

By John B. Snyder

In order to remain an active participant in the cur-rent and future efforts to improve Soldier readiness, the Army’s manufacturing arsenal at Watervliet, N.Y., must first improve its internal readiness to meet its promises to U.S. and allied troops. Although Congressionally-mandated sequestration hit the Arsenal workforce hard in 2013 with furloughs and a significant reduction in workload, something magical has happened this year. Finally, after several years of uncertain and declining defense budgets, the Arsenal has logged in more than $100 million in new work this year over what it had on its books at the same point in time last year. This work is directly re-lated to the future readiness of U.S. and allied troops. “We have an unbelievable challenge ahead of us and one we didn’t see when I took command one year ago,” said Arsenal Commander Col. Joseph Morrow at a town hall this month. “Between working on future

cannon systems for the Army to providing howitzer cannons to India, we must use fiscal year 2018 to shape our operations to adjust to a new normal. A new normal that will require us to double our manufactur-ing capacity in just four years.” Readiness here is defined as having the manufac-turing capability and capacity to provide continuous sustainment support to troops in the field, as well as responsive support to the Army’s weapon moderniza-tion efforts, Morrow said. The bottom line is that the Arsenal’s promise to provide critical weapons systems to the field and prototypes for Army researchers and weapon program managers must be met on time, with a high quality product. The biggest challenge to ramping up the Arsenal’s

Photo by John B. Snyder

Unbelievable readiness challenges has Arsenal fast tracking


Readiness Cont.

Arsenal Commander Col. Joseph Morrow challenged the work-force during this month's town hall to do all that they can to "On Board" and or fast track new personnel so that they are pro-ducing and supplying readiness faster to the nation's and allied troops. The Arsenal's apprentice program is a great example of an on-boarding activity as first-year apprentices are making products on their first day of work.

readiness, however, is the element of time. According to Joseph Turcotte, the Arsenal’s deputy commander, it takes the Arsenal up to two years to bring a new machine on line for manufacturing. This is due to a limited availability of vendors to produce a machine that would meet the unique manufacturing requirements here. And therefore, there are very few “off-the-shelf” machines available for Arsenal manu-facturing. Additionally, it takes the Arsenal four years and 8,000 hours of hands-on training to mature an appren-tice into machinist, Turcotte said. Even if the Arsenal was able to hire a journeyman machinist from a civil-ian manufacturing center, it still would take about two years before that machinist is fully up to speed on the Arsenal’s manufacturing processes and procedures. To mitigate the effects of time, Morrow has chal-lenged every division chief to develop team strategies that will lead to increase Arsenal readiness, which in turn will increase Army readiness. Additionally, he said that every new employee, which were about 65 personnel this summer, should be “on boarded.” On boarding is a sense of fast tracking the integration of every new employee so that they are more productive sooner. The Arsenal simply cannot wait two years to integrate new employees. Some evidence of this on boarding process was

found this month in the Arsenal’s tool room where first-year apprentices were introduced to machining. “There used to be a time where apprentices started working with scrap metal in their first month or two,” said Anthony Polsinelli, tool room supervisor. “But if you could have seen these first-year apprentices making their first machining cuts earlier this month, you would see that on day one they were working on products that were either needed to meet production requirements or to support the serviceability of manu-facturing tools.” Given the recent increase in workload, Polsinelli explained the Arsenal no longer has the luxury of slowly transitioning apprentices into Arsenal produc-tion. They (apprentices) must be earning their pay on day one. Some might wonder, however, if fast tracking new employees places them at risk. But Polsinelli and third-year apprentice Jamey Gray, who is coaching the first-year apprentices in the tool room, say that is not the case. “My number one priority for all who work in the tool room is safety,” Polsinelli said. “In fact, my defi-nition of success for these apprentices is that they

Story continues on page 5, “Readiness”



leave here without being injured or having damaged a machine.” Gray agreed. “Although every apprentice is or will soon be-come a critical part of production, it is more impor-tant to me that they leave every day with the same number of fingers as they came into work with,” Gray said. “And so, much of my daily training and coaching is related to safety.” An interesting result of the on-boarding process with apprentices is that they are thriving in this

heightened environment. Jason Nixon, a first-year appren-tice who has a master’s degree in Biology and Chemical Engineering, said that he loved being challenged on his first day of training. “I didn’t expect that on my first day that I would be machining a part for production,” Nixon said. “Although my stress level was a little high, it made me feel great that I was supporting Soldiers on my first day. I am truly fortunate to be here.” After one week in the tool room, first-year apprentice Jason Scheild-ing was quickly put on the produc-tion floor making rails for a 105mm cannon system. “Throughout my life, I have al-

ways thrived when placed in a challenging situation and therefore, I think that it is great to be an active participant in production so quickly,” Scheilding said. “As a former Soldier, it truly makes me feel great that I am making a product that will be used by Soldiers.” The Arsenal apprentice program is proving that “on boarding” and or fast tracking the integration of new employees not only works, but it must be done in order for the Arsenal to support the increased readiness requirements of the nation’s Soldiers.

Readiness Cont.

Top: Third-year apprentice Jamey Gray, left, observing first-year ap-prentice Dewayne Scully-Irvin on the machine during Scully-Irvin's first week of training. The appren-tice program has apprentices train in the first few weeks in the tool room where on their first machin-ing operation they actually make parts for manufacturing or for maintenance.

Center: First-year apprentice Diwas Rayamajhi setting up an operation while fellow apprentices observe.

Bottom: First-year apprentice Mat-thew Moore making an adjustment just prior to machining a part for a tool used in manufacturing, while fellow apprentice Richard Krusz-eski observes.

Photos by John B. Snyder

There were once hundreds, now just a few"Vietnam War Vets"

Photo by William Martin


The Arsenal was once filled with thousands of World War II and Korean War Veterans, but their service here is now just a memory. Although the Vietnam War pro-duced hundreds of Veterans who would assist in the manufacturing of Arsenal products that would support the U.S. and allied troops in many more conflicts, their numbers here are now in the single digits. And so, within the revered walls of the Arsenal’s His-toric Big Gun Shop the Arsenal commander took a mo-ment this month to reflect and to honor the nine workers who once served in the Vietnam Theater of Operations during the 1960s and 70s. Given that the Vietnam War is not widely discussed in high schools or colleges today, and the fact that nearly half of the Arsenal’s workforce were not even born until after the major combat operations had ended in Vietnam, this ceremony served as much as an education tool as it was as a recognition ceremony. Steve Verrigni, who was one of the Veterans honored,

said the ceremony brought back good memories of com-radery and a sense family that he had while serving in combat with fellow Soldiers. "No one can truly appreciate or understand how pow-erful the relationships Soldiers develop with each other unless they have served," Verrigni said. "And, when one serves in combat, that relationship gets even stronger." Verrigni added that he, as well as other Vietnam Vet-erans, have a sense of duty to never forget those who have served and those who will serve. Dave O'Rourke said that this was the first time that he can recall being recognized for his service in Vietnam. "When I returned home from Vietnam, I did not care if I was recognized or not," O'Rourke said. "But after all of these years, I actually liked the ceremony and appreci-ate all the effort made to recognize the few of us (Viet-

Story continues on page 7, “Veterans”

From Left: Joseph Turcotte, deputy commander; Jim Schlegel, U.S. Army Reserves; Dave O'Rourke, U.S. Marine Corps; Ron Nichols, U.S. Marine Corps; Ken Farley, U.S. Army; Jeff Dishaw, U.S. Navy; Jim Best, U.S. Air Force; Ed Stewart, U.S. Navy; Steve Verrigni, U.S. Army; and Col. Joseph Morrow.

By John B. Snyder


nam War Vets) who are still here." O'Rourke did say that the ceremony was bittersweet in that it brought back memories of combat that he has tried to forget through the years. Nevertheless, now that the ceremony is complete, he is very happy to have been honored. "I took the certificate that I received and made copies and took those copies to VFW Post 729 and shared with my fellow Veterans," O'Rourke said. "I couldn't believe how much my fellow Veterans appreciated the certifi-cates or how much my family would enjoy seeing the ceremony on Facebook." O'Rourke said that he usually doesn't go onto Face-book but when a fellow Veteran here showed him the Arsenal page, he was amazed to see that several of his family members had posted comments about the ceremo-ny where he and his fellow Veterans were honored. In front of several hundred Arsenal employees, Col. Joseph Morrow recognized eight of the nine who wished to participate in the ceremony.Jim Best, who served in the U.S. Air Force with the 355th Avionic Maintenance Squadron (Wild Weasels), in Thailand, from January 1970 to December 1970.

Veterans Cont. Jeff Dishaw, who served in the U.S. Navy aboard the USS Enterprise off the coast of Vietnam, from January 1971 to July 1974.Ken Farley, who served in the U.S. Army with Bat-tery D, 5th Battalion, 2nd Artillery Regiment in Vietnam, from October 1970 to October 1971.Ron Nichols, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps with the Marine Aircraft Group, 1st Marine Air Wing in Viet-nam, from March 1968 to April 1969.Dave O’Rourke, who served in the U.S. Marines with E Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Division in Viet-nam, from December 1969 to February 1971.Jim Schlegel, who served in the U.S. Army Reserves with 1018th Supply and Service Company, U.S. Army Support Command in Vietnam, from August 1968 to June 1969.Ed Stewart, who served in the U.S. Navy onboard the USS Ramsey off the coast of Cambodia and Vietnam, in 1975. Although combat operations ended in 1973 with the signing of the peace accords, the U.S. did have military in direct support of Vietnam until Saigon fell in 1975.And Steve Verrigni, who served in the U.S. Army with the 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division in Vietnam, from July 1971 to August 1972.



DOD recognizes Arsenal for its cost-effectiveness

Last July, the Arsenal was honored at the Pentagon when Tom Pond, the Arsenal's director of opera-tions, received a Value Engineering Award for our efforts with a company called Electralloy. Elec-tralloy has allowed the Arsenal to use their gas-box furnaces for Arsenal forgings, an agreement that has achieved associated cost reductions and increased throughput.

The Arsenal, via Greg Marcklinger, a foreman in the Manufacturing Support Division, submitted a proposal titled, "Upgrade Tube Preform Furnace Process." According to the proposal, the relation-ship the Arsenal has with public-private partner Electralloy has increased Arsenal throughput of forge production by more than 30 percent, while achieving a net savings greater than $800,000.

The Defense Department's Value Engineering Awards program is very competitive as hundreds, if not thousands of defense activities submit their best practice for consideration. Award selection criteria must meet verifiable criteria such as a savings in the budget; product, process, or service improve-ment; innovation; cross-functional or interagency teaming; or uniqueness of idea.


By John B. Snyder

Left: Capt. Harry Stephens, left, and Lt. Col. James Houlihan, center, are having their picture taken by Sgt. 1st Class Matt Scotten after they were interviewed by Scotten. Scotten, who is a public affairs noncommissioned officer with the Personnel Force Innovation (PFI) headquar-ters in Indianapolis, Indiana, visited the Arsenal this month to draft an article for the agency's annual review report about the PFI program.Right: Sgt. Dominic Spucches, left, closing out his interview with Sgt. 1st Class Matt Scotten.


There are troops among us! Where did they all come from? Uniformed Soldiers here? Seeing uniformed troops here should not surprise anyone. After all, the Arsenal hosts units from the Army National Guard and from the Army and Marine Corps recruiting commands. But what is different is that these troops are working side-by-side Arsenal employees. The six troops, who range in rank from Lieutenant Colonel to Sergeant, are here under the Defense Department’s Personnel Force Innovation Program or PFI. This program allows select National Guard and Reserve service members to serve on active duty for one to three years. You would find them today working in such areas as legal, transportation, environment, and information management. According to the PFI home page, PFI fills critical manpower needs in DOD working capital fund activities by provid-ing highly-skilled National Guard or Reserve service members on a reimbursable and fee-for-service basis. All service members on PFI active duty tours are volunteers who may use either civilian or military skills (or both) in their active duty tour assignments. And it appears that they have learned what many of us have known here for years...this is a great place to work. Lt. Col. James Houlihan is an Army Reservist whose home station is normally the Keller Army Community Hospital, at West Point, N.Y., where he serves as an Environmental Science Engineer Officer. Now, he serves the Arsenal as an Environmental Protection Action Officer and seems to have adapted quickly to the unique nature of the Arsenal. “It has been a great experience meeting new professionals, and experiencing the history and processes of the Arsenal,” Houlihan said. “Everyone is so helpful and motivated at the Arsenal, and I am blessed to be selected from other environ-mental professionals to serve here.” 1st Lt. Joseph Augustin is from the Army Reserve’s 324th Expeditionary Signal Battalion out of Greenville, S.C., and he, too, echoes Houlihan's sentiments about working here. “I have never been part of an organization where the atmosphere is that we are all family,” Augustin said. “People here are friendly, genuinely happy, and they demonstrate great pride in the work that they do.” Augustin is an Information Assurance Security Officer here who assists that policy and procedures are in place for the workforce, as well ensuring that the Arsenal’s computer network is secure from cyber-attacks. Warrant Officer Jean Prendes, is from the Texas Army National Guard, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 136th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, Austin, Texas. Prendes is a network administrator here and he, too, appreciates the value of working here. "The PFI program has been a great experience, as it has allowed me to expand my knowledge on technologies not available to me at my home station, while contributing to the Arsenal's mission," Prendes said.. "It is exciting to work at a place that has such an importance piece in the U.S. Military."


Lean Corner by Kyle Buono

Pilot Testing

Coming up with a different way to do things takes a lot of work. Whether it's to fix a problem or to create something new, people invest time and energy in evaluating situ-ations, analyzing data, and brainstorming before a project is ready to be implemented. Once it’s ready, everyone is usually eager to "get it done" and see if it works.

There's a danger, however, in rushing to completion. During continuous improve-ment events, we work hard to identify all customers and stakeholders who might be effected by the change we want to make. We involve them up front and during the process to make sure their issues are addressed. That said, until we hit "GO" we're not really sure what will happen once a change or new process is implemented. There are a few ways to make sure we've ironed all the kinks and prepared for the unexpected. One of the best ways is a Pilot Test. That’s kind of a soft start where we pick a representative sample to try before full scale implementation.

A pilot test provides an opportunity to implement a new process on a small scale and receive input. Any weaknesses in the process can be addressed before implementation company-wide. While this process may seem like it will delay improvement overall, it can actually ensure success when you implement company-wide. Before instituting the pilot, you should consider the following:

• Where would you like to pilot test the process?• Are the areas chosen for the pilot already engaged and included in the process?• What mechanism will be in place to give and receive feedback from key stakeholders during the pilot?• What structure will be put in place to support each stakeholder during the pilot period?• What roles can the leadership team play in the pilot?• Are the key stakeholders engaged and have roadblocks been identified and removed prior to piloting in those practice settings?• What are the process measures to determine compliance during the pilot?

Regardless of the approach, the goal is to test the process for a short period of time. Each pilot would apply to specific time frames contingent on resources and scope of the project. This helps identify and correct major gaps within the process and confirm its utility within current workflow. The process should continue to be enhanced and the pilot testing expand-ed as appropriate. How much pilot testing needs to be done depends on the size and scope of the project; and how many different organizations or processes are effected. The best outcome is one that gets the desired result of the process change. And remember, "Continu-ous Improvement" means revisiting what you've done to see if it's working. If it's not getting the best result, try again!


Finally! All Vets can shop online, we benefit

Military Veterans have been a part of the Arsenal since it opened its gates in 1813. But beginning this Veterans Day, more than 30,000 Veterans in New York’s Capital District will suddenly have the abil-ity to affect the morale and welfare of the Arsenal’s workforce. And, they may never know it. The Department of Defense’s military exchange services will launch on November 11 online shop-ping for all honorably discharged Veterans. Prior to Veterans Day, the online shopping benefit was limited primarily to active-duty troops; National Guards-men, Reservists and their dependents; and retirees and their dependents. This benefit, however, will not provide Veterans access to brick-and-mortar Ex-change stores. According to an Exchange Service press release, extending online shopping privileges to all honorably discharged Veterans will directly improve family and support programs for Soldiers, Airmen, Sailors, Marines and Coast Guard members as well as their families. Increased sales and earnings as a result of Veterans online shopping benefit have the potential to generate tens of millions of dollars in additional dividends to Quality-of-Life programs. These funds decrease taxpayers’ burden to support services and programs on military installations around the world. Pamela Hammond, who runs the Arsenal’s Ex-change express store, said that a portion of the Arse-nal’s Exchange store’s earnings are returned to the Arsenal’s Morale, Welfare and Recreation or MWR programs.

“For every online sale made in the Capital District, we will receive up to 75 percent of the profit,” Ham-mond said. “Given that the Arsenal has fewer than 300 Veterans, the ability to reach out to tens of thou-sands of Veterans in the community should produce a significant turnaround in profits that will be shared with the Arsenal workforce.” The additional revenue could not come at a more appropriate time as sales have declined in recent years, thus reducing the amount of dollars toward the Arse-nal’s MWR program. According to Arsenal Financial Program Coordina-tor Dave Madsen, the Arsenal’s MWR program had received nearly $19,000 in 2009, but by fiscal year 2016, the Arsenal’s share of the profits dropped to about $5,400. This money is critical to supplement such MWR activities as the Arsenal’s Body Forge fitness center, swimming pool, playground area, and the Cannon Club, Madsen said. As the Department of Defense’s military exchange services prepare to welcome potentially 13 million honorably discharged Veterans back to their mili-tary families this coming Veteran’s Day, the website https://www.vetverify.org/ has been launched to con-firm eligibility. VetVerify.org will use information from the Defense Department’s Defense Manpower Data Center to verify a Veteran’s status and will notify the Veteran if their request is accepted or not accepted. Veterans should register today so that they will be ready to shop on Veterans Day.

By John B. Snyder Pamela Hammond, the Arsenal's Express store manager, said she is excited about the new possibilities for Veterans to shop online and the benefits to the Arsenal that will come with those sales.



Veterans should go to VetVerify.org to check their eligibility. The process usually takes about two minutes.

What is the Veteransonline shopping benefit?

Veterans will be able to enjoy tax-free shopping, exclusive military pricing on name brand products, exclusive credit opportunities and more at shopmyexchange.com

VetVerify is a shared verification service that relies exclusively on secure data supplied by the Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) to determine eligibility.

Where can approvedVeterans shop?

This benefit allows Veterans of all United States Armed Forces to shop online at shopmyexchange.com, as well as the other online military exchanges. This does not grant on-installation access.

What information doVeterans need to provide?

Most Veterans only need to provide a name, date of birth, the last four digits of their social security number and a valid email address. Some Veterans will need to take additional steps for verification. Please visit VetVerify.org for more information.

When can approved Veterans shop?

The benefit launches on Nov. 11, 2017. However, millions of records have not yet been digitized, so Veterans should check their eligibility today! Veterans who verify early also increase their chances of being selected as an early shopper.

Where can Veteransget more information?

Visit VetVerify.org/faq for more details.

The Department of Defense will soon allow Veterans of all United States Armed Forces to shop online at shopmyexchange.com

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

VetVerify.org

V E T E R A N S O N L I N E S H O P P I N G B E N E F I T

What is VetVerify.org?

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Newsletter from the Army's Oldest Operating Arsenal - September 2017

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