A gathering of key stories and photos that capture some of the action at the Army's manufacturing center at Watervliet, New York for the month of February 2015.

1. U.S. Army Watervliet Arsenal
February 2015
THE
SALVO
Expanding the market,
one tube at a time
Story on Page 3

2. Page 2 Salvo Feb. 28, 2015
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 endorse-
ment 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:
john.b.snyder.civ@mail.mil. The editor reserves the right to edit all information submitted
for publication.
Commander, Col. Lee H. Schiller Jr.
Public Affairs Officer, John B. Snyder
Editor, John B. Snyder
Photographer: John B. Snyder
Arsenal Facebook Page @
http://on.fb.me/sq3LEm
Colonel
Lee H. Schiller Jr.
Commanding
Manufacturer 6
Commander’s
Corner
For more than 200 years, women here have
skillfully performed in just about every critical
position, from packing flannel ammunition cartridges
to ordering raw materials to machining cannons,
thereby greatly contributing to the Arsenal’s storied
history.
Given such a distinguished lineage, I can’t help
but wonder why it took the U.S Army until the 1970s
before it integrated women into male-dominated
career fields or why it took our Congress until 1987
to proclaim that March is National Women’s History
Month. But suffice it for me to say, it feels good that
others have followed the Arsenal’s lead.
As a part of recognizing and celebrating such
diversity, I look forward to you joining me at the
Annual Diversity Day Luncheon on Wednesday,
March 4th
. The event will include the presentation of
the Martin Luther King Award to someone who not
only supports diversity, but also promotes it.
Speaking of diversity, have you seen the variety of
products that we have been working on lately?
We recently shipped a 120mm ballistic test
mortar system that will in the next week or two be
tested at the Yuma Proving Ground. And in the next
few weeks, we will have completed work on an
experimental 155mm howitzer tube, as well as axles
for trucks. This work is going on alongside other
production for tanks, artillery, and for mortars.
This diverse workload proves that there is no
complex machining that we cannot handle.
We are nearly halfway through our fiscal year,
which began last October, and I will tell you that each
month it seems as if the light at the end of the tunnel
gets a little brighter in regards to workload. We have
a significant number of quotes that we are working,
some of which are multimillion dollar orders.
So, stay the course and continue to give us a 100
percent effort every day. It appears the worst is behind
us in regards to workload uncertainty, but we are
not out of the woods just yet. Nevertheless, we are
heading in the right direction for sustained workload
predictability.

3. Page 3 Salvo Feb. 28, 2015
By John B. Snyder
Story continues on page 4, see “MDA”
Missile Defense Agency
to experience Arsenal quality
Looks can be deceiving by simply looking at this lone tube for the Missile Defense Agency and wonder why the Arsenal would bid on a con-
tract for one tube. But in today’s era of declining defense budgets, the Arsenal seeks work from non-traditional sources as an investment in
the future. In essence, some hope that this tube may open the door for future contracts with the Missile Defense Agency.
The Arsenal announced this month that it was
awarded a contract valued at nearly $30,000 to
provide a machined 30-foot propulsion barrel to the
Department of Defense Missile Defense Agency.
While the dollar amount of this order ranks among
some of the smallest the Arsenal has received in the
past year, what is significant about this order is that
this is the first time the Arsenal has supported this
research and development agency, said Bill Dingmon,
the Arsenal’s chief of manufacturing.
“A few years ago, we would not have given any
thought about developing a quote for a project as
small as this,” Dingmon said. “But in today’s era of
declining defense manufacturing requirements, we
cannot afford not to consider all contracts that may
lead to more work in the future.”
At the end of the day, adding the Missile Defense
Agency to our portfolio speaks volumes about the
quality of machining that we do, Dingmon said.
There was another critical consideration the
Agency had when it was deciding whether or not to
give Watervliet the contract ̶ could the Arsenal do it
now?
Photo by John B. Snyder

4. Page 4 Salvo Feb. 28, 2015
MDA Cont.
According to Bruce Pienkoski, the Arsenal’s
project manager for this order, beyond the
consideration of cost, which did come in about 50
percent lower than other quotes, was that the Missile
Defense Agency needed the barrel immediately.
“The value of being an Army-owned and operated
manufacturing center is that we can shift production
priorities overnight,” Pienkoski said. “In regards to
the Missile Defense Agency, they requested a quote
on January 13, by January 26 we were machining the
barrel, and on February 11 we shipped the tube.”
The barrel will be used in simulation studies of
high-altitude extraction of a payload from an aircraft.
Photo by John B. Snyder
Photos by John B. Snyder
Left: Machinist Christopher Herold using a guide-boring machine on the tube for the Missile Defense Agency in late January.
Right: Arsenal Packager Adam Putnam putting the final touches on the Missile Defense tube before it shipped this month.
Quality Control Inspector Remy Polacinski preparing the Missile
Defense Agency tube for one of many quality control checks prior to
the tube going to packaging for shipment.

5. Page 5 Salvo Feb. 28, 2015
Army awards Watervliet
$15M to upgrade tanks
By John B. Snyder
Story continues on page 6, “Tanks”
The Arsenal announced this month that it has re-
ceived $15 million in new contracts to provide the
U.S. Army with tank tubes, breech blocks, and breech
mechanism assemblies as part of the Army’s efforts to
upgrade several hundred Abrams main battle tanks.
Tom Pond, the Arsenal’s director of operations,
said that although the Arsenal has a long history of
manufacturing parts for U.S. tanks, this order came in
as a pleasant surprise given the current environment of
declining defense dollars.
“When the Budget Control Act of 2011 was imple-
mented in 2013 by the way of sequestration, the ef-
fects had an immediate and negative impact in regards
to the amount of work the Arsenal had on its books,”
Pond said. “Sequestration caused a great deal of fis-
cal uncertainty within the Army, which then caused
weapon program managers to either reduce orders or
to not award contracts at all.”
What this work means to the Arsenal is that over
the course of the next few years the Arsenal will have
an additional 40,000 hours of direct labor require-
ments, which does not include several thousand hours
of indirect labor that will also be tied to these orders,
Pond added.
Despite the importance of increased revenue in an
era of declining budgets there is an added benefit to
these orders that is unique to Watervliet.
“Although we now celebrate all orders, big or
small, these large orders are key to our retaining a
critical manufacturing skill base for our nation,” said
The Army awarded the Arsenal $15 million to upgrade tanks similar to this Abrams main battle tank from the Minnesota National Guard that is
racing through a breach in a barbed-wire obstacle during a Combat Training Exercise at the Orchard Combat Training Center, Idaho, Aug. 21,
2014. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Leon Cook, 20th Public Affairs Detachment.

6. Page 6 Salvo Feb. 28, 2015
Tanks Cont.
Mary Fischer, the Arsenal’s program manag-
er for the order. “The Defense Department
expects the Arsenal to retain a high degree
of expertise in 11 critical skills that are re-
quired to manufacture large caliber weapon
systems for our troops.”
To the Arsenal workforce all work is not
equal, Fischer said. For these orders, the
workforce will exercise all 11 critical manu-
facturing skills, which range from rotary
forging to heat treatment
to complex machining,
whereas other production
requirements, such as mor-
tar production, may only
exercise seven of the 11
critical skills.
Production for the bar-
rels will begin this year, but
due to the long lead time
for raw materials, produc-
tion for the breech blocks
and mechanisms will not
start until 2016.
The upgrade to the Abrams tanks is the result of the
great research and design work done by the Army’s
Benét Laboratories, which is located on the Watervliet
Arsenal. Benét has designed an Ammunition Data
Link for the Abrams tank that will provide the tank
crew the ability to fire the Advanced Multi-Purpose
(AMP) and M829A4 Advanced Kinetic Energy (AKE)
rounds.
This ADL is an electronic signal pathway from the
fire control processor to a chambered programmable
tank round. The portion of the pathway designed by
Benét Laboratories carries the signal from the tur-
ret signal network to the rear face of the chambered
round.
The Watervliet Arsenal is an Army-owned-and-
operated manufacturing facility and is the oldest, con-
tinuously active arsenal in the United States having
begun operations during the War of 1812.
Today’s Arsenal is relied upon by U.S. and foreign
militaries to produce the most advanced, high-tech,
high-powered weaponry for cannon, howitzer, and
mortar systems. This National Historic Registered
Landmark has an annual economic benefit to the local
community in excess of $100 million.
The Watervliet Arsenal is the only place in the
Department of Defense where those who do military
weapons research and design work (Benét Laborato-
ries) are within a five-minute walk of those who will
machine their design (Arsenal manufacturing). This
synergy provides an environment of rapid response to
the emerging needs of today’s Army.
Top: Machinist Tim Fontaine, left, and
Apprentice Josh Feldman prepare a
120mm Breech Ring for machining
last August for Yap Films. Yap Films,
an independent film company out of
Toronto, set up cameras and lights
throughout the Arsenal August 13-20 to
capture footage for a documentary film
titled, “Troop Factory.”
Left: Machinist Wayne Pelletier work-
ing on a 120mm tank tube.
Photos by John B. Snyder

7. Tonko visiting the Benét site is
that at one location he was able to
see how computer-aided designs
are transformed into finished prod-
ucts for military and civilian ap-
plications,” Bennett said. “Then
when you add in the synergistic
manufacturing development that is
achieved by hav-
ing Benét Labs
collocated with
the Watervliet
Arsenal manu-
facturing center,
Representative
Tonko was able to
see firsthand how
responsive this
site is to the needs
of the Army.”
Beyond the
standard overview
briefing that high-
lighted Benét’s
research and
design work for
legacy and future
weapon systems,
Tonko was shown
some of the tools, such as three-di-
mensional modeling and laser scan-
ning, that Benét engineers use for
prototype development. These digital
Page 7 Salvo Feb. 28, 2015
Story continues on page 8, “Tonko”
Photo by John B. Snyder
The Army’s Benét Laboratories
leveraged an opportunity here this
month to tout the current state of
U.S. Army weapons research and
design to Congressman Paul D.
Tonko (D-NY).
Tonko, who was selected earlier
this month to serve on the House
Committee on
Science, Space
and Technol-
ogy, visited the
Watervliet Arse-
nal in an effort to
learn more about
the Army’s efforts
in additive manu-
facturing.
“For us (Unit-
ed States) to com-
pete effectively
in what is truly
a global race,
we must invest
more in science
and technology,”
Tonko said. “Af-
ter all, the art of
discovery is in our
DNA, and it is a part of our pioneer
spirit.”
Benét Labs, which falls in
Tonko’s Congressional District, has
since the 1980s been using additive
manufacturing, such as Stereo-
Lithography, a forerunner to 3-D
printing, in weapons research and
design, said Timothy O’Connor, a
Benét Labs engineering technician.
Benét was one of the first, if not the
first, in the Army to use a form of
3-D printing.
Lee Bennett, the director of
Benét Labs, said that his research
and design engineers use all as-
pects of additive manufacturing
tools, from 3-D printing to Stereo-
Lithography to Laser-Engineered
Net Shaping, to enhance existing
capabilities.
“The value of Congressman
NY Congressman sees, touts
innovation and change
at Benét Labs
By John B. Snyder
Benét Lab’s Mechanical Engineer Eric Brown, right, explaining to U.S. Rep. Paul D. Tonko
how the Laser-Engineered Net Shaping (LENS) machine is used to repair parts for the U.S.
military and for private industry. Tonko visited the LENS lab on Feb. 23, 2015.

8. Page 8 Salvo Feb. 28, 2015
Photo by John B. Snyder
models are the starting point for 3-D printing.
Some of the benefits of 3-D printing are that at a
fraction of the cost of traditional manufacturing Benét
can verify fit, form, and function of complex assem-
blies, as well as produce prototype parts and actual
hardware.
In addition to showcasing the capability of additive
manufacturing tools found at Benét Labs, there was
one other critical piece of information that the Benét
workforce was compelled to state.
“The true value of what Benét Labs brings to the
Army cannot be measured by the number or the type
of machines and tools that we use,” said Timothy Ged-
ney, a Benét Labs mechanical engineer who briefed
computer-aided design. “What we truly wanted to
highlight is the value of our intangible qualities, such
as experience, pride, and dedication to the mission,
which are qualities that truly make our work unique to
Army research.”
Before Tonko departed he said that he was inspired
by the great change and innovation that is going on at
Benét Labs.
It is amazing to see how technology at Benét Labs
is making our troops more survivable on the battle-
field, as well as making life better for our troops by
reducing the weight of weapon systems, Tonko said.
Benét Labs uses additive manufacturing technology
to join materials when making objects from 3-D model
data, usually by adding layer upon layer of materials,
as opposed to subtractive manufacturing methodolo-
gies that removes material by way of a machining pro-
cess such as cutting.
Laser-Engineered Net Shape (LENS) is another
Benét Labs additive manufacturing capability that uses
laser power and metal powder to repair or build solid
metal components. Components can be fabricated or
repaired directly from CAD data. Creating fully func-
tional components as part of the design process may
save hundreds of hours of design and manufacturing
time because with the LENS process, there is no need
to create a mold or casting pattern, as parts can be fab-
ricated directly from the designers’ CAD data.
___________________________________________
Benét Laboratories:
-Benét Laboratories is a Department of the
Army research, development and engineering
facility located at the Watervliet Arsenal. It is a
part of the Weapons & Software Engineering
Center (WSEC), Armament Research, Devel-
opment, and Engineering Center (ARDEC),
which is located at Picatinny Arsenal, N.J.
-Benét Laboratories is within a five-minute
walk from the Arsenal manufacturing center
whose machinists will manufacture the prod-
ucts that Benét engineers design.
Tonko Cont.
New York Congressman Paul D. Tonko, left, being shown by Engi-
neering Technician Timothy O’Connor some of the 3-D printing of
medical products that Benét has worked on.

9. Page 9 Salvo Feb. 28, 2015
Appreciating our
Diversity
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
Black History Month, or National African
American History Month, is an annual
celebration of achievements by African
Americans and a time for recognizing the
central role they have played in U.S. his-
tory.
The story of Black History Month begins
in 1915, half a century after the Thirteenth
Amendment abolished slavery in the
United States. Few could have imagined
African Americans’ future contributions
to music, art, and literature that would be
recognized by the global community.
Each February, the United States Army honors the re-
markable contributions that African-American men and
women have had in the building of our Nation. We, at
the Arsenal, celebrate these contributions by recognizing
select employees who have significantly contributed to our
country, while also being an example of the goodness that
African- Americans provide to our communities. One such
person highlighted this month is Evette Mortimore.
Evette was born and raised just down the road in Sche-
nectady, N.Y. In 1985, she joined the Army and served
honorably for eight years. Her military travels took her
to the southern states and to Germany. While serving as a
records specialist in various assignments, Evette learned
about different cultures and that life went well beyond her
hometown of Schenectady. Today, Evette has two chil-
dren, Diimond and Dominique, who she considers her pride
and joy.
In 2004, Evette started her career at Watervliet Arsenal
and quickly became a star through her dedication to mis-
sion and for her exciting personality. Since 2004, she has
worked as a Forklift Driver, Material Expediter, and as a
Material Handler. As an expediter, Evette greatly contrib-
uted to the armor kit line that provided lifesaving protection
to combat vehicle drivers and their crews. Evette currently
works for the Logistics Management Division where she
vows to never leave because she considers her coworkers
as family. She states that her logistics family is some of
the most mission-focused team members that she has ever
worked alongside.
Evette said she feels that Black History Month can be
best celebrated by recognizing the many opportunities that
exist in our country today. She considers her life as a good
example of how much our country has changed and she is
thankful for the opportunities the Army gave her as a Sol-
dier and as a Department of the Army Civilian.
By Debbie Moody
Evette Mortimore being congratulated for her excellence at work
by Commander Col. Lee H. Schiller Jr. at a town hall meeting.
Photo by Billy Martin

10. Page 10 Salvo Feb. 28, 2015
City of Watervliet
Memorial Day Parade
Monday, May 25th
Save The Date:
The Arsenal is participating in the City of Watervliet Memorial Day Parade on
Monday, May 25, at 10 a.m.
We will need volunteers to march with the commander in the parade.
We also have been invited to participate in the Village of Green Island’s
Memorial Day Parade that will take place on Thursday, May 21st, 6 p.m. We
try to support that parade with one float and a couple of emergency service
vehicles.
Body Forge The Body Forge Fitness Center
is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a
week, thereby, giving no one an
excuse not to work out. If you
aren’t a member, give Melissa
Ryder, the Arsenal’s recreation
program manager, a call at 266-
4829.

11. Page 11 Salvo Feb. 28, 2015
Prayer Breakfast
It usually takes a significant event, such as a 200th
anniversary or in this case, a Prayer Breakfast, to get
a former Arsenal commander back for a visit. And
we weren’t disappointed this month when retired Col.
John Hostettler spoke at this month’s Prayer Break-
fast. Hostettler commanded the Arsenal from 1994 to
1996.
Hostettler recalled the years of when he was in
command having to deal with reduced workloads, a
Reduction in Force, and a visit by the Base Realign-
ment and Closure Commission. All of which, he said,
contributed to him being referred to as that “Sweet
old boy” in the headquarters building.
Although he could have directed his remarks to
those “good years,” he didn’t. His words talked of the
values of “Integrity and Trust,” values that transcend
all walks and generations of life.
He said it was great to be back, albeit he is a little
slower and worse for wear. But whether one knew
him or not, it was great having a piece of Arsenal his-
tory, if only for a morning, to help us remember those
who walked before us creating the American treasure
that we know as the Watervliet Arsenal.
Photo by John B. Snyder
Col. (Ret.) John Hostettler
Boots to Business
The Michael R. McNulty Center for
Veteran Entrepreneurial Activity kicked
off its Boots to Business: Reboot program
at the Watervliet Arsenal on Jan. 26, 2015.
The weeklong entrepreneurial training
program was offered at no cost to Veterans
who want to start, expand or purchase a
small business. The five-day, accelerated
program was presented by the University
at Albany’s Small Business Development
Center with assistance from the Veterans
Business Outreach Centers, Small Busi-
ness Administration, and the Arsenal Busi-
ness & Technology Partnership.
The Center will host a second offering
of this course at the end of March.Photo provided by the Arsenal Business & Technology Partnership

12. Page 12 Salvo Feb. 28, 2015