Newsletter from the U.S. Army's Watervliet Arsenal - July 2021

Military,civilian
Military,civilian
expertsdiscuss
expertsdiscuss
modernization
modernization
Modernizing for 2035 and
Modernizing for 2035 and
beyond
beyond
Page 3
Page 3
Arsenal celebrates Pride
LGBTQ+ special observance held
Page 6
Page 6
U.S. Army Watervliet Arsenal – Since 1813
U.S. Army Watervliet Arsenal – Since 1813 July 2021
July 2021
Employee spotlight:
Employee spotlight:
Tanya Bissaillon
Tanya Bissaillon
Visual Information Specialist enables
Visual Information Specialist enables
arsenal communications
arsenal communications
Page 8
Page 8

The Salvo
Commander’s Corner
Col. Earl B. Schonberg Jr.
This month’s Salvo highlights some exciting news for
the future of the arsenal and our efforts both here and
in our community to raise awareness of the good work
you do each and every day.
This July, the arsenal held one of its most profound
visits in its 208 year history. Experts in advanced manu-
facturing technology met with Army leaders to discuss
the arsenal’s modernization plan. We have been given
the challenge to look forward and make decisions to-
day to meet the needs of the Army in 2035. Our mod-
ernization plan will have profound impacts on how we
do business and will transform the arsenal into a world
class manufacturing facility.
In June, we honored LGBTQ Pride Month with a
special observance presentation. It is important that we
continue to foster an environment where we recognize
the contributions and achievements of all members of
society. I am proud to be able to recognize the efforts
of our LGBTQ+ teammates. I want to extend a special
thanks to Richard“Chino”Loubriel and the staff at the
Albany Samuel Stratton Veterans Medical Center for
bringing an enlightening presentation and discussion
to our workforce.
In this issue’s employee spotlight we highlight the
important contributions of Visual Information Specialist
Tanya Bissaillon. Bissaillon’s role in the arsenal’s Stra-
tegic Communications Office helps convey important
information to our workforce and the public and is an
asset to Team Watervliet.
Army Strong!
Col. Earl B. Schonberg Jr.
61st Commander, Watervliet Arsenal
Greetings Team Watervliet! This year has been momen-
tous for Watervliet Arsenal and our team continues to im-
press this command and our senior leaders. Continue the
good work team!
Commander: Col. Earl B. Schonberg Jr.
Public Affairs Officer: Matthew I. Day
Photography: Tanya Bissaillon, Matthew I. Day
www.wva.army.mil
www.facebook.com/WatervlietArsenal
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 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
12180, or stop by office #102, Bldg. 10, Watervliet Arsenal. The editor
may also be reached at (518) 266.5055 or by email: matthew.i.day.
civ@mail.mil. The editor reserves the right to edit all information
submitted for publication.
U.S. Army Watervliet Arsenal – Since 1813

July 2021
Story by: Matthew Day
Advanced manufacturing experts from Johns Hopkins
Applied Physics Lab and Wichita State University joined
leaders from the Assistant Secretary of the Army, Army
Materiel Command, Combat Capabilities Development
Command and Army Tank-automotive & Armaments
Command in offering insight on advanced machining
technology and modernization efforts at the Army can-
non manufacturer.
Modernization is a fluid process that typically has near
term goals in mind. The purpose of Watervliet’s mod-
ernization plan is to look past near term and identify
and implement advanced manufacturing technologies,
information technology, production flows and processes
to meet future requirements.
During a summit at Redstone Arsenal in May, Army
Materiel Command Commanding General Gen. Ed Daly
challenged arsenal and depot commanders to modernize
their facilities to meet the needs of the Army of 2035.
“To be relevant for the Army of 2035 and beyond the
Organic Industrial Base must modernize now,”said AMC
Commanding General Gen. Ed Daly.“So much of our fa-
cilities were built for World War II, when you walk through
them you are seeing history. We can’t fix everything
overnight, that’s why we’ve developed a 15-year modern-
ization plan and we need you to help us understand what
is most critical. Think about what are your requirements
to surge and what are your core competencies.”
Daly’s order presented a challenge for Watervliet
Arsenal leaders who have taken steps to modernize the
208-year-old cannon and mortar factory in recent years.
Still, more needs to be done and that requires outside the
box thinking.
Please see Modernization 7 
Military,civilianexpertsdiscussmodernization
Military,civilianexpertsdiscussmodernization
Modernizing for 2035 and beyond
Modernizing for 2035 and beyond
In what Watervliet Arsenal Commander Col. Earl Schonberg called,“the most important week
in Watervliet’s 208-year history,”Army and civilian experts gathered here to discuss and review
the arsenal’s modernization plan July 27-28.
Military and civilian experts tour some of the latest machinery installed at
the Army cannon manufacturer. Watervliet Arsenal is utilizing advanced
manufacturing to improve processes and enhance capabilities.

The Salvo
Watervliet Arsenal celebrated 208 years of service and
support to America’s military with a cake-cutting cere-
mony lead by the arsenal’s 61st Commander Col. Earl B.
Schonberg Jr. July 14.
Members of the arsenal workforce joined Schonberg
and arsenal leaders in recognizing the significant con-
tributions the arsenal has made to the nation’s defense
throughout its history.
“As the oldest continuously active arsenal in the
United States, Watervliet Arsenal has provided much
needed ordnance and materiel in all but one of Amer-
ica’s conflicts—the Revolutionary War,”Schonberg said
during remarks to members of the arsenal workforce.“I
am confident, with your hard work, America will be able
to continue relying on Watervliet Arsenal and our critical
mission to support our nation’s defense.”
Watervliet Arsenal is the oldest continuously active
arsenal in the United States, having begun operations
during the War of 1812. Today’s arsenal is relied upon by
the U.S. and foreign militaries to produce the most ad-
vanced, high-tech, high-powered weaponry for cannons,
howitzers and mortar systems.
For 208 years, America has relied on the skilled men and women of Watervliet Arsenal to pro-
vide critical support in every American conflict since the War of 1812.
Watervliet Arsenal celebrates 208 years of
Watervliet Arsenal celebrates 208 years of
service, support
service, support
Arsenal Birthday
Arsenal Birthday
Watervliet Arsenal Commander Col. Earl B. Schonberg Jr. speaks about
the significance of the arsenal’s history and importance of its continued
mission to support the American military during the 208th birthday
cake-cutting ceremony here July 14.
Watervliet Arsenal Deputy Chief of Staff Brandon Pipes performs the
honors of slicing the arsenal’s 208th birthday cake for arsenal employees
during the cake-cutting ceremony here July 14.

July 2021
The Future Soldiers are U.S. Army and Army Reserve
recruits from the Albany Recruiting Company.
Future Soldiers are people who have committed to
enlist in the U.S. Army and are awaiting to attend train-
ing. The Future Soldiers sworn-in by Schonberg, will
conduct basic training at various training centers in the
United States.
During the ceremony, Schonberg raised his right
hand and administered the oath of enlistment to the
Future Soldiers. Every enlisted member takes the oath
of enlistment in the United States military. The oath
traces its roots back to June 14, 1775, as part of a vote
establishing the Continental Army by the Continental
Congress.
Schonberg shared personal words of encouragement
and thanked each Future Soldier for their commitment
to serve following the ceremony.
The ceremony was to support Army National Hiring
Days. Army National Hiring Days is an annual event
that aims to support recruiting efforts across the Army.
Watervliet Arsenal joined the Army Materiel Command
in supporting the nationwide recruiting campaign.
Watervliet Arsenal Commander Col. Earl B. Schonberg Jr. administered the oath of enlistment
to Future Soldiers during a swearing-in ceremony June 10 at Crossgates Mall in Albany, N.Y.
Schonberg swears-in Future Soldiers
Schonberg swears-in Future Soldiers
Arsenal supports Army National Hiring Days
Arsenal supports Army National Hiring Days
Watervliet Arsenal Commander Col. Earl B. Schonberg Jr., center, and Al-
bany Recruiting Company Commander Cpt. Ryan Patterson congratulate
Future Soldiers following the swearing-in ceremony June 10 at Crossgates
Mall in Albany, N.Y. The ceremony was in support of the Army National
Hiring Days campaign that began May 10 and ended on the Army’s
birthday June 14.

The Salvo
“We are here today to validate the experiences and
achievements of our LGBTQ teammates,”said Ray Ander-
son, Watervliet Arsenal Equal Employment Opportunity
manager, during opening remarks.
Richard“Chino”Loubriel, Albany Samuel Stratton Vet-
erans Medical Center associate director, spoke about the
role of allies in supporting and advancing LGBTQ+ rights
during his keynote address.
“I have witnessed the struggles the LGBTQ commu-
nity endures every day, these struggles can be subtle
or pronounced,”Loubriel said.“The subtle avoidance of
physical or eye contact – or the outright indifference for
someone’s humanity.”
Loubriel underscored the importance of allyship and
its role in LGBTQ+ equality by sharing a personal story of
how he successfully used his role as an ally to change a
peer’s views.
“What I learned from that experience is that people
can and do change and perhaps as my role as an ally I
can affect change one person at a time,”Loubriel said.
Posters emblazoned with the phrase,“Pride in all who serve,”framed the room where members
of the Watervliet Arsenal workforce gathered to celebrate LGBTQ Pride Month and recognize
the LGBTQ+ community’s contributions during a special observance presentation here June 8.
Richard “Chino” Loubriel, Albany Samuel Stratton Veterans Medical
Center associate director, shares the importance of LGBTQ+ allyship to
members of the Watervliet Arsenal workforce during his keynote address
here June 8.
Watervliet Arsenal Commander Col. Earl Schonberg speaks about the
importance of recognizing the contributions and achievements of the
LGBTQ+ community in American society to members of the WVA work-
force June 8.

July 2021
“Gen. Ed Daly asked us to take an unconstrained look
at modernization,”Nick Fulgenzi, TACOM program man-
ager for Watervliet Arsenal modernization, said.“At some
point our good ideas become constrained, but not in this
room today.”
Fulgenzi facilitated discussion during the two-day
event and advised arsenal leaders to explore all mod-
ernization needs. This everything on the table approach
enables arsenal leaders to examine all modernization
possibilities without regard for self-imposed restraints,
allowing more good ideas to be explored.
“This is America’s arsenal and we have a duty to en-
sure we are providing the most advanced equipment to
our military—that requires staying on the cutting edge
of advanced manufacturing technologies,”Schonberg
said.
According to the National Institutes of Health, LGBTQ+
allyship is a critical component in combating mistreat-
ment directed against the LGBTQ+ community. NIH cited
a Center for American Progress report which found 11%-
28% of LGBTQ+ workers losing a promotion because of
their sexual orientation. A National Transgender Discrimi-
nation Survey discovered 50% of transgender employees
had been harassed at work. Highlighting the need for
ally intervention, a YouGov report found that 63% of
people heard offensive remarks aimed towards LGBTQ+
people without doing something, ultimately sending a
signal that the behavior is acceptable.
“By being an ally, and showing support of LGBT peo-
ple, you help end ignorance leading to issues and actions
that adversely impact the daily lives and livelihoods of
LGBT people. Not only do allies help foster safety in the
coming-out process, they also help others understand
the importance of equality, fairness, acceptance, and
mutual respect,”Bali White said in a National Institutes of
Health article.
LGBTQ Pride Month is celebrated each year in June in
the United States in honor of the 1969 Stonewall Up-
rising outside the historic Stonewall Inn. The uprising
served as the tipping point in the Gay rights movement.
The first pride march occurred on June 28, 1970 on the
one-year anniversary of the uprising. For more informa-
tion, visit the Stonewall National Monument website
here: https://www.nps.gov/ston/index.htm
Tank-automotive & Armaments Command Deputy Chief of Staff for Hu-
man Capital Dr. Valerie Devries speaks with Watervliet Arsenal Machinist
Apprentice Keith Mabb how advanced manufacturing technology is
being used at the arsenal.
Modernization

CONTINUED FROM 3
The 2021 Department of Defense Pride Month poster featuring the
phrase “Pride in all who serve” is distributed by the Defense Equal Oppor-
tunity Management Institute.

The Salvo
When people think of Watervliet Arsenal, they envision machinists hurriedly transforming
raw steel into cannon, artillery barrels and components – few outside the arsenal would
think talented visual artists are amongst its workforce.
Employee Spotlight:Tanya Bissaillon
Employee Spotlight:Tanya Bissaillon
Visual Information Specialist enables arsenal communications
Visual Information Specialist enables arsenal communications
Visual Information Specialist Tanya Bissaillon is one
of two visual artists at Watervliet Arsenal who uses
their skills to help create a myriad of creative and visual
products for the Army cannon manufacturer.
Bissaillon employs her craft to perform a variety of
functions at the arsenal including studio photography,
supporting tours with audio equipment, graphic design
for printed products and PowerPoint presentations, and
audio visual for live events — skills that Bissaillon says
are important in helping the command share informa-
tion to the arsenal.
“The products we produce and the services we pro-
vide enable the command to communicate important
information to the workforce effectively.”Bissaillon said.
“Our ability to capture live events with limited in-per-
son attendance during the COVID-19 pandemic and
make them available digitally was helpful in keeping
the workforce informed.”
Being a visual information specialist requires good
time management and the ability to meet customer
requirements under tight deadlines.
“Managing your own workload is important, many
times I found myself having to take photos during a
tour while having other projects with deadlines coming
up soon at the office that I was actively working on,”
Bissaillon said.“You have to be able to shift from one
job to the next, often using different skills.”
Juggling workload isn’t without its rewards.
“I feel like I am doing my part for the Army through
the work I do here,”Bissaillon said.“Being able to work
with our commander and document the military opera-
tions here brings me a sense of pride in what I do.”
Prior to joining Team Watervliet, Bissaillon has
worked as a professional photographer for more than
20 years including 15 years as an official photographer
for the New York State Senate in Albany. As a profes-
sional photographer, subjects of Bissaillon’s works
include senate leaders, New York Governors George Pa-
taki, Eliot Spitzer and Andrew Cuomo, and professional
athletes, activists and actors including, Cynthia Nixon,
Martin Sheen, Montel Williams, Joe Giardi, Joe Namath
and Pedro Martinez. Her published work includes state
exhibitions, art festivals, corporate advertisements,
weekly news magazines and a book cover. Bissaillon is
also the loving dog mother of Remington, a three-year-
old Catahoula Leopard Dog.

July 2021
It’ll be alright, just stand around for 5 or 10 minutes –
you know, see what’s going on. Pick a spot, get together.
You could talk about stuff; what the kids are up to,
something funny that happened. You could talk about
what happened around the old arsenal the day before,
what’s going on today or this week. Your supervisor could
swing by – they might have some interesting info. While
everyone is standing around chatting, maybe talk about
things that went wrong and made your day harder than it
should have been. There are probably issues you could fix
yourself, if given half a chance. Or get your supervisor to
fix them, isn’t that what they are there for?
If your supervisor says they will work on fixing some-
thing, you can hold them to it! All you need is some kind
of bulletin board (a whiteboard would work) right there
where you hang out in the morning. Write down the
Supervisor task and get them to estimate when they will
be done. You can remind them every morning (that’s if
you can’t fix it on your own). Maybe your foreman or chief
could have their own little morning meeting that your
supervisor could go to. They might find out something
interesting they could tell you about and big problems
could go there to get fixed.
There could be other stuff on the board. Like who is
out that day, or what the plan is – today’s plan or tomor-
row’s (or next week’s or next month’s). You could measure
what’s important to your area and keep track of it – who
wouldn’t want to know if they were winning or losing
(preferably winning)? If you were losing, figure out what
went wrong and fix it, if you can. Or get your supervisor,
foreman or chief to fix it, isn’t that what they are there for?
You could talk about safety especially if you have a
good idea about making work safer. Or you could talk
about machine breakdowns or interruptions in work that’s
supposed to be coming down the line, things that you
have run out of (and when you might be getting more).
You could talk about training; what training you want and
what training might already be scheduled.
It’ll be alright, just stand around for 5 or 10 minutes –
you know, see what’s going on. Pick a spot, get together.
Maybe, just maybe, you can make Watervliet Arsenal a
little bit better every day (while making your job a little bit
easier).
The Continuous Improvement Office will help you get
started.
Morning coffee klatch
Morning coffee klatch
Continuous Improvement Office
Continuous Improvement Office
Story by: Mark Ripley
Hey, I just had a great idea! Instead of getting right to work in the morning, you should hang
out with your coworkers, enjoy your morning coffee and a little chit-chat.

Top 10 safety mistakes
Top 10 safety mistakes
1) Improper use of ladders
2) Lack of visual communication
3) Overcomplicating safety instructions
4) Not cleaning and organizing the facility
5) Failing to use the proper personal protective
equipment
6) Using the wrong tool for the job
7) Neglecting the maintenance and inspections
of machinery
8) Failing to track “near misses”
9) Treating education as optional
10) Improper handling of hazardous materials
The following are the top 10 safety mistakes that can occur at Watervliet
Arsenal. Do your part of avoid these simple mistakes and help keep our
arsenal safe!
THINK SAFETY
THINK SAFETY
Stay Safe!
Stay Safe!
Remember, if you need assistance with safety in your area, or have a safety
question or concern, contact the Safety Hotline at ext. 4537.

Newsletter from the U.S. Army's Watervliet Arsenal - July 2021

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Newsletter from the U.S. Army's Watervliet Arsenal - July 2021