watervliet arsenal newsletter: the salvo 28 february 2014

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THE SALVO Vol. 14, No. 2 U.S. Army Watervliet Arsenal Feb. 28, 2014 Photo by John B. Snyder Building the foundation for future generations Story on Page 3 Photo by John B. Snyder

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This is the U.S. Army Watervliet Arsenal's monthly newsletter called The Salvo. The Salvo contains the latest stories and information that pertains to the Army's manufacturing center at Watervliet. The Watervliet Arsenal is an Army-owned and operated manufacturing center having established operations in upstate New York in 1813.

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Page 1: Watervliet Arsenal Newsletter:  The Salvo 28 February 2014

THE SALVOVol. 14, No. 2 U.S. Army Watervliet Arsenal Feb. 28, 2014

Photo by John B. Snyder

Building the foundation for future generations

Story on Page 3Photo by John B. Snyder

Page 2: Watervliet Arsenal Newsletter:  The Salvo 28 February 2014

Page 2 Salvo Feb. 28, 2014

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: [email protected]. The editor reserves the right to edit all information submitted for publication.

Commander, Col. Lee H. Schiller Jr.Public Affairs Officer, John B. SnyderEditor, John B. SnyderPhotographer: John B. Snyder

Arsenal Facebook Page @http://on.fb.me/sq3LEm

Lee H. Schiller Jr.Commanding

Manufacturer 6

Commander’sCorner

You probably have seen the recent news in local newspapers and in the Salvo about multimillion dollar orders that seem to be coming back to the arsenal after a rather dry period due to sequestration or what is known in the Defense Department as fiscal uncertainty. Although that is good news, we must temper that news with a dose of reality. The affects of sequestration still loom and there continues to be uncertainty in future defense spending. In addition to significant reductions to the DOD budget, which directly affects weapon program managers’ ability to fund new contracts, our hiring authority and use of overtime/compensation time remains restricted. I often see on our social media pages comments from former workers who ask why we are not hiring them back if larger orders are flowing in again. The fact is that today’s orders are nowhere near the size of orders that we had just two or three years ago. We, therefore, remain challenged to receive enough workload to ensure that our current, critical skill base will not further erode. In the next two months, we are hosting a variety of weapon program managers, as well as several Army senior leaders, to discuss workload. You can be assured that I and other arsenal leaders will speak volumes about the importance and value that we have

to the community, state, and to our nation. And, we will aggressively seek any order, for any machined product, no matter the size of the order. At the end of the day, work is work and we need more of it to maintain our sills and remain cost effective. In preparation for the upcoming visits, please take a look around your areas of operation. If there was ever a time to clean up and make our areas safer, now is that time. First impressions are critical. A visual of our manufacturing operations will far outweigh anything we brief on a PowerPoint slide. Speaking of safety, we still have about six more weeks of extreme cold weather. There are cold-weather dangers all around us, on the ground and above our heads. Please remain observant of your environment as you move in and about the arsenal.

Page 3: Watervliet Arsenal Newsletter:  The Salvo 28 February 2014

every military conflict since the War of 1812. Nevertheless, what today’s workforce may be really concerned about is how to maintain an adequate level of workload so that the arsenal’s cost rates do not spike up. When workload falls, rates go up due in large part to fixed costs that are difficult to control. If the arsenal’s products become too expensive, then prospective buyers from the Defense Department and from private industry will be less likely to consider the arsenal for their manu-facturing needs. The bottom line is that lower workload has a direct correlation to a smaller workforce and that may be at the crux of today’s workforce concerns. Since the be-ginning of fiscal 2013, the arsenal workforce numbers have fallen by about 10 percent to about 545 personnel today.

Page 3 Salvo Feb. 28, 2014

Trying to fill the gaps

By John B. Snyder

Scott Evertsen, an arsenal mechanical and controls designer, stands by the foundation work that he is oversee-ing. More than 1.3 million pounds of concrete was needed to fill this hole. This work supports arsenal efforts to bring on line $26 million in new machines and machine upgrades this fiscal year.

Just a few years ago, the Watervliet Arsenal’s control over its information flow regarding manufacturing oper-ations was just as tight as the Wizard of Oz had behind his curtain. No news releases went out and media were not invited in. What was being manufactured was for the most part unknown, even to the local community who lived just outside the arsenal fence line. But even the Great Oz was revealed and so, it was just a matter of time before Watervliet’s operations would also be known to the world. The days of orders freely flowing in to support com-bat operations to two wars have been on a downward slope since 2011. In 2011, the arsenal had more than $120 million in sales that ranged from guns for Abrams tanks to 120-mm mortar tubes. For fiscal year 2013, revenue dropped to about $96 million. The fact that orders have slowed is not news to the workforce. After all, the arsenal’s history book is rich with the stories of the arsenal having survived the ebbs and flows of military orders that have taken place after

Photo by John B. Snyder

Story continues on page 4, Equipment

Page 4: Watervliet Arsenal Newsletter:  The Salvo 28 February 2014

But what may be one of the greatest advantages to bringing on line new, enhanced capability is not so much what those machines will do for arsenal products, but what they may do for private industry. “The Army leadership directed the Army’s Industrial Base to seek out public-private partnerships to help ar-senals and depots to remain relevant, effective, and ef-ficient,” said Ray Gaston, the arsenal’s chief of the Pro-duction Planning and Control Division. “We have a bil-lion dollar investment in capability, as well as thousands of years of machining experience, that may be leveraged by private industry to support their operations.” There is no limit to what may be machined at the arsenal. From something as small that can fit into one’s pocket to a 30-foot cylindrical tube can be produced at Watervliet, Gaston said. “So, before a manufacturer or a startup company invests time and money into bringing on line a manufac-turing capability, they should first consider the arsenal’s vast manufacturing capability in machines, tooling, and in machining experience,” Gaston said. This is a win-win situation in that the arsenal will retain critical skills, as well as reduce its cost of opera-tion by entering into a public-private partnership. Private industry may save time and money because they will not need to invest in capability in regards to equipment and personnel that is readily available at Watervliet. The Great Oz actually turned out to be a pretty nice guy once he stepped out from behind the curtain. The Watervliet Arsenal has also stepped out from behind its veil and believes that private industry will find its work-force pretty good people to work with, too.

Fiscal tools, such as reducing the size of the work-force, a hiring freeze, and a very restrictive use of over-time, have helped reduced operation costs in fiscal year 2013 by more than $12 million. But those actions are only part of the equation that arsenal leadership sees as the answer to remaining relevant and competitive. In one of the production bays, in a building that was built during World War I, there is a hub of activity and we are not talking about machining. This is ground zero on a major modernization of the arsenal’s manufacturing center. “Within fiscal year 2014, we plan to bring on line more than $26 million in new machines and enhanced capabilities,” said Jim Kardas, the leader of the arsenal’s Manufacturing Engineering Group. “This new equip-ment will allow us to benefit from modern technologies, such as superior control systems and faster machining speeds, which may lead to significantly reducing ma-chining time.” The new machines can perform multiple operations, whereas the former machines may have been able to per-form only one operation.

Page 4 Salvo Feb. 28, 2014

Photo by John B. Snyder

There is an art and science to how the arsenal brings in and sets up new equipment.

The arsenal is trying to shift more focus and resources toward busi-ness development. As part of this effort, the arsenal hosted this month Troy Record newspaper reporter Danielle Sanzone, right, to help tell this story. Her story made it to page one of her newspaper.

Photo by John B. Snyder

Equipment Cont.

Page 5: Watervliet Arsenal Newsletter:  The Salvo 28 February 2014

The Watervliet Arsenal announced this month that it received nine contracts worth more than $10.9 million to provide various weapon system components for the U.S. Army’s TACOM Life Cycle Management Com-mand. These items will go to sustain U.S. troop units in the field. These orders add to the arsenal’s current workload more than 19,000 direct labor hours for fiscal years 2014 and 2015, said Ray Gaston, the arsenal’s chief of the Production Planning and Control Division. “This is huge for us,” Gaston said. “Although these orders will not make up for all the workload we have lost the past 12 months due to sequestra-tion, they represent the most sig-nificant amount of new work that we have seen in the last six months.” When sequestration took effect in March 2013, weapon program man-agers became hesitant to award new contracts because of the fiscal uncer-tainty that sequestration caused with-in the defense budget, Gaston said. Large multimillion dollar contracts for various weapon systems were not showing up in future workload pro-jections for the arsenal, which in turn affects cost rates. Cost rates go up when workload declines because there is less rev-enue to cover the fixed and variable costs associated with maintaining the arsenal’s 2.1 million square feet of manufacturing and administrative space. Higher cost rates may then drive potential customers, the U.S. Defense Department and or defense contractors, away from considering the arse-nal as a manufacturing source. But why would an Army arsenal need to worry about workload and cost rates? Although the arsenal is an Army-owned and operated manufacturing center, U.S. defense manufacturing work does not automatically flow to the arsenal. The arsenal must compete not only against a handful of other Army manufacturing centers, it also must compete with pri-

vate industry. And with the war in Iraq having ended and combat operation in Afghanistan soon to end, this is a very competitive time for those companies that supply the defense industrial base. The bottom line is that whatever the arsenal can do to hold the line on its operating expenses helps it remain competitive. But there is only so much cost contain-

ment that can be done without caus-ing irreversible damage to its infra-structure and skill base and therefore, the best way to reduce its cost of production is by having a healthy workload. Nevertheless, the arsenal has been doing all that it can to slow down potential hikes to its cost rates. For the fiscal year that ended last Sep-tember, the arsenal reduced its cost of operations by more than $12 mil-lion by implementing such actions as eliminating planned maintenance and repair projects and by reducing its workforce numbers from about 600 to 560. Arsenal leaders are currently implementing other methods to re-duce this year’s cost of operation by several more millions of dollars. Funny how time and fiscal uncer-tainty changes the dynamics of the Army’s industrial base because just two years ago a $1 million contract would not have raised any eyebrows at the arsenal. But last month, the arsenal’s eyes were not only wide

open when it celebrated a $1 million order for clamps for the 81 mm mortar system, the story also made head-lines in the Army. The arsenal is also looking at how to make up some of the potential workload fallout by seeking public-private partnerships and by tapping into foreign military sales. In the meantime, the arsenal is celebrating all contracts, no matter how small. The orders, which range from manufacturing cannon tubes and bore evacuators for Abrams tanks to breech-block parts for the M777 155 mm lightweight howitzer system, will begin shipping in August 2014.

Page 5 Salvo Feb. 28, 2014

Arsenal Toolmaker and Apprentice Program Supervisor Terry Van Vranken takes a mo-ment last month to explain to Times Union photographer Cindy Schultz that the arsenal manufactures more than just cannons.

Photo by John B. Snyder

Small orders add up ...to the tune of $10.9M

By John B. Snyder

Page 6: Watervliet Arsenal Newsletter:  The Salvo 28 February 2014

Page 6 Salvo Feb. 28, 2014

Oh, it has been a busy monthBlood Drive11-12 February

About 120 units of blood were collected this month at the Watervliet Arsenal. Just another example of the arsenal workforce giving back to the community.

Benét Labs Analyst Amy Carson, left, donating blood while Donor Special-ist Fiona Lomax prepares to end the draw.

Photo by John B. Snyder

Society of Manufacturing Engineers

The arsenal takes great pleasure helping to educate fellow manufacturers and manufacturing students about Defense Manufacturing. On Feb-ruary 12, we had the honor to host a local chap-ter of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers.

Arsenal Foreman Paul Nieckarz, in rust-colored coat, escorted nearly 30 representatives from the Society of Manufacturing Engineers through sev-eral production bays.

Photo by John B. Snyder

Four Chaplains Memorial Service and Brotherhood Award Ceremony

Photo by John B. Snyder

The arsenal had the pleasure on February 23 to participate in the Four Chaplains Memorial Ser-vice at the Stratton VA Medical Center. The service honored four U.S. Army Chaplains, Rev. George Fox, Rabbi Alexander Goode, Rev. Clark Poling, and Father John Washington, who, on the night of Feb. 3, 1943, took off their life jackets and gave them to young Soldiers as the troopship Dorches-ter was sinking. As part of this memorial service was an award ceremony that honored Mr. Bob Nevins, a former medevac pilot in Vietnam, who in 2010 created the non-profit Saratoga Warhorse Foundation to assist struggling Veterans to adjust to life after military service.

Page 7: Watervliet Arsenal Newsletter:  The Salvo 28 February 2014

Page 7 Salvo Feb. 28, 2014

CPAC Civilian Personnel Advisory Center

What To Do If You Are Injured At WorkIf you are injured at work, you may be entitled to injury compensation benefits provided under the Federal Employees' Compensation Act (FECA). Federal employees have certain rights and responsi-bilities in filing for these benefits:

Immediately report any work-related injury to your supervisor. If your injury requires medical treat-ment, obtain care as soon as possible. You have a right to choose your treating physician.

To protect your rights to certain benefits, you must notify your supervisor that you would like to file a Workers’ Compensation claim. This is NOT the same process as filing an accident report with the Safety Office. You should file a claim as soon as possible, but not later than 30 days after your injury.

To start the process, you and your supervisor will complete one of the following forms using the Elec-tronic Data Interchange (EDI):

1. Form CA-1, Federal Employee's Notice of Traumatic Injury and Claim for Continuation of Pay/Compensation, if your injury results from a specific event or a series of events during one day or shift, or

2. Form CA-2, Federal Employee's Notice of Occupational Disease and Claim for Compensa-tion, if you develop a condition due to prolonged exposure lasting more than one day or shift,Your supervisor will transmit these forms to the Injury Compensation Specialist (ICS). Complete these forms as precisely as possible in order to avoid delays caused by asking you for additional informa-tion.

You may be asked to provide additional information. Although your supervisor or other agency rep-resentative may assist you, it is your responsibility to obtain the information needed to support your claim and to provide it to the ICS.

If you are temporarily unable to work because of your injury, you need to keep your supervisor and the ICS informed about your medical condition, and return to work as soon as your physician allows you to do so. Detailed medical documentation will be necessary for your absences to be covered under FECA. Light duty assignments may be available if you are not able to perform your regular job, and if so, you must advise your physician of the availability of such assignments.

To protect your rights and receive benefits as quickly as possible, please do not delay in reporting a work-related injury.

Page 8: Watervliet Arsenal Newsletter:  The Salvo 28 February 2014

Page 8 Salvo Feb. 28, 2014

Celebrating Diversity

Arsenal History Trivia

When arsenal Commander Col. Alfred Mordecai arrived at the post in 1898, during the Spanish-Amer-ican War, there were 482 workers. The Arsenal buildings and ma-chines were new, and in good con-dition. He reported: “The principal and most serious difficulty experi-enced was the procurementof machinists sufficiently skilled for gun construction. It became necessary to employ men of all grades and of unknown ability and to try all who, from their own statement, might appear at all fa-vorable. Although some 200 work-men were employed in about two months, not over six were found capable of being graded as first-class machinists.”

Why must we maintain critical skill sets after each conflict? A snapshot in arsenal history helps to explain why.

More than 150 people attended this year’s Di-versity Day Luncheon on February 27. But one of the highlights of this annual gathering was the presentation of the arsenal’s Martin Luther King Award to this year’s recipients, Beth Myers and Al Columbus. Beth has shown her unwav-ering passion toward diversity at the arsenal in both the work place and in introducing and recommending a diverse selection of contrac-tors to her staff to ensure the Watervliet Arsenal exceeded its targeted small business goals. Al, through his leadership, has invigorated and promoted a climate of respect, confidence and diversity in the Law Enforcement and Security section.

Photo by Billy Martin

Page 9: Watervliet Arsenal Newsletter:  The Salvo 28 February 2014

Page 9 Salvo Feb. 28, 2014

Millions of reasons why Dorine LeBlanc is an

arsenal Face of Strength Story and photo by John B. Snyder

To anyone who has ever managed a household checkbook, they know the degree of difficulty of trying to account for the last few cents that is keeping them from achieving a balanced accounting. Now imagine the degree of difficulty when the account balance has a few more zeros, in this case $117 million worth of zeros. That is what the arsenal’s budget was for fiscal year 2013. Dorine LeBlanc, who is the lead budget analyst for the arsenal, has this awesome challenge as she oversees tens of thousands accounting inputs each year that tell the story of whether the arsenal’s revenue, expenditures, and fiscal health are in balance and if they are not, where the discrepancies may be. If this was simply a matter of tracking the ebb and flow of revenue and expense dollars, then some might think that with today’s technology that this shouldn’t be too hard to manage. But it is more than just that. The $117 million is just a drop in the bucket compared to what Dorine and her team of seven manage. In addition to $117 budget, she and her team oversee all financial requirements for an Army manufacturing center valued at more than $1.6 billion. The arsenal’s 72 buildings and the more than 600 machines have value that must be captured and measured. When one adds in depreciation expenses and capital improvements, this then becomes a task that few would want, let alone have the experience level and or training to manage. Although Dorine says that the Logistics

Modernization Program or LMP has given her team fairly good visibility on thousands of records and financial data calculations, the difficulty in trying to make sense of this data requires an “art” to go with the science. Simply being able to enter and extract data is the “science” to financial management. Being able to

understand, visualize, and then to explain in layman’s terms what the science means is the “art.” Dorine is able to do both. “What Dorine brings to the arsenal’s financial management team goes beyond simply being extremely professional and dependable,” said Tony Urban, the arsenal’s chief of resource management. “Dorine’s

more than 25 years of military experience, coupled with her being one of the architects of the financial modernization program, makes her value to the arsenal nothing less than significant.” By the end of this year, Dorine will wrap up her military career, one that began in 1984 as an U.S. Air Force officer. “When Dorine retirees, the arsenal will lose the last remaining financial analyst who built the accounting system that is in use today,” Urban said. “Although there is no one who is truly irreplaceable, Dorine comes pretty close.” For her many years of service to the Department of Defense and to the nation, Dorine LeBlanc is very deserving to be called an arsenal Face of Strength.

Page 10: Watervliet Arsenal Newsletter:  The Salvo 28 February 2014

Page 10 Salvo Feb. 28, 2014

In honor of March being Women’s History month, we pause to remember the thousands of women who were employed at Watervliet Arsenal during World War II. While numerous women worked on the production lines in the manufacturing build-ings, many of them were also employed in the “Siberia” section of the Arsenal per-forming critical duties necessary for an Allied victory over the Axis powers. These women worked hard to en-sure a steady supply of needed and critical parts were sent from Watervliet to the dif-ferent theaters of war throughout the world. According to a Troy Record newspaper article May 12, 1944, archived at the Arse-nal Museum, a lot of women worked in the unheated Siberia ware-house building. It was here where the Arsenal’s Field Service Depot was lo-cated. The Depot con-sisted of three branch-es: Stock Control; Storage branch; and Maintenance branch. At the Field Service Depot: 48 percent of the total workers were women; 85 percent of the Stock Control branch were women; and 50 percent of the employees in the Depot Storage Control branch were women. The Stock Control Section ensured proper documentation was created for both incoming and outgoing shipments of parts and they were responsible for maintaining adequate stock levels. The Stock Control branch worked closely with the Depot Transportation branch. Transportation ensured all documentation was accurate and attached to outgoing or-ders; and ensured a steady stream of railroad and truck transports were ready for the outgoing shipments to meet their deadlines. Hundreds of thousands of parts were processed and shipped out each month during World War II. When an order came in, women would pull specific parts from the storage bins and placed them on a conveyor that moved the parts to a series of long tables. Next, women would cover the parts with a rust preventative, wrap them in waterproof coverings and dip the package in a wax to seal it. The order would then be measured for shipment in either a ready-made wooden container or if needed, the Arsenal carpenters would custom make a crate. Many of the containers had waterproof linings constructed according to government specifications. The crates were then properly marked using a shipping number code, careful not to mention in English what was inside the crate, and shipped out. The products would arrive on time to their far-flung world-wide destination unharmed from weather or exposure to the elements. More than 3,000 women performed a variety of important tasks at the Arsenal during World War II. Without the dedicated and professional women in the “Siberia” section, who supplied the vitally needed parts to the front lines, an Allied victory over the Axis powers might have been in doubt.

Arsenal Women’s History: World War II

By Mark Koziol

World War II photo of the “Siberia” warehouse that gained its name from not having any heat during the cold winters. Arsenal women processed and expedited hundreds of thou-sands of shipments through Siberia during World War II.

Above photo was taken in 1943 of Miss Demetra Mouy-os. More than 3,000 women worked at the Arsenal during World War II.

Note: This story is a reprint from 2013, but is still of interest as we approach Women’s History Month in March.Photos provided by the Arsenal Museum

Page 11: Watervliet Arsenal Newsletter:  The Salvo 28 February 2014

Page 11 Salvo Feb. 28, 2014

What is a “Burning Platform” and how do we put it out?

If you were standing on a “burning platform” you’d have to do something, right? You’d have a rea-son to take action. Well, a burning platform in the business world is a euphemism for identifying a company’s “reasons for action”. Reasons for action drive strategic planning and continuous improve-ment.

How do we know what our reasons for action are? We use performance metrics to tell us when we’re doing well and when there might be a fire starting on our platform. Simple performance metrics like the number of Direct Labor Hours of work we have and our predicted revenue show us that in FY 14 Watervliet’s burning platform is workload. We have less than we need to keep our critical skills sharp, and less money than we need to cover our costs.

Our FY 14 Strategic Plan, as in FY 13, continues to address the arsenal’s biggest fires on our burning platform. We have to get work , we have to be able to do it on time, to the right quality, and on bud-get.

Action plans to achieve these goals are concentrated in four areas, or “Lines of Operation” (“LOOs”). Think of them as skill sets. The four arsenal LOOs are Products, People, Processes, and Culture. Each action plan has performance metrics to show if we’re improving.

Does this have anything to do with Lean Six Sigma?

Watervliet’s Continuous Process Improvement (CPI) efforts are managed through Lean Six Sigma events, which connects these events to the Strategic Plan through the Transformation Plan of Care (TPOC) process.

This approach looks at the same burning platform and identifies the processes or “Value Streams” that are good targets to be improved with “Lean Six Sigma.” For FY 14, targeted Value Streams include Material Availability and Planning, and Provisioning for Execution. These Value Streams are critical in providing resources the shop floor needs to do its work. Other targets for improvement through Lean Six Sigma are Overhead Costs, the Cost of Quality, and Productive Yield. Performance metrics for these improvements will jive with the performance metrics in the Strategic Plan.

Does this have anything to do with you?

The Strategic Plan and TPOC define the actions we all need to take to drive the business – and the Watervliet Arsenal is a business – to a successful future. We all have a role to play in improving pro-ductivity and reducing costs. And we all have a stake in Watervliet’s successful future.

The TPOC, action plan status, and performance metrics are posted in Bldg 10 outside the Command-er’s office. Everyone is welcomed and encouraged to check it out.

Photo by the wordvixen.com

Lean Corner By Karen Heiser

Page 12: Watervliet Arsenal Newsletter:  The Salvo 28 February 2014

Page 12 Salvo Feb. 28, 2014

City of WatervlietMemorial Day Parade

Monday, May 26thSave The Date:

The Arsenal is participating in the City of Watervliet Memorial Day Parade on May 26, at 10 a.m.

We will need volunteers to march with the commander in the parade.

We also may be invited back to the Village of Green Island’s Memorial Day Parade that will take place this year on Thursday, May 22nd.

Albany Devils Military Appreciation GameSaturday, April 12th, at 5 p.m.

Save The Date

Former Arsenal Commander Col. Mark F. Migaleddi dropping the puck at last year’s game.

Photo by John B. Snyder