New tests, technology come to ANAD optics area

By Mrs. Jennifer Bacchus (AMC)August 14, 2014

New tests, technology come to ANAD optics area
Jimmy Harris, an electronic integrated systems mechanic for Anniston Army Depot, sets up the shock tester in the Tritium Room of the Optics Branch. This device is capable of simulating 100 Gs of force against a part. In the optics shop, this test ens... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

ANNISTON ARMY DEPOT, Ala. -- In most repair shops on depot, testing is done as parts arrive to see what needs to be repaired or overhauled. In the Tritium Room of the Optics Branch, that testing includes checking for radiation seeping from the part.

A small number of employees work in the Tritium Room; a hallway and a locked door keeping them, and the products they work on, from curious eyes.

The radioactive chemical they work with, a form of hydrogen known as tritium, emits very low levels of radiation. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, it is one of the least dangerous radionuclides.

At Anniston Army Depot, tubes of tritium are used to excite phosphorous which is on dials and other optical equipment for artillery sights. The excited phosphorous illuminates the numbers and lines on the equipment without batteries, bulbs or additional equipment.

According to William Farella, an electronics mechanic for the shop, the Army has begun to move away from tritium as a light source for these electronics.

That hasn't decreased the workload, though. Now, the optics and electronics mechanics in the Tritium Room work with both existing tritium items and the light-emitting diode technology which is slowly becoming more prevalent.

"The LEDs probably light the equipment better," said Farella. "But, now we have to replace the batteries."

About 80 percent of the items now repaired in the shop use LED technology, but the employees still see plenty of items containing tritium, some of which glow for years past their expected expiration.

"We have seen things which continue to light up 10 or 12 years after the tritium was last replaced," said Farella. "It depends upon the amount of tritium in the item."

Optics equipment repaired in the shop includes items for the M1 Abrams tank as well as the M777, M198 and M119 howitzers. They also repair optics for mortars.

After the items are received and, in the case of tritium items, tested for radiation, they are inspected to see what needs to be repaired or replaced.

The optical and fire control equipment is disassembled, cleaned, repaired, sent to the paint shop if necessary, then reassembled with new O-rings and calibrated to specifications.

The shop recently instituted a new shock test. Each piece of equipment is expected to resist a certain amount of gravitational force and the shock machine is capable of simulating up to 100 Gs of force. This ensures the optical equipment can sustain a blast and continue functioning to specifications.

"The employees in optics go above and beyond and take pride in producing a quality product for our war fighter," said Winston Steen, chief of the Optics Branch.