WATERVLIET ARSENAL, N.Y. (April 6, 2017) -- In the manufacturing center here, there are nearly 550 employees who are spread through just two directorates and a special staff section. Due to this type of staffing, there is a tendency by some to group individuals into broad career fields such as resource managers, public works maintenance mechanics, and machinists. But when that happens, a true appreciation for what an individual brings to the Army's manufacturing center at Watervliet may be lost.
A case in point is Robert Dobbs. Dobbs arrived here in 2007 as a machine tool operator. Just a few years after his arrival, Dobbs qualified as a machinist.
For those here who do not work on a production floor, their perception of Dobbs may be that he is one of many machinists who have the ability to guide any one of the hundreds of manufacturing machines through various operations here to produce a part for a tank, howitzer, or mortar system. That would be misconception #1.
For others, their perception of Dobbs may be that he freely flows from one production building to another due to the demands of the day, regardless of the task at hand. After all, a machinist is a machinist. Right? That would be misconception #2.
Well, Dobbs has during his tenure here machined major and minor components for large caliber weapon systems. But where one would have recently found Dobbs was at a broach sharpening machine, doing as the machine name implies…sharpening broaches.
To those who don't know, broaches cut the rifling, which are the interior grooves in a howitzer barrel that impacts a spin to a projectile. A different type of broach, which Dobbs was sharpening, shape 120mm tank breech rings through a three-hour process to tolerances of three-thousandths of an inch. Given that each barrel and breech ring must perform under extremely high temperatures and pressures, manufacturing and sharpening these items are essential to the safe and accurate firing of tank and howitzer systems.
Dobbs and Toolmaker Robert Fournier, who works in the tool room, are the primary broach cutters and sharpeners for the Arsenal. This non-production line item talent is so unique to the machinist field here that there are only four machinists who are trained and experienced to work on broaches. And, each machinist brings with them thousands of hours of experience in just broach cutting and sharpening.
Dobbs and Fournier are just two examples of how within a career field, in this case machinists, there are individual pockets of specialization that greatly enhance the Arsenal's and Army's mission.
And so, getting back to misconception #1. Much of the valued machining in this Army manufacturing center is not directly performed on a part for a tank, howitzer, or a mortar system. For example, close-tolerance machine cutting is often performed in the art of tool making, tools that will hold or shape future parts for weapon systems. The tool room machinists are also tasked to create new parts for legacy machines on the production floor through reverse engineering when repair parts for older machines are not available through the supply chain.
The second misconception is blunted by the fact that machinists and machine tool operators rarely flow from one production building to the next. These experience craftsmen and women typically are specialists in tubes, minor components, or major component machining, and they often remain in these specialties for years. For example, when senior machinist Frank Taylor retired from the Arsenal in 2016, he had more than 80,000 hours of machining experience, most of which was on the major components production line.
Although the Army and the Arsenal leadership tout the values of building teams, an appreciation for an individual's skills and experiences should not be glossed over. After all, the synergy that results from the skills that each person brings in every day truly helps build strong teams.
Related Links:
Watervliet Arsenal Slideshare Page
Watervliet Arsenal YouTube Page
WAtervliet Arsenal Twitter Page
Arsenal Story: New machines for Army arsenal add more than capability, they enhance safety
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