Members of the AMRDEC Cable Lab gather for a group photo with Gen. Ann Dunwoody, commander, Army Material Command, during the general's April 26 visit to the Prototype Integration Facility. Whether supporting designs for a helicopter or wheeled vehic...
REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. - Creating and cutting cable for prototype Army vehicles is serious business here.
At the Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center's Prototype Integration Facility, everything is rapid-response. Schedules drive the work force and are quite apparent for the men and women who work in the Cable Lab, where 19 electrical technicians build and process 300 to 400 cables a week.
"At any given time we may have 40 different jobs," said Cecilia Rice, the Cable Lab's electrical supervisor with Yulista Management Services, Inc. "We do our best to meet the schedule, working on what's screaming loudest to be finished first. Prioritizing is a necessity.
"We separate larger jobs into smaller ones and work on smaller kits throughout the shop," she added.
"We do everything from pinning wires to starting cables from scratch with individual parts," Rice said. "We even have a laser wire marker to run wire for aircraft installs. That makes up about 85 to 95 percent of the work we do here."
Aviation special projects lead T.J. LaPointe often escorts visitors through the PIF and favors the Cable Lab where he praises the employees' work, attention to detail and dedication.
"Not everyone could do that day after day; working so tediously and repetitive like that," LaPointe said.
Making cables day in and day out might sound monotonous, but for Rice and her co-workers the work is challenging and exciting.
"Every new job is different," she said. "It keeps things interesting."
Working weekends to meet an order is a familiar occurrence in the Cable Lab.
"We do whatever it takes to get it done, even if that means working overtime," Rice said. "Sometimes we get a job and they want the order within days. Those are always long weekends. If a job needs to get finished, it will get finished, no matter what."
Rice and her co-workers take pride in their work and are motivated to do their best for the customer -- the Warfighter.
"Many people here have brothers, sisters, cousins and friends in the services. We love our jobs because we know we're directly supporting our friends and family," she explained.
"Heart and soul goes into this job, into every cable we cut and shrink-sleeve. That's what gives us the motivation to do this; and it creates lots of dedication, too."
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