PICATINNY ARSENAL, N.J. -- Four former Picatinny Arsenal employees were inducted into the Ammunition Hall of Fame in honor of their contributions to U.S. military ammunition.
John Amerspek, Michael Devine and Edward Ford were inducted into the Hall of Fame Aug. 25 during a ceremony at Picatinny. A fourth former employee, Col. (Ret.) Thomas Tobin, was inducted into the Ammunition Hall of Fame at the Joint Munition Command on June 26.
The Ammunition Hall of Fame is located at the Joint Munitions Command in Rock Island, Illinois. It was established in October 2011 to honor and memorialize former civilian and military personnel who have made significant and lasting contributions to the U.S. Army ammunition mission.
"Our ammunition enterprise, or network, is packed with smart, skilled, passionate professionals who serve our nation with honor," said Brig. Gen. Stephen Farmen, Joint Munitions Command Commanding General, who hosted the ceremony. "Ammunition done right is the ultimate team sport. And that is what is reflected here today in the three men we are about to induct."
"During their careers, so much of their work focused on others as they strived to support the warfighter and find new, creative ways to improve our warfighting capability," added Jim Shields, the Program Executive Officer (PEO) Ammunition. "So, it is a pleasure to be able to give them the recognition they deserve, on behalf of PEO Ammunition and the countless warfighters that they served."
ARDEC and PEO Ammunition are the two primary organizations at Picatinny.
Tony Sebasto, executive director of the Enterprise and System Integration Center, which is part of the Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC) at Picatinny, discussed that in addition to the inductees' technical achievements, the former employees were also excellent mentors.
"One of the important things is what you give back to the workforce, especially the younger people. And mentoring is a big part of the accomplishments of these individuals," Sebasto said.
BIOS:
John Amerspek: Amerspek was a World War II veteran who made critical developments in precision-guided weapons during his time at Picatinny. He started within the pyrotechnics division and held a variety of progressive line and staff positions while at Picatinny. In 1970, he became a Project Manager for Selected Ammunition, where he worked in all phases of program management and participated in ammunition research and development on systems that we still use today. Amerspek passed away in 2013 and was awarded his honor posthumously.
Michael Devine: A former ARDEC director and member of the Senior Executive Service, Devine received a patent for a technique that helped reduce the jamming of M-16 ammunition. He oversaw a number of projects and was responsible for saving the sense and destroy armor program, which lead to today's precision munitions, such as the Excalibur 155 mm precision-guided artillery round.
Edward Ford: As a program officer, who later became an acquisition leader, Ford created the Program Executive Office Armaments, which was the precursor to life-cycle management commands, a program that aims to get quality products to the warfighters in less time, for less money.
Col. (Ret.) Thomas Tobin: Tobin was an expert in science and logistics. He published 35 articles, from 1969 to 2003, documenting numerous scientific technologies benefitting ammunition logistics, ordnance and strategies. His career experience spanned depot management to battlefield supply to program management. Tobin studied and wrote extensively on the mass transit of ammunition and Army materiel over ice surfaces, finding better ways for transport. He served as the Project Manager for Ammunition Logistics at Picatinny from 1990-1994, where he was responsible for modernizing and updating technical equipment and procedures for munitions.
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