WATERVLIET ARSENAL, N.Y. (May 2016) -- The Watervliet Arsenal was built during the War of 1812 at what was then the strategic crossroads of early America. But just as important as its location was its ability to hire dreamers, tinkerers, and artisans -- the people who built America.
More than 200 years later, this historic Army arsenal continues to attract the 'makers of things' from the community and as a consequence, thousands of U.S. troops will continue to safely come home from battle because they will have the finest made weapon systems in the world.
A lot has changed since that warm summer's day in 1813 when the Arsenal began its manufacturing support to the nation's young army. In the beginning, the Arsenal's mission was to produce ammunition and small articles of equipment for the Army. Today, the Arsenal manufactures large caliber weapons items, such as the cannons for tank and field artillery systems, as well as the mortar tubes for the U.S. military and its allies.
But what has not changed over the centuries is the Arsenal's ability to recruit and maintain a highly-skilled workforce who can take a piece of raw stock steel and turn it into a highly prized weapon, a weapon that Soldiers have never questioned in the heat of battle.
The nearly 150 machinists and machine tool operators who are today's artisans work in multiple shifts forging, heat treating, machining, and quality inspecting more than $130 million of products every year. But as good as these folks are, on the second floor of a production building that was built at the height of World War I is an eight-man team of apprentices, machinists and toolmakers who truly epitomize the essence of a machinist.
"These guys are our Top Guns, our Seal Team Six," said John Zayhowski, machinist supervisor, as he tried to put into context the value this group of eight have on the Arsenal's manufacturing lines. These eight make up the Arsenal's tool room operation.
If people are not familiar with a manufacturing center, they probably think of a tool room as simply a place where everyday tools are stored. But unlike the tool rooms set up in garages across the country, this tool room's mission is to design, create, machine, and repair fixtures, gauges, and parts for the 600 machines that make up the Arsenal's production floors.
According to Anthony Polsinelli, acting general foreman and former tool room supervisor who has been a toolmaker at the Arsenal for more than 34 years, "This team is so good that if someone comes to them with only a mental picture of what needs to be machined they not only can make it, but will also make it better than what the person had imagined."
These tool room machinists work in tolerances that are so tight that they are measured in the hundreds of thousandths of an inch, and some of the products they machine are so specialized that it may take them up to one year to produce, Polsinelli said.
When the tool room machinists aren't making or repairing fixtures and gauges, they are working on prototype projects, as well as repairing parts for manufacturing machines.
"Some of our machines are decades old and we cannot find repair parts because the original manufacturer has gone out of business or the original manufacturer doesn't make the part anymore," Polsinelli said. "Sometimes, someone will walk into the tool room with nothing more than broken pieces of a part and we will reverse engineer that part so that we can keep the machine running."
Michael Pantuosco, the current tool room supervisor, said that what makes the tool room so effective is the combination of great machining talent and teamwork.
"Although the eight guys may be working on independent products, they are always watching out for each other," Pantuosco said. "When someone looks like they may need help, there is no shortage of assistance from the team members."
Last month, Toolmaker Robert Fournier was machining a set of broaches that will one day cut the rifling, which is the interior grooves in a howitzer barrel that imparts a spin to a projectile, on a new product line for the 155mm Paladin howitzer. Given that each 155mm tube must have 47 broaches cut the interior grooves, Fournier ensures the broaches are of such high quality that they cut perfectly every time.
Fournier is staking his career on just cutting broaches. This product line is so important to the Arsenal's production he said that he has no hesitation to machine broaches for the rest of his career. Manufacturing these rifling broaches gives him a tremendous sense of satisfaction and pride knowing that every field artillery piece made will have his stamp of quality on it.
The Arsenal's manufacturing leadership also leverage the great machining talent in the tool room to invest in the future.
"We have turned the tool room into a training ground for future master machinists," Pantuosco said. "At any given time, you may find up to four apprentices working side-by-side machinists who are at the top of their skill."
Earlier this year, three fourth-year machinists, Jonathan Morehouse, Nathan Coryea, and Colin McCarthy were learning the machining trade from tool room machinists and toolmakers. Those apprentices have spent nearly half of their apprentice years, about 4,000 hours each, in the tool room.
"These guys (tool room machinists and toolmakers) are the best," Morehouse said. "But one of the things that I have enjoyed most here is that we are forced to think outside of the box to solve problems and do so under great time pressures."
McCarthy echoed Morehouse's comments by saying his opportunity to solve problems was one of the things he liked best when working in the tool room. Additionally, McCarthy truly enjoys the variety of machining challenges that his team faces every day.
"Rarely do we work on the same type of machining requirement from day to day," McCarthy said. "The dynamic nature of the tool room means that priorities often change, because we may be working on one product only to shift our efforts to another project if a production line may be at risk of a stoppage."
Sadly, as good as this team is in regards to machining talent, it is not on the tour route for senior military leaders when they visit the Arsenal. Not that any one of the eight team members is seeking the limelight or the pat on the back, but what they do every day to keep products moving and machines running is nothing less than spectacular.
They truly add to the Arsenal's rich history of risk takers, doers, makers of things, and especially, those obscure men and women who have not settled for anything less than providing the highest quality products in the world for our troops. Just as their predecessors did in 1813, they are still building America.
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The Watervliet Arsenal is an Army-owned-and-operated manufacturing facility and is the oldest, continuously active arsenal in the United States having begun operations during the War of 1812. It is a subordinate command to the TACOM Life Cycle Management Command and the Army Materiel Command.
Today's Arsenal is relied upon by U.S. and foreign militaries to produce the most advanced, high-tech, high-powered weaponry for cannon, howitzer, and mortar systems. This National Historic Registered Landmark had $138 million in revenue in fiscal year 2015 and has an annual economic benefit to the local community in excess of $100 million.
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