Natick, Mass – The Natick Soldier Systems Center hosted a ceremony on October 6, 2021 to rededicate the Installation’s Soldier statue. The ceremony brought together all of NSSC’s organizations whose collective mission is to enhance, empower, and enable the Joint Warfighter.
During the ceremony, Installation leaders recalled the efforts and collaboration between Installation partners to recreate the Soldier statue. Brig. Gen. David Trybula, senior commander of Natick Soldier Systems Center talked about the significance of the Soldier statue.
“Today is a special occasion for our Installation,” said Trybula. “Not only because we get to all come together to unveil this statue which is a visible symbol of our Installation, but also because this statue symbolizes the nonvisible partnerships across the Installation that are essential to our collective synergy and success.”
Trybula said that all of NSSC’s tenants made this new statue possible through a collaborative effort. During his speech, Trybula thanked each Installation partner for contributing to the recreation and rededication of the Soldier statue, and said collaboration among all Installation partners is essential in re-energizing Team Natick.
“We are all stationed at Natick for a purpose and each of our organizations play a critical role in support of National Security,” Trybula said. “Today’s rededication exemplifies our collective efforts to Reenergize Team Natick. Reenergizing Team Natick means continued communication and collaboration across organizations for projects like this, ensuring the spiritual, mental, and physical wellness of our people and prioritizing the reestablishment of services to meet expectations.”
The Soldier statue represents NSSC’s commitment to provide the best research and equipment for the Warfighter. In his remarks, Trybula reiterated NSSC’s priority of putting people first and the important role each organization plays in achieving continued excellence through working together.
“Day in and day out, the Warfighter and their families willingly make great sacrifices for this country,” said Trybula. “Day in and day out the efforts of each of our tenants impacts and enables the Warfighter. To that end, it is crucial that Natick be the premiere place where people want to work and live… Remember winning matters but winning together matters more.”
Douglas Tamilio, director of DEVCOM Soldier Center then spoke about the history and significance of the original statue, originally dedicated in 1996. DEVCOM led this project, and worked collaboratively with all of NSSC’s tenant partners to make this new statue happen. During his speech, Tamilio also reiterated that people are our greatest asset.
“People are what make up the Army and it is those Soldiers and civilians who are our greatest asset,” Tamilio said. “The work that we do here at Natick recognizes that the Soldier is the most important weapon system we have on the battlefield and we work hard every day to make that Soldier more lethal and effective as well as better protected.
“Every day as I drove in the gate I would look at the statue of the Soldier guarding our freedom and it would remind me of the important work we do here. As the statue began to deteriorate over time, I knew that we needed to replace it and provide a new one to inspire everyone who comes to work here to take care of our warfighters,” Tamilio said.
The rededication ceremony concluded with the unveiling of the statue.
The Natick Soldier Systems Center mission is “One Team advancing innovative technology for Today and Tomorrow.” As the only active duty Army Installation in New England, the NSSC’s focus is to enhance, empower, and enable the Joint Warfighter from all branches of the DoD as well as the Coast Guard. NSSC is home to a number of premiere and unique facilities that support the research, development, and engineering to sustain current Warfighter systems and develop future systems. Known as the Army’s center for Soldier-related research and development, NSSC’s greatest asset and top priority is our people – expert military and civilian personnel that come from all six New England states, many of whom hold graduate or higher level degrees in more than 70 disciplines.
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