Picatinny Arsenal officials unveiled a plaque that will be affixed to a newly constructed Armaments Integration Facility (AIF), named after a fallen U.S. Army Soldier from the Garden State.
The SFC Michael J. Goble Armaments Integration Facility, named after Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Goble, previously of Westwood, New Jersey, was dedicated during a ceremony here on June 3.
Goble, a U.S. Army Special Forces Soldier, was killed Dec. 23, 2019, during combat operations in Kunduz Province, Afghanistan. At the time of his death, Goble was serving as a Special Forces Weapons Sergeant and Special Forces Intelligence Sergeant with 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), based out of Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.
The AIF will provide space for the integration of prototype weapon systems across all calibers, develop assembly procedures, and provide insights on how to improve designs. After engineers create their designs in a virtual space and have prototypes manufactured, they need an area to combine initial systems and ensure that they work correctly. The AIF will be where that assembly takes place.
Lt. Col. Adam Woytowich, the departing Picatinny Arsenal garrison commander, was instrumental in getting the facility named after Goble.
Prior to Woytowich’s assignment as Picatinny’s garrison commander, he was Goble’s Special Forces Operational Detachment Alpha Commander in 2009 and 2010. Nearly a decade later, Woytowich would receive that dreaded call notifying him of Goble’s death.
“Following the anger, the pain, the grief, the tears, was a burning desire to do something to carry his (Goble’s) torch,” Woytowich said to the audience gathered for the building dedication.
Woytowich said he thought naming a city street or a Crossfit workout after Goble, “but none of that was fitting to the caliber of man that Mike was,” he added. “That was, until I found out I was coming here, to Picatinny Arsenal.
“The wheels began to turn and, aside from his obvious loves of friends, family, and his daughter Zoey, if I had to describe five things that Mike loved it would be his home state. He was a very proud New Jerseyian, and the other four things would be guns, guns, guns, and ammunition. When the opportunity came to name this facility after Mike, the stars aligned. It was perfect.”
Another speaker was one of Goble’s best friends, Sgt. 1st Class (retired) Jason Hart, a Special Forces Intelligence Sergeant who served with both Goble and Woytowich.
Picatinny Arsenal’s Sgt. Jorge Rivera presented replicas of the unveiled plaque to Goble’s parents. Sgt. (promotable) Jacqueline Whimple provided the invocation.
The ceremony concluded with the playing of the Ballad of the Green Berets, and the Army Song.
The SFC Michael J. Goble Armaments Integration Facility is scheduled to open later this year.
Social Sharing