PICATINNY ARSENAL, N.J. - Installation Services Director Michael E. Reheuser, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff G-9, visited Picatinny Arsenal on Jan. 23-24 to gain perspective and assess conditions of the installation’s operations, including housing, environmental and fire and emergency services programs, municipal services, and use of electric vehicles.
After a briefing from Maj. Gen. John T. Reim, Picatinny Arsenal’s commanding general and Joint Program Executive Officer Armaments and Ammunition, along with other briefings from subject matter experts in the aforementioned areas, Reheuser toured Picatinny grounds to observe how Arsenal officials address any military and family housing issues, care for emergency service and government vehicles, and respond to environmental concerns.
“Recognizing in the Pentagon, that nothing we do in terms of policy or regulation mean anything if the people on the ground do not understand it and they can’t effectuate it,” Reheuser said of the purpose for his visit.
“So, the first thing is to provide support to the people that are here. The second thing is to learn from the garrison team so that I have a better understanding of what is actually happening. Sometimes in the Pentagon you get separated from the reality on the ground, so it is important to periodically get out of the office, get on the ground, talk to people, and find out what is happening. That in turn then allows us to do a better job in the policies and regulations that we send out.”
Reheuser, a New Jersey native and member of the Senior Executive Service working out of the Pentagon, returned to Picatinny for the first time since he was a young boy. While he had a general understanding of the installation’s mission set, Reheuser said he was generally surprised to learn “the breadth of research and engineering work that is conducted on the Arsenal, and how the garrison reinforces those operations.”
The Picatinny Arsenal garrison supports mission partners that use unique laboratories, special facilities, and various performance measures to evaluate prototype designs, thus reducing development cycle time. The scope of work at Picatinny includes improvised explosive device (IED) defeat technologies, drones, small, medium, and large caliber conventional ammunition, precision-guided munitions, mortars, fire control systems, small-arms weapon systems, howitzers, gunner protection armor, warheads, fuzes, and insensitive munitions.
“Whenever I go to an installation, one of the most important things is to thank the people in the garrison team, and the others that we meet with, for their hard work that often goes unappreciated,” Reheuser said.
Last year, Picatinny Arsenal was selected as the “best garrison” within the U.S. Army Installation Management Command (IMCOM) ID-Sustainment, and fifth overall worldwide within IMCOM, a recognition the northern New Jersey military installation had not previously achieved.
Additionally, the Picatinny Arsenal Fire Department (PAFD) was selected for Small Fire Department of the Year by IMCOM (ID-Sustainment).
Reheuser later returned to Washington, D.C., to report to Army senior leadership his findings and the progress of several project.
Picatinny Arsenal is one of the top three employers in Morris County, New Jersey, according to the Morris County Office of Planning and Preservation, and supports the Army priorities of people, readiness and modernization. The installation’s capabilities are unique and vital to the nation, as the workforce leads the advance of armament technologies and engineering innovation for the U.S. military.
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