July 30 was National Intern Day, and Tobyhanna Army Depot marked the occasion by shining a spotlight on Dana Bilotta, Michael Szumski, and Steve Wiltz. All three of these depot employees joined Team Tobyhanna through internship programs.
By definition, an internship is a temporary, professional learning experience designed to bridge classroom theory with practical application. The key word is temporary. Dana Bilotta had a different trajectory in mind.
As the Safety Manager at Tobyhanna Army Depot, Bilotta has transformed what began as a temporary learning opportunity into a dedicated, nineteen-year career supporting the warfighter.
Bilotta’s journey at Tobyhanna began in June 2007. While studying Architectural Drafting and Design at Johnson College, she sought an opportunity that would test her skills in a high-stakes, real-world setting.
“I chose the internship program because I knew being at Tobyhanna would open a variety of opportunities,” Bilotta said. “I wanted a place where I could directly apply the concepts I was learning throughout my student career, while simultaneously expanding my horizons and building the hands-on experience you can only get inside an industrial, mission-focused environment.”
Her ambition paid off. Upon graduating, Bilotta was hired full-time as a draftsman within the Industrial Modernization Division.
Bilotta seized the opportunity to build a multifaceted career because of the depot's diverse operations. Over nearly two decades, she transitioned through several roles, including Industrial Engineering Technician and Safety Specialist, before ultimately rising to lead the Safety Office.
When asked what kept her dedicated to Tobyhanna Army Depot for nineteen years, Bilotta pointed to the depot's culture of mentorship and continuous development.
“I stayed because it gave me the chance to keep growing,” Bilotta expressed. “I enjoyed the projects I was assigned, and I liked having a team to work with to overcome challenges. I also appreciated being able to take ideas from paper and see them turn into real results. Over my nineteen years at the depot, I was able to apply what I learned in college and at work, take on new initiatives with strong mentors and support, and contribute to the mission—supporting the warfighter and the employees at Tobyhanna Army Depot.”
For Bilotta, safety is not merely a set of regulations to enforce. Her favorite aspect of her current role is knowing that the safety protocols implemented at the depot have a ripple effect that reaches the local community.
“The best part of my job is knowing I'm making a real difference in people's daily lives,” Bilotta said. “I get to help our employees navigate hazards and stay out of harm's way. But the real win is when we share safety tips that go beyond the job site—when someone takes a best practice we talked about here and uses it to keep their family safe at home.”
Those values were recently put into action when the Tobyhanna Army Depot Safety team hosted an interactive session on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and ergonomics for children attending the depot's summer camp.
“Once we started explaining what PPE was, they were able to identify different PPE they’ve seen at home or in their travels,” Bilotta shared. “Seeing those kids connect the dots proved to me that safety isn't just a workplace policy—it’s a foundation we’re building for the next generation.”
When she is off duty, Bilotta stays just as active. She is an avid outdoors enthusiast who enjoys traveling to warm destinations, attending live sporting events, and listening to live music. True to her service-oriented profession, she also regularly volunteers her time to support local community events and give back to others.
Michael Szumski’s Tobyhanna Army Depot career has come full circle.
He began his depot career working in the Air Traffic Control, Approach, and Landing System & Range Threat Engineering Branch as an intern in the Pathways Program in 2015, and in Feb. 2026, Szumski was named chief of that same branch.
Szumski spent two summers at Tobyhanna as a student, working on both the ATCALS and range threat sides of the branch, before becoming a full-time member of Team Tobyhanna in 2017.
Szumski graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering from Wilkes University. He looked to Tobyhanna as a career path empowered by the organization-specific knowledge he gained as an intern and from a college professor who worked at Tobyhanna. He was also inspired by his father, a Vietnam veteran who served as an electrician and engineering technician at Tobyhanna Army Depot.
In between his stints in the ATCALS & Range Threat Engineering Branch, Szumski worked in the Air Defense & Counterfire Engineering Branch and served as a lead and chief in the Communications Engineering Branch.
Szumski is a prime example of the positive impact investment in internships, and the organic growth facilitated by them, can have on an organization.
“Working in different areas has been good because I’ve had the opportunity to see a lot of different areas from an engineering perspective, support multiple services, and work on a systems large and small across a wide range of technical areas,” said Szumski.
The technical expertise he has gained through these different roles has proven invaluable in his current role, in which his day to day is largely dependent on issues that require his technical insight. Szumski said each day in the branch is different with work including planning next generation radar system transition and modernization efforts.
Szumski said his current role feels like coming home and feels the opportunity to see the branch from both sides has made him a more effective leader.
“You get to see the things that worked and didn’t work from the perspective of a young technical engineer. That gives you an opportunity to continue the good things that you learned as a working level engineer as well as identify areas of improvement.”
In his free time, Szumski said he likes to play video games, is a home gym hobbyist, and watching TV with his fiancee Kelsey and their cat Jackson.
Logistics Management Specialist Steven Wiltz’s internship served as the springboard for an agile and dynamic career with Team Tobyhanna.
Wiltz entered the Student Career Experience Program (now called the Pathways Program) in 2007 while studying electrical construction and maintenance at Johnson College. After graduation, he began working full-time repairing environmental control units on the production floor, where he remained for eight years. To hone his skills and grow his network, Wiltz often volunteered to travel in support of the depot’s SINCGARS installation missions – endeavors he says provided keen insight into Tobyhanna’s global mission.
“Over the years, I traveled to dozens of bases and learned about the depot’s mission beyond the gates.”
After working as a production controller for several years, Wiltz accepted a promotion to logistics management specialist in 2020. Since then, he’s supported myriad programs at both CONUS and OCONUS locations, giving him experience that helped prepare him for his current assignment: supporting the Department of War’s emerging small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS) requirements. The critical emerging mission presents unique challenges, according to Wiltz.
“The sUAS program is constantly evolving, requiring me to be flexible and responsive to meet warfighter needs.”
Over the years, Wiltz has furthered his knowledge with developmental assignments and the Project Management Professional training/certification. He notes, however, that his best education has come from his peers.
“I would be nowhere without the great people I have worked with along the way,” Wiltz emphasized. “I especially am appreciative of my current colleagues – specifically Corey Katsak, Mikael Mead, Nick Paras, and Chris Volch. I have learned a lot from them, and they have enabled me to be more successful,” adding that experiential learning opportunities have his strong endorsement.
“I highly recommend internship programs for anyone looking for a pathway to a true career,” he said.
In his spare time, Wiltz relishes the opportunity to spend quality time with his wife, Leslie and two daughters, Eylah and Addison.
Tobyhanna Army Depot (TYAD) is designated as the Center of Industrial and Technical Excellence for Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR), electronics, avionics, and missile guidance and control. TYAD provides cradle-to-grave lifecycle support through depot-level repair, systems integration, software and cyber engineering, and field support. A key enabler of operational readiness for Joint and Allied Forces globally, TYAD leverages new and emerging technologies to further expand the Department of War’s organic capabilities for microelectronics, secure communications infrastructure, uncrewed aircraft systems, Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2), Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD), and the Army’s Next Generation Combat Systems (NGC2). TYAD’s ability to rapidly surge production, deploy field support teams, and scale for contingency or theater-level operations makes it a vital contributor to strategic readiness and operational reach.
Social Sharing