THE ENGINEERING EDGEEDGEWOOD CHEMICAL BIOLOGICAL CENTER

Volume 5, Issue 12 December 2013

To access the electronic version of this newsletter, visit: http://www.ecbc.army.mil/news/ENG/

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

. .

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

2 | EDGEWOOD CHEMICAL BIOLOGICAL CENTER2 | EDGEWOOD CHEMICAL BIOLOGICAL CENTER

This newsletter was published through the Balanced Scorecard.For article suggestions, questions or comments please contact Ed Bowen at ed.bowen8.civ@mail.mil.

INSIDE THIS MONTH’S ISSUE:

Awareness: 2014 U.S. Federal Holiday Schedule

Date Holiday

Wednesday, 1 January New Year’s DayMonday, 20 January Martin Luther King, Jr.’s BirthdayMonday, 17 February George Washington’s Birthday (Presidents’ Day)Monday, 26 May Memorial DayFriday, 4 July Independence DayMonday, 1 September Labor Day

Monday, 13 October Columbus DayTuesday, 11 November Veterans DayThursday, 27 November Thanksgiving DayThursday, 25 December Christmas Day

Source: U.S. Office of Personnel Management (www.opm.gov).

Ask a Tech Tip: Adding Color to Your FireplaceMike Kauzlarich, of the Pyrotechnics and Explosives Branch, reveals how the techniques and lessons learned in labs can help you solve your household problems. Submit a question to him at usarmy.APG.ecbc.mbx.engineering-directorate@mail.mil.

The holiday season is upon us and the

Pyrotechnics team here at ECBC Engineering is getting many questions about fireworks. Our best advice for our coworkers is this: leave fireworks to the experts. Here is a safe way to enjoy the colors put off by chemicals. Collect some pinecones, dry them, and then soak them for 24 hours in a solution of 1 lb. of Magnesium Sulfate, also known as Epsom Salts (available in drugstores), in 1 gallon of water. After soaking, allow the pinecones to dry completely, then use them in your fireplace or bonfire. They’ll produce a rainbow of colors that you can safely enjoy.

SharePoint Tip: Check In/Check OutCheck in, check out, save and close, publish — There’s a method to the madness! Think of it like checking out and returning a library book. When you check out a document, it is yours to work on and no one else can edit it. Save & Close saves your work and keeps the document checked out to you. Publish makes your edits go live for everyone to see and it also checks the document back in. Following this method lets you see when a document is being edited, controls the number of drafts/versions, and helps avoid confusion when there are multiple editors.

pg.3|New Energetics Chemistry Laboratory to Increase Unique Capabilities for Pyrotechnics and Explosives Branch

pg.4-8|ECBC Engineering 2013 Solutions in Chemical Biological Defense

pg.4|Design

pg.5|Build

pg.6|Test

pg.7|Support

pg.8|Workforce Development and Strategy

THE ENGINEERING EDGE |December 2013| 3

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

The ECBC Engineering Pyrotechnics and Explosives Branch was provided a charter in 1998 by John M. Ferriter (then Director of Engineering) that states the branch’s mission “is

to provide worldwide leadership and technical expertise in the field of pyrotechnics through actions both during and after normal duty hours.” To fulfill that mission, branch personnel are constantly collecting information in the fields of pyrotechnics and explosives (especially in the screening and signaling smoke arena) and applying that knowledge and expertise to design and develop new or improved prototype ammunition items. These prototypes are then passed up the development chain to individuals and organizations responsible for the type classification of that item for delivery to the Warfighter in a timely manner.

In support of their mission, and to further enhance capabilities in testing energetic and explosive compounds, the Pyrotechnics and Explosives Branch is standing up the new Energetics Chemistry Laboratory, located at building E3615A. The new lab has a total area of 875 square feet, including the chemistry laboratory area., a separate room for the test equipment, and a third area for records and administrative equipment, satellite waste storage site, and a restroom. The lab is currently under construction, with the expectation to begin limited operations in the summer of 2014, and to operate at maximum capability by the end of the fiscal year.

The new lab will house a standard chemical fume hood and much of the equipment typical for a professional chemistry lab, such as vacuum ovens, freezers, refrigerators, centrifuges, stirrers, hot plates, and ultrasonic cleaners. The lab was originally designed to relocate the safety testing equipment currently located at the E3580 Pyrotechnics and Explosives Loading Building to a facility better suited to operate sensitive equipment in a climate controlled, dust free, and low vibration and shock environment. “This equipment is rather expensive and requires frequent cleaning and calibration in its current conditions,” explains Joseph A. Domanico, Chief Engineer for Pyrotechnics. “Moving this equipment from E3580 to E3615A will provide the clean working environment this equipment requires.”

Domanico notes that there will be a few unique fixtures such as a hydraulic press with a blast shield, extra blast shields, and an explosive containment chamber that can withstand the detonation of a 20-gram sample (twice the allowable building limit). The test equipment area has drop sensitivity testers, friction sensitivity testers, electrostatic sensitivity testers, vacuum stability ovens, and other equipment designed to give technicians an idea as to the dangers of new pyrotechnic

compositions prior to making more than 10-grams at a time. “Getting the 20-grams explosive test chamber back into operation after the transfer to the new facility will allow us to draw combustion product samples from new

smoke and other energetic compositions,” Domanico says. “This increases the efficiency of the indoor and outdoor test chambers in that we can almost eliminate dud rounds and compositions that do not burn effectively prior to placing them into these test chambers. It will save a good deal of time and money by assuring that the new device will actually function as designed and not dud or explode.”

In addition to housing the equipment necessary for quickly categorizing new pyrotechnic compositions, the new lab will accommodate the manufacturing of energetic compositions to include both pyrotechnic and explosives. Even homemade explosives (HME) can be safely produced and analyzed within the new space. “Our current tasks of determining the sensitivity of new pyrotechnic and explosive compounds can be better supported in the new lab with the added benefit of supporting the explosive-related missions of the entire Center,” says Domanico.

Domanico notes that operation of the new lab will allow the Pyrotechnics and Explosives Branch to continue to serve its Army customers in a technically advanced, yet cost effective manner, with the additional purpose of attracting new customers. “Our unique capability of designing a new energetic formulation, testing it and refining it, then making up to several hundred devices containing this new product, shipping it to them, training them, and assisting them in its use, makes us an extremely valuable resource for the Army.”

New Energetics Chemistry Laboratory to Increase Unique Capabilities for Pyrotechnics and Explosives Branch

The new lab will include test equipment such as (from top to bottom) BAM Friction Test Apparatus, TA Instruments Differential Scanning Calorimeter, BAM Fall Hammer (Impact Tester) and standard laboratory fume hood.

Support

Desig

n Build

Test

4 | EDGEWOOD CHEMICAL BIOLOGICAL CENTER

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

Protective Engineering Division Provides Wearable Solutions for the Joint Service Airmen Mask (JSAM) ProgramVolume 5, Issue 2, February 2013

Protective equipment is an essential part of any Warfighter’s uniform. During the Desert Storm and Desert Shield conflicts, the protective mask and hood that were part of the Mission Oriented Protective Posture (MOPP) presented comfort, thermal, thirst, bodily waste, and claustrophobia issues for flight crews. In order to address these concerns the Joint Service Airmen Mask (JSAM) program was initiated. Within the Edgewood Chemical

Biological Center’s Protection Engineering Division, Don Kilduff, the program manager (PM) for the JSAM Apache mask system, and Jon Sampson, the deputy for the JSAM Rotary Wing mask system, have been working on solutions to mitigate these issues by providing a new design that allows flight-crews to don and dock their masks in-flight in a matter of seconds without removing their helmets. This is accomplished by designing a removable face plate that can easily attach and detach from the hood.

The JSAM program offers a unique capability to Warfighters to be face-free and have the face plate ready within a few seconds without interfering with the helmet. Kilduff and Sampson said that many within DoD have expressed excitement at these significant improvements and see the new design as being extremely useful in theater when a chemical/biological threat is perceived.

Advanced Technology Demonstration Branch Gains Extension to Continue Rapid Area Sensitive-Site Reconnaissance EvaluationVolume 5, Issue 3, March 2013

The Rapid Area Sensitive-Site Reconnaissance (RASR) Advanced Technology Demonstration (ATD) has been extended for one additional year. ECBC’s Advanced Technology Demonstration (ATD) Branch and the Laser Spectroscopy Branch from the Research and Technology Directorate helped support this effort sponsored by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). RASR ATD aims to decrease the time needed to survey large areas such

as rooms, courtyards and fields for the presence of chemical warfare agents (CWAs), toxic industrial chemicals (TICs) and non-traditional agents (NTAs). Following an In-Process Review in September 2012, the RASR ATD Project Manager and Technical Manager are planning for a one-year Extended User Evaluation.

ECBC Develops Low-Cost Next Generation Biological DetectorVolume 5, Issue 8, August 2013

Accurately identifying biological threats in order to safeguard U.S. soldiers against them is a capability ECBC has provided the national defense community for years. Now, the Center has developed a next generation tactical biological (TAC-BIO II) detector that reduces technology costs, saves production time and uses a power source that is more energy efficient.

The TAC-BIO II detector costs 80 percent less and weighs three times less than its predecessor, which was licensed to General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products in 2009 and to Research International, Inc. in 2010. Since then, ECBC and these organizations have collaborated through a patent licensing agreement, a cooperative research and development agreement and a partnership intermediary agreement. Such technology transfer

mechanisms partnered ECBC expertise and facilities with industry technology to further develop the original TAC-BIO prototype into a next generational chemical detector that is weatherproof and uses advanced detection algorithms to reduce false alarms. With funding from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), ECBC was able to produce the TAC-BIO II for just $2,000. New features include deeper UV light sources developed by DAPRA that allow the detector to identify lower concentrations and smaller aerosol particles.

Engineering Directorate 219 Funding Winner: Backpack Stand for Field OperatorsVolume 5, Issue 10, October 2013

At the end of March 2013, the “Backpack Stand for Field Operators” project was awarded 219 Funding for further development of the concept or technology. “The idea had potential to be more universal to work for any military bag,” explains project team member Griff Asplundh, a mechanical engineer with Engineering’s Advanced Design and Manufacturing Division (ADM). “The backpack stand would need to support 60 to 100 pounds, to not add

too much weight to the Warfighter’s pack, and to support whatever the Warfighter needed, whether it be a communications kit or something that needed a work surface, or if they just wanted to keep their bag high and dry during wet conditions.”

The team decided to base its design on the most common feature of the various styles of backpacks – the shoulder straps. “Straps are the one thing that is always consistent,” says Asplundh. “We needed to be able to support the bag from the shoulders, and then from there we used different types of tripods.” The team looked for tripods that were reasonably priced (as carbon fiber can be up to eight times the cost of aluminum), yet strong. Two different designs were weight tested with glass-infused nylon parts made using ADM’s additive manufacturing (3D printing) machines. Both designs passed the test, with weights up to 100 pounds in the backpack.

A New Home: Packaging Branch Moves into a New LaboratoryVolume 5, Issue 11, November 2013

The ECBC Edgewood Packaging Branch has a new home! Packaging Branch Chief Dave Vincitore and his five-person team of military packaging specialists moved from E3331 to the C100 Quad of the Berger Building, and opened a new, 1,200 square foot Packaging Laboratory. The new facility allows the Packaging Branch to combine all of their capabilities under one roof, streamlining their prototyping and packaging data

development operations.

DESIGNECBC Engineering 2013 Solutions in Chemical Biological Defense

Support

Desig

n Build

TestTHE ENGINEERING EDGE |December 2013| 5

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

Additive Manufacturing has paved the way for several new technologies that will change the landscape of the Army, such as the octopus-inspired suction cups developed by US Army Research Laboratory (ARL) scientists with the assistance of Moore’s Rapid Technologies and Inspection Branch. These self-sealing suction cups, conceptualized by Chad Kessens of ARL during his post-graduate research in robotic manipulation, were produced with the assistance of engineering technician Brad Ruprecht from the Rapid Technologies and Inspection Branch, using the Objet Connex500 multi-material 3D-printer. These robotic suction cups are able to maximize suction force and the passive reaction forces that cause the cup to activate and open when the lip contacts an object, breaking the seal to initiate suction.

“Using the multiple digital material options afforded by the Connex500 allowed us to blend variations of elastomeric and rigid materials at the same time, into the same product. That otherwise would be very difficult if not nearly impossible to manufacture traditionally,” Ruprecht said.

The Rapid Technologies Branch also supported prototyping of the Anthropomorphic Control Arm (ACA), a recent project of the Advanced Design and Manufacturing Division’s in support of the DTRA.

ECBC Engineers Modify Decontamination Methods to Save Costs, Increase AccuracyVolume 5, Issue 8, August 2013

With team members located in both Edgewood and Rock Island, ECBC’s Decontamination Engineering Branch, under Sustainment Engineering Division Chief John Kerch operates as one team revolutionizing Warfighter chemical and biological decontamination efforts. “Our motto is one team two locations,” said Jim Burns, an engineer within the Decontamination Engineering Branch. The team has recently worked together to support

three decontamination projects aimed at improving the effectiveness and supportability of current decontamination methods, saving money for the Army in the long run. These projects are the Mass Casualty Decontamination Limited Objective Experiment for the M26, the M100 Shelf Life Study, and updates to the M12A1 Super Tropical Bleach mixing procedures.

The Mass Casualty Decontamination Limited Objective Experiment (MCD LOE) is a project managed by the Joint Experimentation and Analysis Division (JEAD), a part of the Joint Requirements Office, in support of several organizations. The project is an experiment to evaluate several configurations, both commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) and organic, and assess their relative ability to support MCD mission requirements, such as providing water to shower stations for ambulatory and non-ambulatory decontamination situations.

“Currently the Army uses commercial systems such as the Reeves Decontamination Equipment and TVI Decontamination equipment,” said Joe Grodecki, a Rock Island engineer with the Decontamination Engineering Branch. “We are trying to do a couple of water tests to see if they could use an Army system such as the M26 small-scale decontamination apparatus instead.”

The M100 Shelf Life Study is an experiment to extend the shelf life of the M100 Sorbent Decontamination System. The M100 uses a sorbent powder for immediate decontamination, specifically the removal of gross liquid contamination from frequently touched surfaces. Currently, the M100 has a shelf life of 10 years before it must be disposed of and replaced, but the Decon Engineering Branch is working to make that a bit longer.

Electronic Design and Integration Branch Helps Army Move to Smaller, Lighter EquipmentVolume 5, Issue 2, February 2013

Robert Pazda, ECBC Engineering’s Electronic Design and Integration Branch Chief, within Advanced Design and Manufacturing (ADM), says his team is accustomed to having to fit 10 pounds of equipment into a five-pound bag. “The Army always wants everything smaller, lighter,” Pazda said. The Branch’s latest project is the Global Strike Near Real Time Battle Data Assessment (NRT-BDA) System. The Global Strike NRT-BDA incorporates a

suite of unattended sensors and a remote Warfighter Interface to provide timely reporting of conditions around a target during reconnaissance operations.

One sensor includes a chemical agent detector with a shape and size approximately that of a two-pound soda can. The sensors are intended to be air deployed and have been tested from a P-3 Orion aircraft at 1,000 feet. The sensor is equipped with an accelerometer, which triggers the release of the cap and small parachute (ballute). Once it lands, spring-loaded legs pop open,

allowing it to sit upright.

The detector is also equipped with a GPS tracking device. Once the detector has landed and the GPS position remains the same, the

device initiates the start sequence of the detector, so that it can detect chemical agents and other threats, in addition to seismic activity.

This detector, which was a redesign of the Joint Chemical Agent Detector, can feed information to a satellite and then back down to Soldiers manning a Warfighter Interface as far as a few

thousand miles away.

One of the earlier challenges with the Global Strike NRT-BDA was fitting all three different antennas onto a circuit board that was 2 ¼

inches in diameter. It contained a GPS antenna for location purposes, an iridium antenna which sends information up to a satellite, and a short

range communications antenna. In a later design the short range communication antenna was no longer required.

The device has been a collaborative effort with many other organizations, which designed the sensors and other parts that the Electronic Design and Integration Branch incorporated into the device. They have worked with the ADM’s Engineering Design and Analysis Branch, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab, the Air Force Research Laboratory in Rome, NY., Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division, as well as Kansas State University and Smith’s Detection.

Additive Manufacturing Capabilities Bring Concepts to Life with 3-Dimensional ImagingVolume 5, Issue 5, May 2013

Rapid Technologies and Inspection Branch Chief Rick Moore and his team have been utilizing the revolutionary additive manufacturing processes and capabilities to produce items in support of the Warfighter and the Homeland, all within their Rapid Technologies lab on-campus at ECBC. “3D-printing and 3D laser scanning are capabilities we’ve had here since the mid-1990s,” said Moore. “These capabilities help us get equipment in the

hands of the Warfighter quicker, and it also provides access for other engineering and science groups to design products with the ability for many iterations or design changes before fully investing critical funds into the mass-production of that item.”

BUILDECBC Engineering 2013 Solutions in Chemical Biological Defense

SupportDesignBuild

Test

6 | EDGEWOOD CHEMICAL BIOLOGICAL CENTER

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

ECBC Engineering Hosts Army Research Laboratory Human Integration TestingVolume 5, Issue 1, January 2013

Sponsored by the ECBC Engineering’s Acquisition Logistics Division (ALD), two engineers from the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) are working to ensure that acquisition programs within the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical and Biological Defense (JPEO-CBD) and other organizations are developing plans to apply Human System Integration (HSI) into their acquisition strategy. HSI applies an interactive approach to integrate

human considerations into system design to improve total system performance and reduce costs of ownership.

Lamar Garrett and Rhoda Wilson, both employees of ARL’s Human Research and Engineering Directorate (ARL HRED) are housed within the Engineering Directorate to provide human factors engineering support that could minimize total ownership costs. They play a critical role, identifying obstacles in design and safety-related issues that could be mitigated prior to fielding using a method called Manpower in Personnel Integration (MANPRINT).

Department of Energy Tours TREB Facility to Observe Filter TestingVolume 5, Issue 3, March 2013

On 17 January 2013 members of the Department of Energy (DoE) and Qualified Products filter manufacturers spent several hours learning about the capability offerings at ECBC’s Engineering Test, Reliability, and Evaluation Branch (TREB) and taking a tour of the facility. They observed the High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) and gas filter test processes and certifications, gaining more insight into ECBC and TREB’s business development plan,

in hopes of a future collaboration.

During the facility tour, the visiting group observed various aspects of the quality assurance, certification tests, and lot acceptance tests for both HEPA and gas filters. The DoE constituents and other filter manufacturers were interested in seeing what TREB’s processes were for testing first hand, in an effort to share best process practices performed by TREB’s teams.

Teamwork, Innovation Extends SNIFFER Test & Evaluation Pilot Program to Local City ProgramVolume 5, Issue 3, March 2013

ECBC’s Detection Engineering Branch, along with support from the Protective Factor and Toxic Chambers Branch (PFTCB) and the Chemical, Biological, Nuclear and Radiological (CBRN) Filtration Branch within the Research and Technology Directorate, collaborated to design and pilot a standard test methodology for testing stationary and autonomous commercially developed chemical vapor detectors. Supported by the U.S. Department of

Homeland Security Office of Health Affairs Chemical Defense Program (DHS OHA CDP), this effort aimed to better inform select cities in understanding the capabilities and limitations of a given commercial off-the shelf (COTS) detector for use by city mass transit systems. The selected COTS detector is funded through the Fiscal Year 2009 Federal Emergency Management Agency Transportation Security Grant Program (TSGP).

Environmental and Field Test Branch Puts Equipment Durability to the Test with Environmental TestingVolume 5, Issue 4, April 2013

In a given work day Audrey Moberly and Greg Carter can visit the tropics, freeze in the Arctic or survive a sandstorm. As engineers within the Environmental and Field Test Branch (EFTB), they spend time walking in and out of the branch’s 26 Environmental Test Chambers assisting groups within and outside of ECBC to ensure that their military equipment, from backpacks to masks and detectors, can withstand any natural elements.

“We are here to do the hard testing to ensure that the equipment being sent to our Warfighters can last through harsh environmental elements,” said Moberly, who has been with the EFT Branch for 17 years. The testing chambers include temperature/humidity, salt fog, sand/dust, solar radiation, altitude, hot environmental, cold environmental and rain. The temperature chambers range from negative 60 degrees Fahrenheit to 300 degrees Fahrenheit with humidity levels ranging from two to nearly 100 percent.

Collaborative Engineering Efforts Result in Successful Product Verification Tests for Product Manager Force Protection SystemsVolume 5, Issue 8, August 2013

Eighteen lights pierced the night sky as the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) roared past the nine motion detection modules for its final intrusion pass. Sighs of relief were visible in the below-freezing air. The Lighting Kit Motion Detector (LKMD) system had passed the probability of detection test for

vehicular intrusions, concluding the month-long intensive set of Product Verification Tests (PVT). The Test, Reliability Evaluation Branch (TREB) personnel endured long hours, through harsh weather, to ensure that these systems met the requirements and would ultimately be a valuable asset to soldiers in the field. TREB surpassed their client’s expectations in 2013, when they stepped out of their traditional Chemical Biological (CB) testing capabilities to provide PVT on the LKMD systems.

Enhancing Reliability Tests: Highly Accelerated Life Testing (HALT) Embraced at TREBVolume 5, Issue 11, November 2013

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and a well-designed product is only useful to the Warfighter until a component fails. Highly Accelerated Life Testing (HALT) can expose the inherent weak links of a product design and allow engineers to eliminate these weaknesses before the product matures and enters into manufacturing. This method differs from Accelerated Life Testing (ALT) as the test is not attempting to quantify a life cycle but rather provide

qualitative data. The Test, Reliability and Evaluation Branch (TREB) focuses on staying innovative and current with the latest technology. Do P. Nguyen, TREB Branch Chief, invested in the HALT chamber to enhance ECBC’s test mission of providing the highest standard of reliability testing and quality services to the Warfighter. This chamber will not just provide a return on investment for the ECBC Engineering Directorate, but also for the Warfighters risking their lives, as they will be able to attain more reliable, robust products to accommodate the JPM programs’ budget and acquisition test requirements.

TESTECBC Engineering 2013 Solutions in Chemical Biological Defense

SupportDesignBuild

Test

THE ENGINEERING EDGE |December 2013| 7

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

ECBC Engineers Overcome Time Restraints and Challenges to Field LVOSS AbroadVolume 5, Issue 5, May 2013

In an Army motor pool in Germany half a dozen people are wielding wrenches, drills, and components. The noise of the drill dominates, as soldiers concurrently drill mounting holes into Humvees. Inside of those same Humvees, others are installing wiring harnesses and connecting batteries. Tasks (and tools) are handed off as soldiers file out and back in, called to attend to other duties and subsequently return from them. A general

mechanic’s toolkit rests in the middle of the workspace. The group is made up of soldiers of various ranks and two civilians – a program manager from ECBC and a Total Package Fielding (TPF) Representative from TACOM.

To the untrained eye, the scene looks like chaos. “It’s under control,” said Richard Dixon, ECBC’s Light Vehicle Obscuration Smoke System (LVOSS) M327 Program Manager, and General Engineer with the Smoke Systems/Riot Control Team in Rock Island, Il. The LVOSS is a defensive system designed specifically for Military Police (MP) during crowd management. When a military vehicle has

an LVOSS installed, it provides four dischargers which can be loaded with different grenades as the situation dictates. One grenade is a smoke

round, providing a screen that allows an MP unit to break contact with an enemy and egress from a situation. Another can dispense a riot control agent, such as tear gas. The LVOSS can also launch flash bang grenades that distract an enemy or launch a blunt trauma grenade which spreads rubber balls over the area. The LVOSS can be used by MPs anywhere for riot control, including in current theaters.

ECBC Engineers Partner with Industry, Academia to Develop New Guidance on Decontamination During

HazMat/Weapon of Mass Destruction Mass Casualty Decontamination Incidents

Volume 5, Issue 6, June 2013

When mass casualty incidents occur, it is imperative to be able to execute against a sound plan to ensure swift action is taken to preserve the lives of, and evacuate survivors. The response from medical and emergency personnel during the recent Boston Marathon attacks has been heralded as one of the best, due to the planning and practice of first responders and hospitals who handle mass casualty situations. In situations

pertaining to mass casualty decontamination efforts, experts at ECBC have partnered with industry and medical professionals to ensure that if the worst does occur, all personnel are ready and able to handle the conditions, especially in situations involving the accidental release of hazardous materials and terrorist events that utilize weapons of mass destruction.

The U.S. Army Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) School partnered with Bill Lake and Stephen Divarco, Ph.D., both of the ECBC and Robert Gougelet, MD, from the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth University to revise an ECBC Special Report featuring new guidance on Mass Casualty Decontamination during Hazardous Material (HazMat)/Weapon of Mass Destruction (WMD) Incidents. This report, based on input from community responders, Army responders, Department Of Defense (DoD) and DoD chemical-biological technical experts, was completed in May 2013. In the spirit of civil-military interoperability, the CBRN School looked to ECBC to recommend and publish best practices for first responders.

ADM Staff Reflect on their Contributions, Challenges, and Lessons Learned from Serving with the RFAST ProgramVolume 5, Issue 10, October 2013

The RDECOM Field Assistant Science and Technology (RFAST) program’s mission is to streamline communication between the Warfighter and the technical professionals in order to identify, troubleshoot and provide rapidly-fielded solutions for issues with equipment, vehicles, and infrastructure directly to the end users – the Warfighters. After two years of operations at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, RFAST-C has closed the

Prototype Integration Facility (PIF) at BAF and retrograded the equipment back to the CONUS (Continental United States) PIFs. The program has evolved to include a smaller team of engineers and technicians at BAF that will interface with deployed units in Afghanistan and provide reach back to stateside PIFs to perform the required engineering and manufacturing at home, and then ship the finished products back to the soldiers.

The Engineering Directorate’s Advanced Design and Manufacturing Division (ADM) played an instrumental role in standing up and efficiently operating the PIF in Afghanistan. A group of engineers and technicians from ADM, who all deployed as part of the RFAST program, recently sat down for the first time together to share their experience.

SUPPORTECBC Engineering 2013 Solutions in Chemical Biological Defense

8 | EDGEWOOD CHEMICAL BIOLOGICAL CENTER

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

ECBC Engineering Uses Strategic Planning to Position Directorate for Future DoD ChangesVolume 5, Issue 1, January 2013

Senior leaders within the Department of Defense (DoD) find themselves in one of the most challenging times our nation has ever seen. As the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) and DoD prepare for the changes and new challenges of FY13, it is clear that the Center cannot assume “business as usual.” In this fiscal environment, executing against the Engineering Directorate’s organizational mission to provide

necessary chemical biological (CB) defenses for the Warfighter will require the Directorate to solve increasingly complex problems in shorter time frames with fewer dollars. While the nation’s fiscal future is unpredictable, Engineering’s leadership remains focused on the organization’s strategy development as a means to plan for the current and imminent, unforeseen challenges facing the DoD.

ECBC Engineers Help Open Doors to STEM Careers for GirlsVolume 5, Issue 7, July 2013

Aiming to excite local seventh-grade girls about science, technology, engineering and mathematics, subject matter experts from ECBC recently supported Project DREAM Work’s Girls STEM Discovery Day at Harford Community College. ECBC collaborated with Project DREAM Work, a middle school initiative of Harford Community College, and the Women in Defense, Mid Atlantic Chapter, to engage 30 female Edgewood Middle School students in

hands-on STEM experiences.

“As the nation’s principal research and development resource for non-medical chemical and biological defense, it is ECBC’s mission to protect our Warfighters and the nation against potential CB threats,” said Suzanne Milchling, Director of Program Integration at ECBC. “But, it is also our responsibility to help prepare today’s students for the jobs of tomorrow to ensure we have access to a pool of STEM professionals who are able to tackle complex problems through cutting-edge solutions.”

ECBC Welcomes 10 West Point Cadets for the SummerVolume 5, Issue 7, July 2013

ECBC welcomed cadets from the United States Military Academy at West Point to work on research projects in the Center’s laboratories with scientists and engineers. These cadets are pursuing an Advanced Individual Academic Development experience, where they chose to forfeit their summer vacation to instead receive additional laboratory academic credits which will be fulfilled through two to three week rotations at ECBC.

Out of the 63 cadets that the Research, Development, Engineering Command (RDECOM) has from the program, 10 of them chose to work with ECBC this summer.

ECBC Engineering Earns Grant for Defense Acquisition University Training ClassroomVolume 5, Issue 8, August 2013

A new Acquisition Classroom is now available for all Edgewood Chemical Biological Center and Team CBRNE employees, thanks to a grant from the Army’s Acquisition Support Center and teamwork between ECBC personnel. There were several individuals who worked together toward this vision of having a space to complete computer-based training, including Deb Prue, ECBC Training Coordinator and Bill Klein, ECBC Engineering Associate Director, with

the help of Skip Yust, Troy Neville and then-Engineering Executive Officer Todd Nay. The Acquisition Classroom provides a space where appropriate personnel can take online courses from the Defense Acquisition University (DAU). These courses are necessary for earning DAU certification, which is mandatory for most engineers.

ECBC Honored at 29th Annual Women’s Equality Day Celebration Awards

ECBC received the award for “Activity Most Supportive of FWP Goals” for the third consecutive year. The awards are organized by the Federal Women’s Program (FWP) Committee. The FWP has a primary responsibility to identify barriers to the hiring and advancement of women and to enhance employment opportunities for women in every area of federal service.Justin Hayes, a representative from Maryland Sen.

Barbara Mikulski’s office, delivered remarks from the senator. Mikulski has long been a proponent of the work that is done at Aberdeen Proving Ground to support the Warfighter and protect the nation.

ECBC’s Director of Program Integration Suzanne Milchling accepted the award and issued a call of action to work on women’s rights in the workplace to the other commands on post.

Engineering Strategy Paves Way for Improved Customer Service Infrastructure Plan and a Knowledge Management ProgramVolume 5, Issue 9, September 2013

In May 2012, the Engineering Directorate Division Chief’s Roundtable formally activated planning and implementation against six new organizational strategic initiatives as a part of the Directorate’s Balanced Scorecard strategic planning process. The initiatives were a direct output of a Directorate-wide SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Opportunities, Weaknesses and Threats) done in July 2012 and address the most critical challenges

of the organization and the overarching constrained fiscal climate across the Department of Defense (DoD). Each initiative is championed by at least two Engineering Division Chiefs to guide the planning and actionable next steps of implementing against each strategic focus area. Initiatives include the development of a Directorate-wide Business Development Plan, a Customer Service Strategy, a Human Capital Strategy, a Strategic Communications Plan, a Smart Growth Infrastructure Plan, and a Knowledge Management Program.

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AND STRATEGY

ECBC Engineering 2013 Solutions in Chemical Biological Defense

To access the electronic versions of the 2013 newsletters, go to https://cbconnect.apgea.army.mil/ENG/news