Rock Island started out during the Civil War as a small Union
prisoner of war camp which also held and distributed supplies. It has grown
into a critical manufacturer of 21st century supplies for our troops in the
field. And in doing so, it also serves as the lifeblood of the Quad Cities
region that hosts it.
In celebration of its 150th anniversary, I would like to
highlight Rock Island Arsenal's impressive history and the impact it has had on
the community and the nation.
Rock Island has a long history of producing supplies for our
military. It was rifle cartridges and siege howitzers in the Spanish-American
War of 1898. In World War I, it was rifles and a variety of personal equipment.
By World War II, the Arsenal's emphasis had shifted to artillery production,
and workers increased production from 75 artillery cartridges a year to 600 a
month during the war. This ability to rise to the challenge for our
serv ice mem bers is a theme at Rock Island.
Products weren't the only thing changing at the Arsenal. So were
demographics. Everyone is familiar with the image of Rosie the Riveter, as
women stepped into the workforce. The Arsenal was no different--32 percent of
the workforce was female during World War II.
Yet some of the workers were only teenagers. Squeezing in 40
hours of work while going to school, students were picked up after class and
bused to the island. They worked Saturdays too. In a not uncommon story,
Arsenal worker Anna Mae said her wartime effort was a family affair. ``My mom
worked on one side of the island, my stepdad on the other and I was in the
middle.''
Years after the war ended, Anna Mae returned to work at the
Arsenal until retirement. When she learned that her war efforts contributed to
her pension, she articulated the selflessness of so many when she said, ``I
never would have thought (about) that--we were just trying to win a war.''
In the Korean War/Conflict, the sense of urgency on the island
returned. Crews worked 10-hour days, 6 days a week, and sometimes on Sunday to
get weapons and equipment shipped out. For Vietnam, the Arsenal created new
products designed to counteract the Viet Cong's guerilla ``hit and run''
tactics, such as the M102 lightweight howitzer. The Arsenal continued to
contribute to systems that meant life or death for the soldiers for the 1991
Gulf War--and then adapted as the military went through a drawdown after the
war ended.
But as we all know, that peace did not last long. A little more
than 10 years ago, the attacks of September 11th changed our world--and the
nation again found itself at war. Again to their credit, the Arsenal workforce
went into overdrive to provide our troops what they needed. Machinist Jeff
Roberts recalled, ``Everyone's mentality is it's one collaborative effort to
get the soldiers what they need as fast as you can.''
They did--in a unique way. The Arsenal has the Department of
Defense's only vertically integrated metal manufacturing capability. It has the
only remaining foundry in the U.S. Army. It means that raw materials can go in
one side and come out the other as very intricate finished products. It does
this with a number of materials, including stainless steel, carbon steels, and
titanium. The result--new equipment to better protect our troops, especially on
short notice.
We all know how devastating improvised explosive devices (IEDs)
were to U.S. troops in Iraq and continue to be to serv ice mem bers
in Afghanistan. In 2006 and 2007, our nation had fallen short in armor kits for
Humvees and other ground vehicles to protect our troops. I urged then-Secretary
Gates to use Rock Island's production capability to get these kits to our
troops faster. Secretary Gates agreed. Rock Island became the single largest
producer of these armor kits. Talk about saving lives.
Lieutenant General Raymond Mason, Army's Deputy Chief of Staff
for Logistics, recently noted, ``It was critical that we had (the organic
industrial base), along with our manufacturing capabilities at our arsenals at
Watervliet, Rock Island and Pine Bluff. This allowed us to expand for wartime
demand ..... `` He also added, ``By ensuring we maintain a core level of work,
we then retain expandability capabilities if something else happens in the
world.''
As I look to the future, I would say that is exactly what we are
doing at Rock Island. Earlier this year, I introduced the Army Arsenal
Strategic Workload Enhancement Act of 2012, with the support of Senator Mark Kirk, Senator Grassley, Senator Harkin, and the Senators
from New York and Arkansas.
The bill does just what General Mason was describing. It would
create a strategic plan to ensure arsenals receive the workload they need to
keep workers' skills sharp for whatever the future may hold.
We worked with Senator Levin
and Senator McCain
on this. I was pleased that major portions of our bill were included in the
report accompanying the National Defense Authorization Act, which was voted out
of the Armed Services Committee last month.
But the Arsenal isn't complacent. They are partnering with
private industry interested in working with titanium and other lightweight
metals at the Quad-City Manufacturing Lab which opened in 2010. In these times
of tough budget decisions, these partnerships enable Rock Island to sustain
itself at no cost to the government
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through a Working Capital Fund. Just like the private sector,
the Arsenal is out there competing for work--and winning it. They have signed
agreements with Sivyer Steel, Mack Defense and others.
But Rock Island is about more than just production--it is also
the bedrock of the Quad-City region as the area's largest employer. One example
of family commitment to the Arsenal is Jeff Roberts, a machinist at Rock
Island. His great-great-great-great grandfather was a master carpenter at Rock
Island in the 1860s and helped build the island's iconic Clock Tower. Working
at the Arsenal for our men and women in uniform gave Jeff a clear understanding
of, as he described it, ``what you're doing and why you're doing it.'' He
added, ``I've never had the job satisfaction I have now until I came here.''
Jeff's experience is replicated all across the Arsenal. The island
has more than 70 military and private sector organizations as tenants. Over the
years, the Arsenal has welcomed the Army Corps of Engineers, Army Sustainment
Command, Joint Munitions Command, and Army Contracting Command, among others.
Most recently, Rock Island welcomed the headquarters for First Army, which is
in charge of mobilizing, training and deploying our Army Reservists. It may not
always have the glitz of a front-page story. But their collective dedication
shows how central Rock Island is to the support of our military, every day.
Rock Island Arsenal is a large and vibrant installation, with a
rich history and an impressive array of ongoing activities. Rock Island Arsenal
has made remarkable contributions over the past 150 years. It has served us
through our difficult times and will continue to do so in the future.
I thank those who serve at the Arsenal today and those who have
served in the past. And also to those who have join me in honoring Rock Island
Arsenal in its 150-year anniversary celebration.
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