The document is the August 31, 2013 edition of the Salvo, the monthly publication of the Watervliet Arsenal. It discusses the Arsenal receiving a $4.3 million contract from the Army to manufacture over 600 experimental lightweight baseplates for 60mm mortars. It will allow greater firing capability and may reduce weight carried by infantrymen. The Arsenal also uses its annual shutdown period for focused maintenance while continuing critical production to support troops.

1. SALVO
Watervliet Arsenal ... 1813-2013
Vol. 13, No. 8 U.S. Army Watervliet Arsenal Aug. 31, 2013
Army sends Arsenal a
$4.3M contract for an
experimental baseplate
Story on page 3
Photo by Staff Sgt. Shane Hamann

2. Page 2 Salvo Aug. 31, 2013
The Arsenal Salvo is an authorized monthly publication for members of the Department
of Defense. Contents of the Salvo are not necessarily the official views of, or an endorse-
ment by the U.S. Government, the Department of Defense, the Department of the Army, or
the Watervliet Arsenal.
News may be submitted for publication by sending articles to Public Affairs Officer,
1 Buffington Street, Bldg. 10, Watervliet, NY 12189, or stop by office #102, Bldg. 10,
Watervliet Arsenal. The editor may also be reached at (518) 266-5055 or by e-mail:
john.b.snyder.civ@mail.mil. The editor reserves the right to edit all information submitted
for publication.
Commander, Col. Lee H. Schiller Jr.
Public Affairs Officer, John B. Snyder
Editor, John B. Snyder
Photographer: John B. Snyder
Cover Photo: U.S. Army mortarmen
with 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry
Regiment fire a 60 mm mortar during
force protection and registration train-
ing at Forward Operating Base Spin
Boldak, Kandahar province,
Afghanistan, June 22, 2013.
Lee H. Schiller Jr.
Commanding
Manufacturer 6
Commander’s
Corner
The dust has settled from the change of command
ceremony and I must tell you that these last 45 days since
that ceremony have not only been educational to me, they
have also been truly enjoyable. I have spent a great amount
of time since July 18 visiting arsenal leaders and those who
are implementing and managing various critical programs
for the arsenal.
For an Army officer, there is no better assignment than
commanding a unit. But this command is different. It has a
storied 200-year history. It has a rich tradition of adapting
its capability and capacity to meet the urgent needs of our
troops. But, most importantly, it has an awesome, talented
team of professionals who today are supporting our troops
in combat.
From day one of my command, I have been your primary
spokesperson to senior Army leaders, to fellow depot and
arsenal commanders, to community leaders, and to our
customers. I plan to tell our story to anyone who will
listen, to include you. I look forward to our town hall that
we will conduct in mid-September as an effort to better
keep you informed.
Although I don’t need to remind you about the
challenging times that we are in, let me give you a quick
peek into our future.
Furloughs have ended but sequestration still remains.
The effects of sequestration have caused us to reduce
millions of dollars from our operations budget and
implemented a hiring freeze. As it stands now, the Army’s
senior leaders are warning members of Congress that unless
they quickly act that sequestration will hit the Defense
Department harder in 2014 than it did in 2013.
We can’t control that. But what we can control, we will.
We must get the products that we promised our troops
into their hands by the dates that we promised. This means
that before we accept an order, we have meticulously
thought through the entire planning process to ensure that
we can deliver that product on time.
Once we have an order, we must leverage all of our
resources, from procurement to shipping, toward meeting
our delivery schedule. We must anticipate potential pitfalls
by having a Plan B ready to go if our initial plan becomes
untenable.
And making schedule is only part of the process. We
must also ensure that anything stamped Watervliet Arsenal
is the best quality product that our troops will touch.
Thank you for the great support you have given me
these last 45 days and for what you do to ensure that
our nation is safe. Please be very safe in all that you do
because each of you is critical to the success of the arsenal.

3. Page 3 Salvo Aug. 31, 2013
New $4.3M contract will increase
capability, may lighten the load
The U.S. Army signaled its approval of a new experi-
mental 60 mm mortar baseplate for its infantry by award-
ing a $4.3 million contract to the Watervliet Arsenal to
manufacture more than 600 of the newly designed base-
plates, an arsenal program manager announced this week.
Edward Davis, the arsenal’s program manager for the
60 mm mortar system,
said this experimental
baseplate, the M8E1,
was recently approved
for full production by the
Army and the contract is
valued at $4.3 million.
“We have been work-
ing closely with the Ar-
my’s Benét Laboratories
for several years to de-
velop a new lightweight
baseplate for the 60 mm
mortar system,” Davis
said. “This baseplate
will give the infantryman
greater firing capability
because it can support the
firing of 0 to 4 propellant
charges, whereas, the M8
baseplate that it will re-
place can only support the firing of a charge 0 to 1.”
“This multimillion dollar order will add to the Arse-
nal’s current workload more than 9,400 hours of direct
labor,” Davis said. “Because of the long lead time to pro-
cure raw stock material, we don’t expect to start manu-
facturing the baseplates until 2015.”
Tom Pond, the arsenal’s director of operations, touted
this new order because the order is symbolic of the arse-
nal’s ability to respond to new requirements.
“Although the arsenal is often referred to as the na-
tion’s cannon factory, the fact that we received this order
for a new lightweight baseplate speaks volumes about
the manufacturing capability that resides at the arsenal,”
Pond said. “Our capability, in terms of machinery and
workforce skills, allows us to machine something that
can fit into a pants pocket or as large as a 16-foot howit-
zer tube.”
“Given the challenges of a declining defense budget
has on obtaining new work, any order is great news,
especially when it adds more than 9,000 hours of direct
labor,” Pond said.
The fact that the arsenal received this order also
speaks volumes about the synergy achieved by having
an Army research and design center, Benét Laboratories,
within a five-minute walk of those who will machine the
product.
Zachary Jablonka, the Benét Labs program manager
for the 60 mm mortar sys-
tem, said the new base-
plate will greatly increase
the firing range over the
M8 baseplate.
“Even for a small part
that weights about five
pounds, it took several
years of design work and
great teamwork between
Benét engineers and arse-
nal machinists to produce
the baseplate,” Jablonka
said.
“Not only will the
new baseplate increase
the range over the former
baseplate, it may also re-
duce the overall weight
that an infantryman
must carry into combat,”
Jablonka said.
The current M224A1 60mm mortar system utilizes
two baseplates. The M7A1 baseplate, which is used
when firing from a fixed position, is heavier, more du-
rable and can support the firing of all charge levels, 0 to
4. The M8 patrol baseplate, which is about a third the
weight of the M7A1, is limited to charges 0 and 1.
The new M8E1 baseplate will replace the M8, weighs
about half as much as the M7A1 and can support the fir-
ing of charges 0 to 4 in limited quantities. This provides
the soldier increased capability while on patrol and the
option of use in limited, fixed position engagements as a
substitute for the heavier M7A1 baseplate.
The fact that the new baseplate will be about four
pounds lighter than the M7A1 may not sound like much,
unless you are the infantryman who must carry those ex-
tra four pounds over rough terrain, Jablonka said.
Once the M8E1 baseplate goes into production, the
nomenclature will change to M8A1.
By John B. Snyder
Here is a good example of the amount of equipment an infantryman must
carry. U.S. Soldiers with 1st Squad, 1st Platoon, Alpha Company, 1st Bat-
talion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne
Division, in Khogyani district in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, March
28, 2013. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Jon Heinrich/Released)

4. Page 4 Salvo Aug. 31, 2013
For every operation there is a seasoned supervisor who has decades of
experience. Shift supervisor, Glenn LaPier, right, is checking the status of
the machining process this month on a breechblock with machinist Robert
Cavanaugh, left, and apprentice Nathan Coryea.
Annual Shutdown?
Not for an Army-owned manufacturer
When the Arsenal “shutdown” operations this
month to accommodate its annual summer vacation
period, someone who is not familiar with Army
manufacturing might have thought the sounds
of heavy machining would have been silenced
as darkness spread in one million square feet of
manufacturing space.
But neither darkness
nor a void of sound
set in for two reasons.
Although a large
percentage of production
personnel did depart
for the beaches and
amusement parks, many
stayed to do critical,
focused maintenance.
There was also
another critical task
required ... supporting
our warfighters and
allies with the right
weapon system, on time.
That production support
could not stop.
For the shutdown week, maintenance activity
ran the gamut from conducting sling loads tests to
cleaning florescent pits that are used to conduct quality
control borescope testing. This heavy maintenance
focus is conducted during this one-week period so that
it does not impede tight delivery schedules.
For production, it was a great time to get caught up,
said Glenn LaPier, shift supervisor.
“We had about 12 machinists and apprentices
stay and work on critical production schedules for
the 120 mm gun systems that will eventually be
installed on Abrams tanks,” LaPier said. “Overall,
this was a pretty successful week in that we not only
kept production flowing on critical systems, we also
had our production cells set up for success when
operations start up again this week.”
For Charles Robinson, the shutdown meant that
he and others were able to switch out the florescent
fluid in the magnetic particle testing booths. Magnetic
particle inspections is a non-destructive test used to
determine if there are any surface deficiencies in any
of the tubes manufactured at the arsenal.
“Without the
shutdown, we would
not have been able to
change the fluid in all
five magnetic testing
booths,” Robinson
said. “This is such a
critical piece to the
quality control of our
products that anything
we can do to improve
the process will improve
the products that our
Soldiers receive.”
One other critical
area where work
continued is on the
creation of fixtures for
certain lines of production. Before any product, be it a
mortar baseplate or tank tube, can be manufactured, a
special set of tools and fixtures must first be machined.
Fixtures to a car mechanic may be something as
simple as a vice on a workbench. In essence a tool
that holds a part in place. For an arsenal machinist,
fixtures will hold everything from mortar baseplates to
howitzer tubes through the machining process.
Focused maintenance went beyond the production
bays and touched on just about everything within the
arsenal fence line.
With an augmentation of personnel from the
manufacturing directorate, the arsenal’s public works
By John B. Snyder
Photo by John B. Snyder
Story continues on page 5, See Shutdown

5. Page 5 Salvo Aug. 31, 2013
Photos by John B. Snyder
operations made significant gains in the shortened
week. Due to sequestration, the arsenal, like many
other Army installations, had been reduced to a
four-day workweek. Amid all the maintenance
challenges, public works also contended with a
real-world situation as two water mains had to be
repaired. Nevertheless, more than 70 percent of
the critical planned maintenance projects were
completed, said Thomas Herold, the arsenal’s public
works supervisor.
According to Herold, public
works completed critical
maintenance on boilers systems,
waste treatment plant systems,
electrical sub-stations, and water
main valves. To help with safety,
parking lines, crosswalks, and
parking lots were repainted.
Although the Arsenal leadership
has always called this annual
maintenance event a “shutdown,”
some at the arsenal wince when they
hear that term because they believe
the arsenal has been in continuous
operation since 1813…and it has.
To them, the term “shutdown”
shouldn’t even be in the Arsenal’s
vocabulary.
The annual shutdown, is typically
conducted the last week of July
or early August, is a wonderful
opportunity for critical, focused
maintenance to be conducted and a
very good tool to manage vacation time so that the
arsenal does not have a surge of vacationers at an
inopportune time during production.
The Watervliet Arsenal’s dedicated and highly-
skilled workforce contributes to our national
security by providing U.S. and foreign militaries the
most advanced, high-tech, high-powered weaponry
for cannon, howitzer, and mortar systems. The
Arsenal is also the Defense Department’s sole
manufacture of large caliber cannons, from 105 mm
to 155 mm, as well as DOD’s manufacture of choice
for 60 mm, 81 mm, and 120 mm mortar systems.
Top: Toolmaker Gerald Smith
machining a fixture for a
mortar baseplate during the
shutdown period in August.
Center: Quality Control
Inspector Charles Robinson
standing next to one of mag-
netic particle testing booths
after he had performed mainte-
nance on the testing site.
Bottom: For everything that
enters and exits the arsenal,
there is someone from the
logistics division involved.
Richard Windham is loading
“chips” from the manufactur-
ing bays. Chips are thin strips
of metal that come off during
the manufacturing process.
Shutdown cont.

6. Page 6 Salvo Aug. 31 2013
Logistics:
Where
everything
starts
and ends
There is a tactic used in the Army
called “an economy of force” opera-
tion to describe an action taken by a
commander to minimize combat pow-
er used to shape or sustain an opera-
tion thereby, allowing the commander
to focus the bulk of his or her forces at
the decisive point or operation on the
battlefield.
Nearly 6,000 miles from the nearest
battlefield there is a small Army post
called the Watervliet Arsenal where
“economy of force” operations” are
critical to ensuring that our nation’s
servicemen and women receive critical
weapon systems when and where they
need them.
The arsenal is an Army-owned and
–operated manufacturing center that
has been in continuous operation since
1813. Today, the arsenal produces
the cannons, tubes, and various parts
for such weapon systems as Abrams
tanks, 105 mm and 155 mm howitzers,
and for all mortar systems.
If there was a decisive point or
operation at the arsenal, some might
say that it would be on the production
floors where highly skilled machinists,
tool makers, and machine tool opera-
tors work in tens of thousands of an
inch tolerances machining parts for
large caliber weapons. All other arse-
nal operations work toward supporting
that machining cadre of about 175.
But, before any product gets to the
machinist, and before any product de-
parts the arsenal, there is small cohort
of 14 professionals who make up the
Material Management Team. This
small team processes more than $100
million of product in and out of the ar-
senal every year ̶ truly a fine example
of an economy of force operation.
Despite this awesome challenge,
the team has not missed a delivery in
years.
“I have worked at the arsenal for
30 years and during my tenure as the
supervisor of this supply operation, we
have not missed an end of the month
delivery,” said Marissa Battisto, the
arsenal’s Material Handler Supervisor.
Battisto went on to say that in ad-
dition to handling every delivered and
shipped item, her team has several ad-
ditional duties that it performs to help
out the arsenal mission.
“Not only do we touch every prod-
uct that is used in manufacturing,
we also store and account for tens of
millions of dollars of product in nine
warehouses that are spread through-
out the arsenal,” Battisto said. “If that
wasn’t enough, we also move office
equipment, make on-site deliveries,
man the school bus, and drive for VIP
tours.”
Given such a large scope of respon-
sibilities, how could such a small team
survive?
Evette Mortimore, a material han-
dler who works in the logistics office,
said that she is often amazed at the
amount of product that flows in and
out of the loading dock every day.
“Despite the high pressure that we
work under, we always come together
as a team and make it work,” Morti-
more said. “Thanks to a good supply
tracking systems, nothing stays on our
loading dock more than a few days.”
Critical to the team’s success is
knowing what critical shipments are
due in or what must immediately go
out.
By John B. Snyder
It is amazing how this small team of professionals can process, store, issue, and ship tens
of thousands of items every year and do so on time. From left: Andrew Ames, Michael Van
Buskirk, James Sherman, Justin Fallis, Richard Windham, Timothy Burke, Nicholas Barnes,
Peter Smith, Tad Wojtczak, Evette Mortimore. Front: Marissa Battisto, the arsenal’s Material
Handler Supervisor.
Photo by John B. Snyder
Story continues on page 7,
See Logistics

7. Page 7 Salvo Aug. 31, 2013
Top: Evette Mortimore
checking in a FedEx
delivery. Tens of
millions of dollars of
supplies, parts, and
manufacturing prod-
ucts are transferred
into the arsenal via
this loading dock.
Left: Michael Van
Buskirk securing a
load prior to making a
delivery. Van Buskirk
belongs to a small
team who receive,
issue, and ship more
than $100 million of
products every year.
Logistics cont.
To stay on top of production priorities, Battisto
attends weekly production meetings. Through
her attendance, she is able to hear the discussions
between the commander and program managers on
the status and issues that may impede the arsenal
from making an on-time shipment. She then takes
this information and shares it with her logistics
team so that they have complete situational aware-
ness of what is hot and what their roles are to as-
sist the production process.
Somehow, it all works and works well.
Rocco Granato, a supply technician who works
alongside Mortimore, may have summed it up best
in regards to how such a small team can achieve
great success.
“We don’t do what we do for the recognition,”
Granato said. “We do our jobs extremely well be-
cause we know that every piece of product that we
touch will end up in the hands of our troops.”
Successful battlefield tactics have found suc-
cess at this small Army post. But just as in battle,
tactics need a competent and motivated team to
implement. The arsenal has such a team and they
make up the Material Management Team.
Congrats to Apprentice Class #82...You Are Done
Front Row from left: Peter Nor-
thup Timothy Fontaine, Robert
Day, Kenneth Chirpka, Timothy
Boak and William Bashford III.
Back Row from left: James
White, Brant Wert, John
Weishaar, Jared Smith, William
McCarthy, Dylan Kusaywa, and
Robert Fournier.
Photos by John B. Snyder
Photo by John B. Snyder

8. Page 8 Salvo Aug. 31, 2013
Bringing back
horsepower to
motivate, send
a message
The sounds of horse hoofs clip-clopping across the
Arsenal’s parade area that borders the last vestiges
of the Erie Canal wall brought a sense of nostalgia to
some. After all, the 1830s-era horse stables are still
in use at the historic Watervliet Arsenal, albeit, for an-
other use today.
But when today’s military ride on track and high-
speed wheeled vehicles why on earth would the arse-
nal bring back horses?
No, it wasn’t for a new experimental weapon sys-
tem, but was for the nearly 50 kids who participate
in the arsenal’s summer camp program sponsored by
the Morale, Welfare, and Recreation program. As the
summer camp winds down, camp counselors wanted
to close out strong and so, the thought of bringing a
horse in for the kids seemed like a shoo-in choice.
But never wanting to miss an opportunity to lever-
age one event to serve two purposes, the horse be-
longed to the City of Albany Police’s Mounted Patrol
unit.
According to Alan Columbus, the arsenal’s chief of
law enforcement and security, his officers coordinated
with the Albany police to provide a mounted-patrol
team to the summer camp.
“We take every opportunity to have our youth see
the police in a very positive light,” Columbus said.
“And so, by bringing a mounted-patrol team into sum-
mer camp the kids were not only excited by the horse,
they also had an opportunity to engage patrol officers
in a very positive setting.”
This activity was just one of many that were of-
fered in the summer camp that ran from June 24 to
August 22, said Laurol Bartlett, a senior camp coun-
selor who is on her sixth year at the arsenal.
“This is a great program that has grown from about
25 children when I first started as a counselor to about
50 kids today,” Bartlett said. “We don’t even need
to advertise the program because the word-of-mouth
messaging is unbelievable.”
Bartlett, who teaches at the Rensselaer Park El-
ementary School in Troy, N.Y., said that she loves to
come back every summer because after six years, the
kids seem like an extended family.
Fellow camp counselor, Jennifer Lewicki who
teaches at Colonie High School in Albany, N.Y., added
that she is very proud of what the summer camp pro-
gram has become.
“Sometimes it is hard to believe how far we have
come in the numbers of children and the value of ac-
tivities that we have added in the four years that I have
been supporting this program,” Lewicki said.
The thought of spending the summer with school
teachers might be intimidating to some children, how-
ever, but that doesn’t seem to be the case at the arse-
nal.
Sarah Gully, who attends Koda Middle School in
Clifton Park, N.Y., said that she loves to come to sum-
mer camp.
“This is my second year coming to summer camp
and if I wasn’t here I would spend most of my time
Story continues on page 9, See Camp
Photo by John B. Snyder
City of Albany Mounted Police Officer Andrew Dwyer edges "Sam"
ever so gently to the kids. Dwyer, and fellow Albany Mounted Police
Officers, John Dwyer and Kurt Johnson, supported the arsenal's
summer camp as a way to excite the kids, while reinforcing a positive
image of police officers.

9. Page 9 Salvo Aug. 31, 2013
playing video games,” Gully said. “And so, summer camp has added a lot of awesome activities into my summer and has
allowed me to make a lot of new friends.”
“By the way, the summer camp counselors are really cool,” Gully added.
At a weekly rate that may be as low as $42 to no more than $140, parents can drop off their kids at 6:30 a.m. and pick
them up at 4:45 p.m. All activities, to include field trips, are included in the cost. When the kids aren’t on a field trip, they
are swimming, doing crafts, or playing games. To enter the summer camp program, children must have completed the 1st
grade and not have completed 8th
grade.
But what may be the best value to the parents is that the kids are at most a 10-minute walk from their workplace. On
any given lunch period, parents are often seen having lunch with their kids.
Back to the horse … several arsenal employees attempted to persuade the new commander to keep the horse for history
and tradition. After all, the arsenal just celebrated its 200th
anniversary last month. But to no avail. As much as the em-
ployees were chomping on the bit for a decision, the commander would not make hay with their request.
Camp cont.
Clockwise from top left:
Molly Sheldon and Hillel Powell
Sarah Gully
Erich Fischer and Sarah Fischer
Briann Evertsen
Grace Almedia
Photos by John B. Snyder

10. Page 10 Salvo Aug. 31, 2013
Face of Strength: Bob Tilley
“I knew that when I started work-
ing at the arsenal in 1972 that I would
retire on the arsenal’s 200th
anniver-
sary,” said Robert “Bob” Tilley, the
arsenal’s instrument mechanic inspec-
tion leader.
This has been a challenging year
for the arsenal in regards to person-
nel issues, and most of the challenges
have come from sources outside of the
arsenal’s control. The workforce en-
tered its third year of a pay freeze and
sequestration imposed a hiring freeze,
furloughs, and limited overtime. But
there is one other dynamic occurring
on the arsenal and it may or may not
be subject to outside influences …
there is a large exodus of seasoned
employees retiring.
Therefore, it should be fitting that
as the arsenal re-launches the Face of
Strength column, which it has used
to highlight an outstanding employee
each month, that this month’s focus be
on one of those who are about to turn
their dream world into reality by enter-
ing retirement.
Oh,1972, was such a good year.
The Miami Dolphins had an unde-
feated season; Eugene Cernan became
the last person to walk on the moon;
U.S. troop levels in South Vietnam fell
below 30,000; and Bob Tilley entered
the arsenal apprentice program.
Now, after a remarkable 41-plus-
year career supporting our nation’s
warfighters, Bob is retiring. Bob is
part of the retirement-age bubble that
has hovered around 35-40 percent of
the workforce for many years. Nearly
200 of today’s arsenal employees are
eligible to retire within the next two
years.
Bob said that when he graduated
from Hudson Valley Community
College in 1972, with a degree in En-
vironmental Technology, the arsenal
contacted him for the machinist ap-
prenticeship. He had to make tough
choice between working in the new,
rising field of environmental controls
or machining. He opted for the appren-
tice program as part of Class #57. As
it turned out, it definitely was the right
choice.
As an apprentice, he was one of just
a few apprentices who were at the top
of their class to become part of a pro-
totype development team that worked
on such projects as a new dual-feeder
system for a 20 mm gun.
After graduating from the appren-
tice program, Bob continued working
on prototype projects, as well as be-
came one of the first arsenal machin-
ists to set up and instruct others how
to operate a new form of machinery
called Computer Numerical Con-
trolled, or CNC machines. He went
back to Hudson Valley and in 1979
attained a second degree, this time in
Industrial Management.
In 1980, Bob left the machines
that he had grown to love to become
a Quality Assurance Inspector. This
must have been a difficult decision for
Bob as machining was in his blood.
His father was a life-long machinist at
home and at work. His father worked
in the machine shop for Detroit Supply
in Troy, N.Y. Nevertheless, Bob said
the time was right for a change as he
wanted to become part of the team that
assured arsenal products were of high
quality.
More than 33 years later, Bob now
leads a team of 14 quality assurance
inspectors. This team ensures that
every item purchased for production,
such as fixtures, special tooling, and
gages, as well as raw stock products
coming into the arsenal for production,
meet high technical standards. From
something as small as a washer for
a mortar system to as large as a pre-
form tube weighing more than 2,000
pounds, Bob and his team meticulous-
ly check and assure that standards are
met before production begins.
When asked about his thoughts on
his career, he offered two comments.
“I have been blessed that every
day I came to work I did a job that I
loved,” Bob said. “And the highlight
of my career was working with a truly
great team of people who through the
years have helped me solve problems
and to make things happen.”
As Apprentice Class #82 readied
for graduation on August 22, Bob had
a note of advice.
“Don’t choose a position just for
the money,” Bob said. “You must
want to come to work and do the job
you love because it means something
special to you.”
During Bob’s 41-plus-year career,
he has touched tens of thousands of
wartime products that have either
made our troops more lethal or more
survivable on the battlefield.
He is an outstanding example of
the arsenal employees who are retiring
this year and is very deserving to
be called a Face of Strength for the
arsenal.

11. Page 11 Salvo Aug. 31, 2013
Do you know why the statement
“PERFORMS OTHER DUTIES
AS ASSIGNED”
is included in your job description?
Federal employees sometimes are reluctant, and
even refuse at times, to perform assignments that are
not specifically stated in their job description. Such
reluctance or refusal is based on an erroneous idea that
an employee is not required to perform any duty that’s
not in their job description. The Office of Personnel
Management (OPM) reminds all employees that this
concept could not be further from the truth.
A position description (PD) does not require nor
should it contain a detailed description covering every
feature of an employee’s position and the conditions
under which it will be performed. A PD is adequate
if it sets out the principal duties, responsibilities,
and supervisory relationships in such a way that
the job may be properly classified. The PD is not a
prescription of duties; it is simply a report of the major
duties of a given position as they exist at any given
time. It in no way interferes with the lawful authority
of a supervisor to assign other (minor) duties, i.e.,
minor duties performed occasionally or for a small
amount of time need not be included in the PDs.
The original reason for requiring the statement
“Performs other duties as assigned” on all PDs was
to establish the principle that the assignment of duties
to employees was not limited by the contents of the
job description. Supervisors are expected to assign
other duties as necessary whenever, in their judgment,
circumstances warrant such action. The phrase,
“Performs other duties as assigned” is included in
PDs to cover unexpected tasks or situations which
arise periodically in any organization and is included
with the assumption that neither the supervisor nor the
employee will abuse the privilege of its being there.
It is placed there as a convenience to the employee,
the supervisor and the HR specialist. It is assumed that
all will utilize it in a spirit of cooperation. Otherwise,
if the clerk who answers the telephone is on a week’s
leave, shall we let the phone ring until the clerk
returns? If correspondence needs to be written or a
report compiled, should you refuse because it’s not
your assignment? The answers must be no.
The supervisor will assign the person who, by
virtue of capabilities, experience, workload, and the
situation is most able to assume the task, regardless
of whether it is considered at the same time, a higher
or lower grade, than that of the position currently
held by the individual. The task may be related to the
work normally assigned to the position or it may be
completely unrelated. The only requirement is that the
employee is capable of performing the task without
a hazard to self, others, or damage to expensive
equipment or buildings. If the sentence is used by the
supervisor with judgment and discretion and accepted
by the employee with the idea that the task is helping
his/her organization, there should be no problem
concerning its meaning.
Good personnel management dictates that assignments
should be reasonably related to the employee’s
position and qualifications. It is perfectly reasonable,
for example, to assign additional clerical duties to
a Supply Technician when temporarily necessary,
but obviously unreasonable to assign tasks beyond
the Supply Technician’s qualifications, such as
interpreting technical drawings.
In emergency situations, of course, duties which might
not be reasonably related to an employee’s position
may have to be assigned. It is important for employees
to know that supervisors have the authority to make
duty assignments as they see fit within their operation.
However, such assignments should be reasonably
related to the employee’s job description.
CPAC -
Civilian Personnel Advisory Center

12. Page 12 Salvo Aug. 31, 2013
Early arsenal
mortars are
still alive, now
retired in Florida
Fort De Soto: A present day view of the remaining Watervliet-
manufactured 12-inch Mortars, Model 1890 M1. Each mortar weighs
13 tons.
Photo provided by Arsenal Museum
Many of the early weapons manufactured at Watervliet Arsenal during the late 1880s and early 1900s
were placed at various seacoast fortifications on the Pacific and Atlantic seaboards. Fort De Soto is one
such installation. Located on Mullet Key outside of St. Petersburg, Fla., the fort was built to protect
Tampa Bay harbor from enemies by using, among other weapons, eight 12-inch, breech-loaded, Model
1890 mortars made at Watervliet Arsenal.
Between 1898 and 1906, Fort De Soto grew to include 29 wooden, slate-roofed buildings on hundreds
of acres of land. In 1900, the construction of a series of artillery and mortar batteries at the fort was
completed.
The eight mortars were installed at Battery Laidley in August 1902. Records show the estimated
manufacturing cost per mortar was $497.57 or $13,447.84 in 2013 dollars. The carriages were
manufactured by the American Hoist and Derrick Company of St. Paul, Minn.
Each weapon had a crew of 12 men. The ammo rounds weighed 800, 824, and 1,046 pounds. The
powder charges weighed 54 to 67 pounds. The range of the mortar would vary according to the degree of
elevation and the charge. At 70-degrees, the mortar had a range of 1.25 miles. At a 45-degree angle, the
mortar had a range of 6.80 miles. The weapons were never fired at an approaching enemy, only during
target practice.
The fort was an active military base from 1898 to 1910. Early, in 1917, four of the eight mortars were
dismantled from Fort De Soto and shipped to Fort Rosecrans, San Diego. The other four remaining
mortars were left in place. On May 25, 1923, Fort De Soto was abandoned by the military. During
the 1920s and 1930s, the fort was battered by numerous storms that damaged several buildings and
destroyed Battery Bigelow.
After being used as a sub-post for the MacDill Field during World War II, the War Department sold
Mullet Key back to the local government of Pinellas County, Fla. After years of planning and organizing,
Fort De Soto County Park was opened to the public on May 11, 1963. In 1977, the two batteries were
placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
By Mark Koziol