PICATINNY:

THE FIRST CENTURY

PATRICK J. OWENS

PICATINNY:

THE FIRST CENTURY

PATRICK J. OWENS
This publication is a work of the U.S. government (prepared by an employee of the 

U.S. government as part of his official duties). Works of the U.S. government are 

not subject to U.S. copyright laws and, therefore, can be reproduced in whole or 

in part. Credit must be given to U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and 

Engineering Center and the Picatinny Public Affairs Office, and to the author of all 

reproduced publications.

For inquiries about obtaining print copies, please call the Picatinny Public Affairs 

Office, 973-724-6364, or send a letter to the following address:

Picatinny Public Affairs Office

93 Ramsey Ave.,

Picatinny Arsenal, NJ 07806-5000
About the Author

Patrick J. Owens received his PhD in United States History from 

the University of Notre Dame in 1976 and was an Army civilian 

historian at Picatinny Arsenal since 1988. He has published in the 

Encyclopedia of New Jersey History, The Heritage Review, and 

Social Science Docket.

Contents

Introduction .................................................................................... 1

Chapter 1: Getting Started...............................................................6

Chapter 2: Ways of War I...............................................................58

Chapter 3: Ways of Peace..............................................................72

Chapter 4: 1926.........................................................................110

Chapter 5: Phoenix......................................................................153

Chapter 6: Ways of War II............................................................198

Chapter 7: Ways of Cold War ......................................................254

Chapter 8: Naval Air Rocket Test Station........................................294

Chapter 9: Ways of Cold War II....................................................311

Coda .........................................................................................368

Bibliography: Major Sources and Acknowledgments.......................371

Index..........................................................................................378

Introduction

The perennial curse of New Jersey sites is to have their locations 

regularly fixed in relation to either New York or Philadelphia. For the 

subject of this world, the reference point is New York City, specifically the 

Borough of the Bronx. A person who takes the Cross-Bronx Expressway 

west over the George Washington Bridge and follows Interstate 80 to exit 

32 can turn on to New Jersey Route 15 North and almost immediately 

be at Picatinny Arsenal, a 6,500-acre reservation which is the leader in 

researching, developing, and engineering United States Army weapons 

and munitions. A name occasionally heard in the documentaries which 

flood the History, Discovery, Military, and similarly programmed cable 

channels, Picatinny has played a significant role in arming Unites States 

troops for over a century and a quarter.

Events at an obscure support facility do not make for the most exciting 

reading, but these events influenced the dashing happenings which are 

the stuff of war movies. In its first incarnation as a powder depot, the 

installation sent gunpowder to troops serving in the Spanish-American 

War, the Philippine Insurrection, and the China Relief and Mexican 

expeditions. Production experiments early in the 20th century determined 

explosive D would fill armor-piercing rounds for over half-a-century. The 

powder factory established in 1907 supplied troops through two world 

wars while development work during the 1920s and 1930s influenced 

the artillery and tank rounds, fuzes, grenades, and mines of World War 

II and beyond. In the first years of the 1950s, Picatinny gave ground 

troops the 3.5-inch bazooka rocket, the C-4 explosive, and the “Atomic 

Annie” artillery shell. Soldiers in Vietnam fired Picatinny developed light 

1
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

2

antitank weapons and 40mm grenade launcher rounds. Today, if it goes 

“boom” and the Army uses it, it is probably a Picatinny product.

This book is a hodgepodge. Given its multiplicity of purposes, it could 

not be otherwise. On one hand, it attempts to tell readers unfamiliar with 

the installation what Picatinny did and how it came to do it. On the other, 

it offers itself as a reference work for Picatinnyans interested in the origins 

and development of their missions, buildings, and landscape and in the 

work their predecessors did and the environment in which they did it. 

The outsider may find discussions of where certain activities took place 

or when road layouts changed confusing and boring while Picatinnyans 

will have an easier time placing pictures with these words.

Critics are free to harp on how the chapters jump around internally, 

combining discussions of construction, technical developments, and 

social trends. This is a reflection of life at a place where people do work. 

Where there is work, there are buildings and technical processes. Where 

there are people, there is sociology. The intention is to limn interactions 

and show how one Army installation functioned at different periods of its 

career and how the people on the installation interacted with it. In short, 

this work tries to offer something for everyone in the firm expectation of 

satisfying no one.

The hodgepodge characterization applies both to the topics 

discussed and to the space and emphasis given to the same topics at 

different points in the narrative. The first chapter is heavy on details of 

land acquisition and construction because it was necessary to build the 

installation before it could do anything. Later chapters give little attention 

to land acquisitions because these became smaller and less complicated. 

Construction work varied in intensity. Chapter Three spends much space 

on the reconstruction following the 1926 explosion and chapter eight 

goes into detail on the construction of the Naval Air Rocket Test Station. 

Others are content to single out individual structures whose peculiarities 

excite interest.

After World War I, Picatinny put more emphasis on research work. 

Chapters three and after reflect this. The projects discussed are only a 

sampling of Picatinny’s work and, sometimes, not the most important. 

For contrast, this work occasionally focuses on dead ends. It is about 

Picatinny as a place supporting varied efforts, a service organization for 

many missions. Selectivity becomes more extreme as chapters progress 

because the later the time frame, the more variety to Picatinny projects 

and the greater the number of organizations it housed. Often, the 

criterion for selection is not a project’s technological worth or its value 

to national defense, but its ability to illustrate a larger point about the 

workings of the installation.
3

INTRODUCTION

The start of research and development work created a bifocal 

arsenal, one part concentrating on production and the other on research 

and engineering. Chapter three is fairly comprehensive, touching on 

most of the efforts on-going in the early 1920s, but later chapters treat 

progressively smaller samples of the total Picatinny effort. Even where a 

project receives more than minimal space, its story may be incomplete as 

discussion focuses on Picatinny’s role in the effort and the effort’s influence 

on Picatinny. A running theme is the nation’s receipt of real value from a 

place ready and able to do sundry duties while learning to perform new 

ones quickly.

Chapter Four tells the story of the havoc wreaked at Picatinny by the 

explosion at the neighboring Lake Denmark Naval Ammunition Depot 

while Chapter Five tells of the rebuilding, stressing the role of New Deal 

agencies in preparing the arsenal to meet the challenges of another world 

war.

Chapter Six relates the expansion in facilities and personnel as well 

as the technical accomplishments during World War II. Chapter Seven 

begins with attempts to cut back after the war, attempts frustrated by the 

demands of the Korean conflict. This was the period when Picatinny 

developed the 3.5-inch bazooka rocket and 280mm atomic artillery 

shell while making significant contributions in the area of missile 

warheads. Chapter Nine continues the Cold War saga while emphasizing 

contributions to the very hot war in Vietnam.

Between Seven and Nine is a chapter on the Navy’s rocket testing at 

the former Lake Denmark site. Picatinny took over its work along with 

the site and facilities in 1960.

Chapter Nine ends just after the centennial celebration of 1980. 

By then, Picatinny was the research, development, and engineering 

installation for almost all Army weapons and munitions.

The succeeding years are too close to the present to appear as anything 

but a kaleidoscope of tasks and trends with connections too unclear for 

anything but superficial study. This historian was on base for most of 

this period and can view it only impressionistically. He spent these years 

collecting and compiling materials which, hopefully, a later historian of 

Picatinny will find useful. Also, despite many changes, people who know 

Picatinny today will find most features of the installation in the 1980s and 

1990s familiar and understandable. The post of earlier years will strike 

them as quite different.

Readers interested in past research and industrial processes will 

want more technical detail while the sociologically inclined would scrap 

much of what is here for more on how social trends played out at the 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

4

arsenal. The aim is not to produce a history of technology but to use 

the history of technology to illustrate the challenges faced by Picatinny 

scientists and engineers. The technologically inclined will find a Picatinny 

perspective on munitions history and, perhaps, suggestions of problems 

and materials for future research. Those with less interest in these matters 

should remember there is no law against skimming.

Topics did not come into the text on a historian’s whim but asserted 

their importance in the sources or appeared in requests for information 

received through the years. For example, the author is as ignorant of golf 

as he is uninterested but he had to relate the history of the links. It is in 

the records, many have queried him on the subject and, most important, 

its growth shaped the installation to an unignorable degree.

The main sources are documents generated by and at Picatinny. 

These are quite representative of government prose, prolix to the point 

of hiding the point and with sentences structured to defeat parsing. The 

earlier the writing, the worse. This book quotes it when it heightens the 

sense of time and place or when necessary for accuracy. Otherwise, it 

summarizes and paraphrases to emphasis salient points. Dealing with 

technicalities means too much change will lead to inaccuracy. Adhering 

exactly to the original, even when well written, wastes space. The book’s 

purpose is to diffuse to a wider audience information and stories in 

materials sequestered in Picatinny records.

This is not the story of how Picatinny won its country’s wars. The 

nation’s soldiers have used Picatinny products in all wars since it opened, 

and this book takes note. In providing these products, Picatinny was doing 

its job and the emphasis here is on how it did the job and how it adapted 

to the demands of changing tasks.

On the question of bias, the author is pro-Picatinny. The cynical 

might say this is because the place allowed him to earn his living for over 

two decades by practicing the historian trade. True, and he is grateful. 

The more cynical will say this means it gave him a chance to earn his 

living doing very little work for over two decades. Even more true, and 

he is even more grateful. However, affection falls short of idolatry. The 

author learned something about the base and about military policy and 

procedures for procuring weapons and munitions in his Picatinny years, 

and this something convinced him of the need for such a place as Picatinny 

in such a world as this nation finds itself. If this book convinces others of 

this view, fine, but this would be a bonus. The author is more concerned 

with bringing readers to share his view of Picatinny as a unique place 

with an interesting history.
5

INTRODUCTION

The perspective, as opposed to a bias, is from Picatinny. The story 

of development of an item would look very different from the Ordnance 

Department or, later, the Army Materiel Command. These organizations 

and higher offices have their own historians to speak for them. For 

example, there is a six-volume work in progress documenting the role of 

the Office of the Secretary of Defense during the Cold War Era.

If this book gives sparing attention to broad policy, it is not because 

such policy was unimportant. It is because such policy impacted 

Picatinny intermittently and piecemeal. Picatinny was the place charged 

with turning higher headquarters’ plans for weapons and munitions into 

reality, and its story plays out on the nuts and bolts level.
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

6

Chapter 1

Getting Started

Reporting on his department’s activities for the fiscal year which 

ended 30 June 1879, Brigadier General Steven Vincent Benet, the 

United States Army’s Chief of Ordnance, mentioned an officer “now 

engaged in examining the various sites offered for the establishment of 

the new powder depot on the Atlantic coast....” The officer was seeking 

the solution to a long-standing storage problem.

Magazines at our arsenals are of but limited capacity, and 

endanger large amounts of public as well as private property, and 

have become a great source of complaint. Storage of powder 

at the magazines of our seaboard forts is very objectionable, as 

powder so stored deteriorates very rapidly. At present, there are 

on hand 2,500 tons of powder and 3,000 tons of niter stored at 

insecure and unsuitable places, which should be properly provided 

for without the delay.1

The site had to satisfy three criteria:

1st, That the depot should be in a region of country which does 

not admit of being populated, so that destruction of life and 

property in case of accident would be a minimum.

2d, The tract should be sufficient in extent to contain suitable 

positions for magazines for the storage of 10,000 tons of powder, 

material for its manufacture, &c, and the necessary buildings for a 

government powder mill.

3d, It should be near enough to rail and water transportation to 

afford facilities of transportation to the seaboard, interior, and the 

lakes, having a short line of government railroad connect the site 

with rivers and trunk lines.2

6
7

GETTING STARTED

This search had actually started in 1865 when Congress appropriated 

$200,000.00 for “the purchase of a site and erection of magazines for 

storing gunpowder.” The then Chief of Ordnance, Brevet Major 

General Alexander B. Dyer, immediately proposed Jefferson Barracks, 

Missouri, as the home for a Mississippi Valley depot able to store 50,000 

barrels. In September 1866, he turned his eye eastward, recommending 

another depot of “not less than double its [Jefferson’s] capacity should 

be established on the Atlantic seaboard, and it is important that a proper 

site should be selected and secured as soon as practicable, in order that 

the magazine may be built next summer.” He urged “the purchase of a 

tract not less than 2 miles square (say 2,500 acres) within three miles of 

the Erie Railroad, and from 30 to 50 miles distant from the city of New 

York, with a right of way from it to the Erie Railroad....”3

During the Civil War, the Ordnance Department had set up depots 

in a matter of weeks but armies move slower in peacetime. The order for 

a board of three officers to meet in New York and examine proposed sites 

did not go out until 7 November 1879. The board members, Lieutenant 

Colonels Silas Crispin and T.G. Baylor and Major Francis H. Parker, first 

met at 11:00am on 12 November to review maps and site descriptions 

Parker had already prepared. Back in August, he paid out $207.96. The 

bulk of it, $130.00, went to H. A. Babcock, a civil engineer who worked 

26 days. Myron H. Cook, a messenger, earned $52.00 for his 26 days 

of work. Clerk Robert Hughes worked seven days and received $25.96. 

The payroll for the following months ran a little over $300.00 as clerk 

and messenger worked more days. It moved into the $400.00 per month 

range with the hiring of the first laborers in April 1880.4

The board members went to Sloatsburg and Peekskill, New York, in 

November 1879, but inclement weather delayed inspection of a site at 

Rosendale, New York, until 15 January 1880. Another spell of adverse 

weather plus other duties prevented any December site visits, but January 

1880 saw trips to Breakneck and Coxing Kill valleys, Bricksburg, and, on 

the 23rd, Dover, New Jersey. On 27 January, the board resolved

that the Peekskill tract, from its excellent geographical location, its 

accessibility to rail and water transportation, its nearness to a town 

of size, while it is at the same time isolated by intervening hills and 

a sufficient distance, presents a greater combination of advantages 

for the location of a powder depot than any other site which has 

been brought to the notice of the board

and authorized Parker to start negotiations.5

Parker could not close a deal “with the small appropriation which 

had been given for the purchase of the land.” The same was true 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

8

at the second choice near Queensboro, New York. As a third choice, the 

board thought

the tract near Dover, N. J., possesses decided advantages for a 

powder-depot site from its location both on one of the trunk lines 

of railroads and on a canal connecting the waters of the Hudson 

and Delaware rivers, from its proximity to and still safe distance 

from a town, and from its very favorable topographical features, 

and the only doubtful question as to its suitability is it geographical 

location in our country and its position in a strategical point of 

view with reference to out coast defences.6

The board worried the area was not far enough inland to escape 

invasion, but Benet approved the choice on 28 February 1880, noting, 

“The geographical location near Dover is sufficiently well protected, 

being behind the fortifications of N. Y. Harbor, nestling high among the 

mountains, with a closely built and highly cultivated country, and a very 

large population intervening.”7

The board received notice of the approval on 1 March 1880 and 

again set Parker to negotiating for real estate before the appropriation 

lapsed in June. Added pressure came from the need for the about-toadjourn New Jersey legislature to approve the change of jurisdiction. 

This meant rushing to buy the main tract at a price above what Parker 

thought it would have been had he time to bargain.8

Middle Forge Monument
9

GETTING STARTED

The cost was $35,874.00 for 1,195.8 acres, and the government 

paid it to George E. Righter for what early installation maps labeled the 

Middle Forge Tract. The name derived from an iron forge erected in 

1749 between two others. During the American Revolution, the Middle 

Forge was part of a complex which provided munitions and other items 

to the Continental Army and inspired local historians to create a tradition 

of munitions production beginning with the Revolution. Munitions 

making was a temporary and aberrant activity for the Middle Forge and 

its neighbors. There is no record of it engaging in military work after 

the Revolution, and, while some forge buildings were still standing when 

the Army took possession, the works itself had been inactive since about 

1806. The installation fed the legend by making a monument out of forge 

tools found on the grounds. It was upright by 1910 and still stands.9

The date of the deed conveying the tract from Righter to the 

government was 26 June 1880. Of a $50,000.00 appropriation which 

became available on 1 July 1880, $17,750 purchased additional land. 

Disbursements over the next year included $8,500.00 to Mr. and Mrs. 

Uel H. Wiggins for 167.32 acres on 17 July 1880, $9,126.00 to Edward 

C. Fielder and others for 304.2 acres on 30 July 1880, $750.00 to Henry 

Doland and others for 11 acres on 20 August 1880, and $8,500.00 to 

John E. Kindred for 187.8 acres on 5 March 1881. This brought the total 

price to $62,750.00 for 1,866.12 acres.10

0n 12 May 1881, $200.00 went to Mr. and Mrs. Lewis H. Spicer 

for 8.5 acres in the form of a strip 50 feet wide and 7,412 feet long for 

a road from the depot entrance to the main turnpike over a mile away. 

Negotiations for the right-of-way involved “considerable difficulty and 

time” as the government, following state law, had to petition the county 

freeholders, post notices for 10 days advertising the closing of the road, 

have the county court order a survey, and obtain a favorable report from 

the town surveyors. Government workers did not finish the road until 

April 1884.11

All this dearly purchased land was at latitude 400 56’ 30” North and 

longitude 740 33’ 30” West in Rockaway Township, Morris County, New 

Jersey. The area was rural, the presence of a large number of iron mines 

and manufacturing works had spurred the growth of a rail network, and 

there were hills, Green Pond Mountain to the west and Mount Hope and 

Hickory Hill on the east. Copperas Mountain rose north of Hickory Hill 

and converged on Green Pond Mountain to leave the tract unsheltered 

only on its south end. Green Pond Brook, navigable by canoe and small 

boats, and several smaller streams fed into Clifford’s Pond in the center 

of the tract, exited the pond’s south end, and continued south off the 

installation into the Rockaway River. The Rockaway traveled through 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

10

several towns until it joined the Passaic River at the county’s east 

boundary. Bear Swamp Brook ran down the west side of the tract. The 

floor of Green Pond Valley was marshy near the waterways but gave way 

to natural gravel terraces and sand knolls and then to thin-soiled flats at 

the base of the mountains. Underlying the valley in beds three and four 

feet thick was Kittatinny limestone, a blue or bluish gray stone containing 

14 to 21 percent magnesia. The cliffs south of the lake contained a good 

deal of exposed Green Pond conglomerate, coarse silicone pebbles onehalf to three inches in diameter of mostly white quartz embedded in 

a dark red to chocolate brown matrix of quartz sandstone. Difficult to 

work, it was still attractive to the first builders on the installation. There 

were also outcrops of shaly limestone. It is possible Native Americans 

occupied the site seasonally as early as the Middle Archaic Period.12

Private industry already had explosives works in northern Morris 

County’s fitness for explosive work. In 1873, Giant Powder Company 

set up its Atlantic Dynamite Works in what was then McCainville and 

is now Kenvil. In 1882, American Forcite erected a large manufacturing 

and research works on the southeast shore of Lake Hopatcong.13 Added 

to these enterprises was the constant blasting at the area’s many mines. 

Local residents would have found the Army’s black powder supply a 

marginal increment to its stock of existing dangers.

The area was still experiencing the depression started by the Panic of 

1873. The assessed taxable value of all property in Rockaway Township, 

$1,017,950.00 in 1880, had fallen half a million dollars over the previous 

five years. The township’s 31,204 acres held 7,366 inhabitants with its 

largest community, Rockaway, having 1,052. This village three miles down 

the Rockaway River from the depot site would become an independent 

borough in 1893. Dover, seven miles away and only incorporated in 

1869, had about 3,300 people. The nearest village was Mount Hope, 

a collection of dwellings for workers in the Mount Hope Mine plus a 

store and a company-built church about a quarter-mile from the east 

boundary. Its 1880 population was 537. The nearest railroad connection 

was Port Oram, about three miles away in Randolph Township. This 

Morris Canal landing point of about 600 inhabitants would become 

part of Wharton in 1902 and would supply the installation with many 

employees over the years. In 1880, Port Oram was suffering severely from 

a long down cycle in the iron industry.14

Familiarity with explosive dangers combined with a need for economic 

stimuli go far to explain the populace’ apparent lack of objection to the 

deposit of thousands of barrels of gun powder in its midst. An 1882 

county history gushed over the future of an installation where “Suitable 

buildings of bricks and stone have been commenced, and as fast as 
11

GETTING STARTED

appropriations can be made by Congress this picturesque place will be 

beautified and transformed into one of those trim military posts which 

are occupied as arsenals and depots of supplies of war material. About 

one hundred and fifty men are now employed.”15

Major Parker became the first commander. His earliest letters from 

the installation used the heading “Atlantic Powder Depot, New York City.” 

Headquarters of the Army Special Order No. 189, dated 6 September 

1880, dubbed the base the Dover Powder Depot, but the name troubled 

Parker on three counts. “The site is not in the town of Dover, but in 

Rockaway. The name is too suggestive of a well known medicine. In the 

future, when quarters and offices are built on the site the nearest Post 

Office will be at Mount Hope or Port Oram.” Moreover, “There is 

nothing in the name to indicate it is a U.S. Establishment.”

He favored U.S. Powder Depot, but, if a local name were necessary, 

he suggested several alternatives, including Rockaway, Mount Hope, 

Middle Forge, Denmark, Clifford, and Green Pond. In the middle of his 

list was “Piccatinny” after a prominent peak on the land. The normal 

spelling was with one “c,” and the most likely translation from the Lenape 

is “rugged cliff by water.” An alternative theory suggests it is a corruption 

“Picutenay” for a village near a body of still water, but it is unsure if there 

were such a word in the Lenape language. Both derivations are “pure 

guesswork.” Whatever the meaning, it sounded a poetic chord in Chief of 

Ordnance Benet, grandfather to three poets whose work once appeared 

regularly in school anthologies. On 10 September 1880, four days after 

opening, Special Order No. 193 changed the name to Piccatinny Powder 

Depot. In June 1883, the installation became the United States Powder 

Depot but the Lenape name, with only one “c,” continued in local usage 

and as the depot’s freight-on-board address.16

Although the site was not in Dover, Parker moved his business 

office to the town on 16 September 1880 and it remained there until 

30 July 1888.17

The payroll for June 1880 showed five employees and a total labor 

cost of $365.66. Civil engineer Babcock and clerk Hughes earned 

monthly stipends, Babcock $150.00 and Hughes $116.66. Messenger 

Cook and two laborers each received $2.00 per day. The payroll for the 

first month of construction, September 1880, showed $1,521.65 paid 

to 82 employees. The superintendent of laborers, James Ware, received 

$150, the same as Babcock. Uel Wiggins was foreman of the laborers 

at $2.00 per day, the same wage Cook received for doing double duty 

as hostler and messenger. Skilled workers, such as stonemasons, earned 

$2.00 to $2.25 per day, general laborers $0.75 to $1.25.18
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

12

When the depot’s first fiscal year ended on 30 June 1881, Parker 

could report only limited progress in clearing the land because “unusually 

severe winter weather almost suspended out-of-door labor.” Workers had 

cut trees on about 50 acres but had not removed the stumps or cleared 

the shrubbery. They had also seeded several acres for meadowland and 

built 22 masonry monuments to serve as boundary markers. The last was 

a “work of considerable difficulty, it being necessary to carry material on 

mule’s back to the points on the mountains inaccessible by other means 

of transport.”19

Work on the first of ten planned magazines began on 16 September 

1880, ten days after opening. Because the plans called for a six-foot 

basement, workers did considerable digging and, at seven feet, met 

a problem with foundation stability. The workers, who lacked boring 

equipment, went down 20 feet to water and decided going deeper 

would provide no further stability without an expensive false foundation. 

Instead, they relied on a stratum of hard gravel at seven feet which varied 

in thickness from five to eight feet and sat atop a thin strata of sand 

sitting on a thicker strata of gravel. They laie sub-foundation walls and 

piers, spread out to six- feet, three feet below the cellar floor on the hard 

gravel stratum.

Major Francis H. Parker
13

GETTING STARTED

 The foundation used stone quarried on the installation. Builders first 

tried the local variety of puddingstone found loose around the post, but it 

needed too much trimming, splitting, and cutting to serve for even rough 

masonry. A shift to granite found in a mountain ledge required building 

two quarries a mile from the magazine site. The mortar came from 

Allentown, Pennsylvania. When cold weather stopped stonework on 1 

December 1880, the workers had laid 8,500 cubic feet of foundation and 

cut 458 cubic feet of stone for the water table and trimmings. Preparing 

drawings and awarding a contract for iron parts during the winter insured 

parts and plans were available when stone hauling and cutting restarted 

in Spring 1881.20

The payroll reflected the seasonal nature of the work, with employees 

numbering in the eighties through December 1880 and sinking to the 

twenties during the winter months. The rolls increased with the coming 

of summer and with the new fiscal year appropriations in July 1881, 

reaching 157 in August 1881. The number of employees changed 

depending on funding, but the seasonal pattern of employment persisted 

throughout the 1880s. The largest contingent of the decade was 208 in 

August 1882.21

For the fiscal year 1 July 1881 to 30 June 1882, the depot received 

$50,000, considered small even then, and work on Magazine No. 1 

consumed most of it. By this time, the depot had to compete for skilled 

workers in an improved economy, and, especially, for masons, who had 

access to better wages in and around New York City. Still, the building 

was ready to store powder in mid-February 1882. The completed 

structure measured 204 by 52 feet and included 21,782 cubic feet of 

rubble and scabbled stonework, 1,751 cubic feet of dressed dimension 

stone, 354,000 common bricks, 19,118 square feet of hollow brick arches, 

195,000 pounds of iron, 12,389 square feet of corrugated iron roof, 1,021 

barrels of cement, 300 barrels of lime, 2,220 feet of lightning conductors 

requiring deep wells, and 1,006 feet of ditches for proper ground 

connections. The dressed dimension stone went into the water table, pier 

caps, sills, doorjambs, beam and truss rests. Major Parker reported, “So 

far it appears to fulfill all anticipations as to strength, dryness, and light, 

and in this last respect far exceeds my expectations.” He recommended 

using the basic plan for the other magazines, except the builders should 

eliminate the cellar room, reduce wall thickness by one brick, alter the 

construction of iron doors and window shutters, and place the buildings 

closer to a north-south line in order to make better use of sunlight during 

winter. The final cost was $50,579.99.22 As building 307, the structure still 

stands at its original site.
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

14

One mistake made in initial construction was laying the floorboards 

before the wood seasoned thoroughly. Seven years after completion, the 

depot had to lay 10,000 square feet of new flooring. At the same time, it 

excavated 3,800 cubic feet of dirt and laid 10,000 square feet of concrete 

floor in order to make the only accessible cellar in any of its magazines 

suitable for storage.23

Less complicated structures completed by June 1881 included a small 

frame office, a small storehouse, tool houses, blacksmith shops, and a 

dwelling house for the civilian construction superintendent. While most 

of the pre-depot buildings were in poor shape, stables and other buildings 

were repairable. One made a serviceable carpenter shop and lumber 

storehouse, but plans to convert a farmhouse into the superintendent’s 

quarters changed when the projected savings seemed too small to justify 

the discomfort and inconvenience. So, the superintendent and his family 

received a new building. Parker reported winter delays forced the cost 

of this “convenient frame house” to run considerably over the estimated 

$1,500. The final tab was $2,129.00. This structure is now building 110, 

the installation Guest House.24

Housing the workers required quickly throwing up two temporary 

and “cheap” frame buildings, one a dormitory and the other containing 

a mess hall, kitchen, and living rooms, along with repairing and slightly 

enlarging three old houses.25

First-year roadwork concentrated on a new road to the quarries and 

improving parts of an existing one. The focus of attention in the second 

Present Building 307, originally Magazine No. 1
15

GETTING STARTED

year was on a road on the east side of the depot to the principal entrance 

and beyond to the Union Turnpike and a road leading to the Port Oram 

railroad connection. The main arteries were this one, called Mount 

Pleasant Road, and Mount Hope Road, which ran from the village 

through the installation west to Berkshire Valley. Second-year grounds 

work included cutting trees on about 40 acres and grubbing, clearing, 

and cultivating 17 acres. The workers also began harvesting grass from 

the meadows and storing hay for the installation’s horses. One reason 

employees could devote so much attention to roads and farming was 

because a site change halted work on the second magazine.26

Parker’s successor, Major Joseph P. Farley, was an energetic builder, 

and his reports to the Chief of Ordnance discussed construction work 

in loving detail. He reported starting work on Magazine No. 2 on 1 May 

1883 and cataloged the 391,330 common bricks, the 20,045 hollow 

bricks, the 2,195 skew-backs for the ceiling arches, the 522 superficial feet 

stone cut and dressed for sills and steps, the 47,875 feet of lumber in the 

interior woodwork, and the 276 barrels of cement and the 223 barrels 

of lime used to make mortar. In addition, he thought his chief needed to 

know the exact distribution of the common bricks, which was 310,930 for 

the walls, 5,900 for the wells, and 74,500 in the floor arches.27 Many of 

these bricks are part of the present building 1.

Major Joseph P. Farley
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

16

Farley’s passion for construction prodded him to insert “Details of 

Magazine Construction at the United States Powder Depot, New Jersey” 

as an appendix to his 1884 report and, so, leave a record of what the 

Army expected by way of a magazine in the late nineteenth century. The 

weight of both building and contents was not to exceed 6,000 pounds 

per square foot on the foundation and piers while maximum load on 

floor beams with a length between supports of 10 feet was 33,572 pounds 

or approximately 410 pounds per square foot. Powder in barrels could 

weigh as much as 28,000 pounds, but the planned arrangement of 10,000 

barrels arranged in seven tiers would only have weighed about 12,875 

pounds. The rest of the weight came from a solid brick arch of 4,700 

pounds, 512 pounds of floor joists, and 360 pounds of flooring.28

Farley took pride in completing Magazine No. 2 in 1884 at a total cost 

of $44,633.66, $6,000.oo less than No. 1. The new building incorporated 

the design changes Parker had recommended, and the reduced wall 

thickness and lack of a cellar probably accounted for much of the 

expenditure reduction. Passaic Rolling-Mill Company of Patterson, New 

Jersey, furnished the structural iron while the Althause Iron Company of 

New York City supplied wrought iron for two fireproof doors and eight 

fireproof shutters as well as the 12,369.5-square foot corrugated iron roof, 

410 feet of galvanized iron gutter, 99 feet of galvanized iron leader pipe, 

and 406 feet of galvanized iron drip pipe. These two companies provided 

the same items for magazines 3 and 4.29

Farley planned to complete Magazine No. 3 at even less cost. 

Excavation started in fiscal year 1884, and costs reached $31,699.70 by 30 

June 1885. Farley thought the building would be complete by 1 December 

1885 with a total expenditure of $39,899.70 despite a rise in labor costs 

due to strict Federal adherence to an eight-hour workday for government 

employees. His successor, Major Frank H. Phipps, announced completion 

of the structure in 1888 at a final cost of $39,972.00.30

Farley used the same distance between magazines as Parker, 1,200 

feet, but came to think an explosion in one would throw debris “with such 

velocity as to inevitably destroy the total powder supply of this post....” 

His solution was to raise dirt obstacles between existing magazines and to 

site new ones at minimum intervals of 2,000 feet.31

A still standing relic of Farley’s tenure is the Cannon Gate at what 

was then the main entrance. It had four 8-inch Columbiad cannons, 

vintage 1855, as gateposts with cannon balls on top of each post and 

the Ordnance seal in the center of both doors. Depot mason Thomas 

Robinson did the stone work and set the guns in August 1884, earning 

$2.75 per day. Cornell Iron Works of New York City, provided the iron 

gate work in 1885 for $475.00.32
17

GETTING STARTED

Cannon Gate 1880s

Thomas Robinson
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

18

Farley estimated the combination barn and stable begun on 21 April 

1884 would cost $10,700. The actual amount at completion in 1885 

was $12,646.08. This building, now 117, later served as a scale house, a 

storehouse, and quarters for two officers and their families.33 It now holds 

administrative offices.

The early commanders ran the depot from the office in Dover and 

lived off base. Parker first resided in Dover and then moved to Morristown. 

Farley and later depot commanders leased residences in Morristown. 

Some arsenal histories place Farley in what is now building 114, built for 

$14,031.00 in 1884. However, maps as late as 1906 designate this as an 

office and storage building. Work started in 1884, but the building was not 

ready for use until July 1888. The magazine keeper and his wife occupied 

the upper story. Conversion to the present ornate, Second-Empire-style 

officer’s family quarters came later. Major Phipps submitted plans for a 

commander’s residence in 1888, but no commander lived on post during 

the powder depot period.34

Close to Farley’s heart was a structure erected in 1884 and intended 

to serve as combination guard and fire engine house. With elements 

reminiscent of a Renaissance palace, including battlements, its initial 

cost was $10,775.00. In 1889, Phipps complained of lack of money to 

improve it and asked Chief of Ordnance Benet for a small portion of 

funds left over from a fiscal year 1888 appropriation. Financial difficulties 

kept it from becoming a firehouse until 1891. In the interim, it served as a 

general headquarters and temporary office building. Despite gutting and 

removal of the upper level in the 1930s, part of the original construction 

survives in building 115, now officer’s family quarters.35

Congress allotted $18,000.00 for work on Magazine No. 4. The 

$3,800.35 spent in fiscal year 1889 covered digging and brick lining 8-foot 

and 14-foot wells, digging and filling in 400 feet of ditches for lightning 

conductor terminals, placing 2,200 feet of galvanized iron wire rope 

and 2,507 pounds of galvanized iron lightning conductor attachments 

on the building, grading 2,600 cubic feet of earth and rock around the 

foundation, making and setting eight window frames, installing eight 

pairs of windows, laying 10,000 square feet of flooring, installing 6,500 

square feet of siding, and casing doors, windows, and 24 columns as 

well as oiling the inside woodwork, painting the inside columns, painting 

10,000 square feet of outside brick work with two coats, and putting 

metallic paint on the 12,000-square foot roof and the iron doors, shutters, 

and leaders. This completed the building save for alterations planned to 

the roof.36

Commanders were strictly accountable for dollars spent, even 

in matters far less costly than magazine construction. On 25 October 
19

GETTING STARTED

1892, Colonel J. M. Whittemore found himself reporting to the Chief of 

Ordnance on an expenditure for “a public exigency requiring immediate 

delivery.” The exigency was a lame horse, and the expenditure one dollar 

for a pint of tincture of iodine.37

During fiscal year 1889, the depot received 2,078,126 pounds of 

crude niter, 1,891,417 pounds of fused niter, 1,455,670 pounds of refined 

niter, and 504,000 pounds of sulfur. On 15 June 1889, Magazine No. 

1 held 2,488,105 pounds of niter in its main storage area and 504,666 

pounds of sulfur in the basement while having sufficient vacant space 

for another 511,895 pounds of niter and 1,995,334 pounds of sulfur. 

Magazine No. 2 stored 2,495 barrels and 325 boxes of black powder 

and had room for another 17,000 barrels. The other two magazines held 

niter, 2,487,617 pounds in No. 3 and 449,491 in No. 4. Magazine No. 5, 

on which construction had just started, was to have a maximum capacity 

of 20,000 barrels or 3.5 million pounds gross weight. Recent heavy rains 

had revealed all four magazines had leaky roofs.38

Magazine No. 5 was the final major construction project of the 

powder depot period. Observers in the 1890s might easily have mistaken 

the place for Sleepy Hollow. Building work concentrated on repairs, not 

new construction, while the business of receiving and issuing powder had 

settled into grooves. Budgets and labor rolls reflected the decline in activity. 

Expenditures for the fiscal year ending 30 June 1892 totaled $8,178.42, 

down from $15,205.49 the previous year. The next two years saw this 

figure drop to $7,172.47 and then $7,017.63. It rose to $7,992.55 in fiscal 

year 1895 and to $8,155.91 in fiscal year 1896. There were 58 workers 

in June 1890, 36 in July, and 26 in August. Until the Spanish-American 

War, the figure stayed in the teens.39 The 1890s was a depression decade, 

and pre-Keynesian economic orthodoxy did not view financing new 

construction or expanding workforces as sound policy.

Two employees on the September 1880 payroll worked and lived at 

the installation throughout the powder depot period. They were Chief 

Clerk Hughes and Myron Cook. Cook moved from messenger and hostler 

to become the commander’s messenger and driver with de facto magazine 

keeper duties added in 1886. The decision to make him magazine keeper 

was unusual, but Farley thought the difficulties attached to working 

from the office in Dover made using his messenger to supervise events 

at the depot a sensible course of action. He achieved a cost saving by 

still listing Cook as a driver and messenger with pay “slightly increased.” 

Cook did not go on the payroll as magazine keeper and foreman until 

December 1888.40

In 1894, when the Civil Service System was pre-adolescent, 

Colonel Whittemore had to defend Cook because someone who knew 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

20

congressmen was lobbying for the position Cook had served in for six 

years. Whittemore told his chief how Cook “has stored all the powder 

and other supplies and knows their location in the different magazines 

and store-houses. He is familiar with all the boundaries of the post and 

is in my opinion a man of good judgment and is thoroughly honest and 

reliable.” In addition, his residence on post allowed him to perform 

added duties when interlopers breached installation security. He showed 

“courage and firmness in dealing with them and driving them from the 

reservation his former experience as a soldier serving him in good stead 

in these instances.”41

A similar situation had involved Cook’s predecessor, S. P. Tomkins. 

Early in 1886, Farley received letters urging a replacement even though 

Tomkins showed no desire to leave the position he had held since January 

1883. The pressure had no immediate effect, and Tomkins stayed another 

two years. Other complications arose when a letter from the Ordnance 

Department asked the commander to survey the political affiliations of 

his workers and rumor merged with the normal seasonal layoffs to breed 

charges the depot had fired wives and children of Union Army veterans. 

A Senate resolution forced Major Phipps to make a report almost three 

years later. He quickly dismissed the matter of wives because the depot 

had never employed a married woman or a widow. It had discharged 

the 17-year old son of veteran for lack of work. The father was a depot 

watchman, and Phipps proudly reported, “No effort was made to 

ascertain his political opinions.” Phipps’s report did reveal the 67 men 

then employed at the time divided into 25 Democrats, 24 Republicans, 

and 18 not eligible to vote because they were too young or were 

not citizens.42

The early 1890s saw the loss of 315 acres on Hickory Hill to the 

United States Naval Ammunition Depot. The Navy needed to move 

ammunition it had been storing on Ellis Island in New York Harbor 

because the government was transferring an immigration station 

previously located near The Battery area of Manhattan to the island. The 

transfer was under the authority of the Fortification Appropriations Act 

approved on 24 February 1891. The powder depot commander, Major 

J. E. Reilly, thought the new installation might create safety problems for 

his depot and advised against the Army’s surrender of jurisdiction, but 

he transferred the tract to Commander J. B. Coghlan on 9 June 1891.43

Coghlan immediately began ground clearing and construction. The 

first structures included shell and filling houses and a magazine. The 

commander’s residence, arguably the most architecturally impressive 

structure on the property then and now, went up in 1891. The depot 

added 78 acres in 1902 and 67 in 1918. It was under the Navy Yard, 
21

GETTING STARTED

League Island, Philadelphia, until its transfer to the Navy Yard, New 

York, in 1894. It joined the Naval Ammunition Depot, Iona, New York, in 

May 1910, and became an independent unit of the Third Naval District 

in September 1919. Initially, the depot emulated the Army installation 

and employed civilians for police and fire protection. This changed with 

the arrival of a Marine detachment under a non-commissioned officer in 

October 1908. A commissioned officer took charge in May 1916.44

The need for a railroad was a pressing concern of the Army depot’s 

first commanders. “The remoteness of the powder-depot tract from rail 

and water communication was the principal objection to its selection, 

and the selection was made with the understanding that we should build 

a branch railroad to Port Oram, a distance of three miles, to connect 

with the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad, the High Bridge 

Branch of the Central Railroad of New Jersey, and with the Morris Canal, 

thus giving complete rail communications in all directions for receiving 

and issuing all building material and powder.” Parker considered a 

publicly funded line too expensive and did not see how a totally private 

enterprise could earn profits without high rates.45

No railroad meant hauling building materials three miles at a cost 

of $1.15 per ton. During the first winter, Parker received an offer from 

the Central Railroad Company of New Jersey to build a line if the 

government appropriated $50,000.00 for procuring the right of way 

and laying track. Chief of Ordnance Benet endorsed the proposal, but 

Secretary of War Robert Todd Lincoln stated he had no power to grant 

a right of way through the base without a specific authorization from 

Congress. He was willing to grant the railroad a license to build a line 

into the reservation at the southwest corner and up to the magazine 

area with the understanding the government could revoke the license at 

its discretion.46

On 31 July 1882, Congress, acting on Lincoln’s recommendation, 

approved an act giving the Central a right of way up to 100 feet wide 

though the depot, but the railroad, which had financial problems, failed 

to use it. In 1884, Farley, who had “no expectation of private enterprise 

undertaking railroad construction either to or through the United States 

powder depot,” submitted a plan for a government-built track from the 

depot to connect with the Mount Hope Mineral Railroad Company’s 

tracks running east of the Mount Hope and Hickory Hill ridgeline from 

the mines in Mount Hope and to proceed to the railroad junction in 

Port Oram. The estimated cost was $54,220.85. This idea did not win 

acceptance. An act approved on 6 May 1886 transferred the right of way 

from the Central to the Morris County Railroad. By June 1887, there 

were 23.5 miles of main tract running from the Delaware, Lackawanna 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

22

and Western and the Central Railroad of New Jersey tracks in Port Oram 

through the powder depot to a junction with the Erie Railroad in Green 

Pond. The name for most of its history was the Wharton and Northern. 

Commanders throughout the depot years were constantly reminding 

customers to ship to the freight address, Picatinny, and not to Dover.47

While able to see the site’s transportation needs clearly, neither Parker 

nor Farley was a communications visionary. When the New York and 

New Jersey Telephone Company offered to connect the depot, Parker 

stated, “At no time in the future can I ever see the need for a telephone at 

Picatinny.” Farley saw the phone as a way to maintain contact between 

the depot, the Dover office, and his Morristown home, not as a means 

of intra-depot communication. He rented three phones at a total cost 

of $45.00 per quarter. The closing of the Dover office on 30 July 1888 

reduced the number to two, for which the commander paid $33.75 

a quarter out of government funds plus fifty cents of his own for two 

private calls. In 1892, the depot removed all phones and caused delays in 

receiving telegraph messages.48

The 1890s saw the depot begin loading powder into silk bags for 

artillery charges. First, it loaded brown prismatic, black, and nitroglycerin 

powders, then smokeless powder. Sewing the bags was initially a piecework activity of the magazine keeper’s family and other employees 

with time on their hands. Mrs. Cook may have been the installation’s 

first female employee. The demands of the Spanish-American War 

accelerated production. The payroll for March 1898 showed one woman, 

Katherine Fichter, sewing bags at the rate of $1.30 a day. The ten women 

who joined in April received the same, as did the men filling the cartridge 

bags. The new hires worked less than half the month due to difficulties in 

obtaining machines. The arsenal bought Red Stars, ordinary household 

models, from R. H. Macy and Company in New York at $19.07 apiece.49

All the women worked at least 22 days in May. July saw a drop to seven 

women with three working 14.5 days, one 7.25 days, and three 3.25 days. 

In August, there were only four who worked only four days each. There 

were none during the rest of the year. Katharine Fichter and three others 

returned for a week in January and four days in February 1899. The work 

was sporadic for over a year, with no women working in some months 

and just Fichter in others. Five women worked full time from late April 

through August 1900, the period of the China Relief Expedition. The 

work became steadier starting in May 1902, but the number of workers 

and days worked still fluctuated.50 Several women shared last names with 

male employees, suggesting recruitment through family channels. In a 

sparsely populated area without public transportation, such connections 

were unavoidable.
23

GETTING STARTED

Sewing and filling cartridge bags for use in field and sea coast guns 

were among the depot’s key contributions, along with receiving and 

issuing powder and projectiles, to the Spanish-American War and its 

aftermath in the Philippines. From 1 January to 16 April 1898, the depot 

issued 8,320 cartridge bags and 4,130 cartridges, most of them after 28 

February. This covered the period between the sinking of the Maine and 

the declaration of war on 25 April. The quick and limited nature of 

the war meant few demands on Picatinny. The depot began the fiscal 

year from 1 July 1898 to 30 June 1899 without an appropriation, and the 

commander, Colonel Adelbert R. Buffington, asked for $7,250.00. The 

bulk of the funds, $6,000.00, covered preparing storage room for armorpiercing and high-explosive shells and putting up cartridges and other 

items. Another $1,000.00 went to repairs and the remaining $250.00 to 

ordnance service. The payroll jumped from 33 in March 1898 to 70 in 

April. It stayed in the sixties for the next two months and then dropped 

to 56 in July and 38 in August, the month after fighting in Cuba ended.51

The demands of war could require innovation even in the 

straightforward activities of a storage depot. A silk shortage in April 

1898 prompted the depot to suggest and gain approval for adapting the 

red serge used in target flags to the outer bottoms of bags holding fine 

powder for mortar ammunition.52

Colonel Buffington commanded the depot during the SpanishAmerican War and did well enough to earn promotion to brigadier 

general and the position of Chief of Ordnance. In August 1901, his 

successor, Colonel L. S. Babbitt, found himself writing to Buffington to 

protest an inspector of ordnance’s report which criticized the closeness of 

magazines to other buildings and the insufficient cutting of grass. Babbitt 

pointed out the distances between buildings were the same as under all 

his predecessors, including Buffington, and insisted grass cutting and 

brush clearing to prevent the spread of fires was constant and vigorous. 

The author of the criticisms, Captain O. B. Mitcham, succeeded Babbitt 

on 1 August 1902, just as the installation launched another period of 

extensive building.53

In January 1902, the Ordnance Department appointed a board 

of officers to plan enlarged facilities at the depot. The board, whose 

members were Major Rogers A. Birnie and Captains E. B. Babbitt, and 

Beverly W. Dunn, recommended $478,000.00 worth of improvements. 

Congress appropriated $140,000.00 to cover construction of a magazine 

to store high explosives and a plant to load explosive to armor-piercing 

shells. By the end of June 1903, the new magazine, a charging house, 

and several minor structures were nearing completion and a temporary 

charging plant was already operating. Other plans called for raising the 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

24

dam by three feet to add 118,000,000 gallons to Lake Picatinny, the 

former Clifford’s Pond. During fiscal year 1903, the depot made 441 

issues of powder and projectiles, handling a total weight in the area of 

4.8 million pounds. In addition, its commander served as inspector of 

smokeless powder received by International Powder Company and other 

concerns.54

In 1903, workers completed loading and boiler houses and ran an 

explosive trial on the loading house press. This required an increased 

water supply which meant, in addition to dam work, opening up and 

improving the housing of the springs feeding the depot’s reservoirs. 

Most of fiscal year 1904’s $163,982.11 appropriation went toward new 

construction. The number of powder and projectile issues for the year, 

490, had a total weight of approximately 4.9 million pounds. In June 

1904, the depot had 128 employees.55

The board found maximite, the invention of Hudson Maxim, a 

resident of nearby Lake Hopatcong, New Jersey, loaded more quickly and 

recommended putting it in half the armor-piercing shells while loading 

the other half with explosive D, an experimental formulation often called 

Dunnite after Captain Dunn’s efforts promoting its use. Maximite was 90 

percent picric acid while the base for explosive D was ammonium picrate.

The Chief of Ordnance ordered Mitcham to begin loading as soon 

as the maximite plant was complete on 23 July 1903, but employees found 

picric acid produced serious skin discoloration and feared worse dangers. 

One man chose a discharge rather than work with it. The depot took 

until 14 August to find five men willing to do the work. Early attempts 

at loading were unsuccessful, especially failing to obtain casts free of 

cavitation. Cavities tended to break down as a shell moved forward in a 

gun and cause premature detonation. Maxim argued tamping the charge 

with a wooden rammer would solve the problem, but the depot loaded 

maximite for less than 2 years.56

Fiscal year 1905 was slower and less productive than 1904, and the 

number of employees dropped to 88. The Army had adopted a policy of 

loading artillery ammunition at points of use and put the depot’s plant 

into reserve. The annual budget was down to $105,207.81 although the 

depot still handled 523 receipts and issues of stores with a total weight 

of 8.4 million pounds. Construction work included installation of a rock 

crushing plant to furnish stone for road repairs and laying a bed for a 

planned railroad.57

In fiscal year 1906, the rock crushing plant not only provided stones 

for road and railroad beds, but gave contractors 6,000 tons to use in 

the concrete of depot buildings. The workforce took another drop, to 

65, but receipts and issues of stores rose to 708 involving 24,542,637 
25

GETTING STARTED

pounds. Construction work accounted for the abnormally high tonnage 

and pushed total disbursements to $204,687.99. During fiscal year 1907, 

disbursements dropped to $159,069.35 but the number of employees 

almost tripled, rising to 186. Receipts and issuances dropped to 666 with 

a total weight of 7,338,552 pounds.58

1906 saw the installation of new equipment for emptying armorpiercing shells of maximite and then loading them with explosive D. 

Removing the maximite required encasing the shell in a steel jacket with 

steam coils to heat the entire shell in such a way as to melt the explosive 

next to the shell wall first. This freed the cast and allowed the bulk of 

the explosive to slide out of the shell. This process fell out of use by the 

1920s. The unloading had its dangers, and two men earned discharges 

for refusing to do it. In 1917, coastal defense installations took on the 

job of loading armor-piercing shells. Soldiers there received the explosive 

D in prepackaged amounts which they pounded with wooden rams 

and hammers.59

The depot completed a hydraulic pressing plant in 1905 and 

intermittently conducted loading tests in what is now building 119 until 

1917. The building had gone up in 1887 as a store house.60

The installation’s internal railroad had approximately two miles of 

track on 30 June 1905, and Major Mitcham expected the finished system 

to run 3.5 miles. In 1904, the track branched from the Wharton and 

Northern line between the Cannon Gate and Mount Hope Road, ran 

through the magazine area on the east side, made a loop below Lake 

Picatinny and went through the magazine area on the west. It was to run 

up Green Pond Mountain to a new rock crushing plant, but Mitcham 

found the existing appropriation insufficient.61

Employees remembered the first two locomotives, Maude or Old 

Maude and Tin Lizzie, as having “seen extensive service before they were 

brought to Picatinny” and having trouble climbing the hill on the east 

side of the base. At times, Maude could not even pull its own weight.62

Charles Emil Anderson, born in Sweden and later a resident 

of Wharton, came to the powder depot in 1898 at the age of 19. He 

performed a variety of duties in his first months, including policing, laying 

pipe, and filling cartridges bags, but became the post hostler in June 1898. 

When the commander complained because his slap raised dust from a 

horse’s back, Anderson began wiping the animals down with kerosene oil. 

His hostler pay was $1.50 a day, so, in 1907, he traded the position for a 

job as a carpenter at $2.38 a day. A furlough sent him off the arsenal in 

1908, but he returned in 1917 as a $4.56-per-day carpenter.63

The Fortification Bill approved by Congress on 25 June 1906 allotted 

$165,000.00 for building and setting up a smokeless powder factory on 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

26

“such reservation now or that hereafter may be under the control of the 

War Department.” In addition to the powder-depot site, a three-person 

board looked at Fort Montgomery near West Point, Jefferson Barracks, 

and Rock Island Arsenal in Illinois before narrowing the choice to the 

New Jersey and Illinois installations. Desirable assets included a plentiful 

pure water supply from a natural head, good drainage and transportation, 

existing powder testing facilities, isolation, labor supply, natural defense 

features, climate, and topography.64

Secretary of War William Howard Taft chose the depot site on the 

advice of his Chief of Ordnance, Brigadier General William Crozier. 

The installation officially took the name Picatinny Arsenal in October 

1907 and began turning out powder in January 1908.65

Marion Emma Spargo arrived for what she and Picatinny thought 

was a temporary position on 1 April 1907. Looking back after a quartercentury of uninterrupted employment, she called herself an “April 

Fool’s Day Joke on the Government.” She was the only woman in the 

headquarters office and did all its typing and stenography. She initially 

commuted from her home in Wharton on horseback, then in the caboose 

of a Wharton and Northern freight train, and finally in a coach when 

the railroad started passenger service. Her brother Thomas, who arrived 

about 10 years later, recalled, “Many of our personnel drove to the 

Arsenal in their private conveyances consisting of ‘Old Dobbin’ in the 

shafts and a buggy with or without a top.”66

Another 1907 recruit was Lenora Van Sickles, a 15-year old who 

began on the back line making powder bags with a foot-treadle machine. 

Additional duties included quarter-mile hikes to fill water jugs for senior 

colleagues. The only source of heat in her building was a pot-belly 

stove, and each day saw a different employee charged with going to the 

coal shed.67

Major Dunn, a prominent chemist and member of the board which 

had selected the factory site, took command of Picatinny on 14 May 

1907, but only served until 10 June, when another board member, 

Major Odus C. Horney, took command. Dr. Otto F. Ansell, a Picatinny 

chemist, supervised construction, equipment installation, and plant 

operation. By the end of fiscal year 1908, Horney had used up most of 

the initial $165,000 appropriation despite scrounging equipment from 

other installations, including Sandy Hook Proving Ground.68 The first 

Picatinny powder factory was on the southeast shore of Lake Picatinny 

and had achieved its final form by 1916. A 1919 Army manual on Military 

Explosives drew most of its details on and photographs of smokeless 

powder production from Picatinny and, so, makes it possible to detail 

factory procedures.69
27

GETTING STARTED

Basic steps in smokeless powder production were purifying and 

mechanical preparing raw cotton, nitrating the cotton to produce 

cellulose nitrate, purifying the cellulose nitrate and mixing it with ether 

alcohol to form a colloid, granulating the powder by pressing the colloid 

through steel dies, and, finally, solvent recovery, drying, and blending.70

In the World War I era, smokeless powder manufacturers used two 

grades of cotton fiber, linters and hull fiber, blended in a ratio determined 

by availability. Initial preparation involved bleaching to reduce extractive 

matter to less than 0.4 percent and ash to 0.8 percent. Uniform nitration 

required cotton of uniform moisture and physical condition, a state 

achieved with a picking machine. Picatinny’s picker house was a onestory building of frame-and-corrugated iron construction.71

Picatinny used the continuous-dry method in which a belt carried 

the cotton through a long chamber heated to about 1000C because it 

was cheaper and less time consuming then the rival system which placed 

57 bales or 4,000 pounds of cotton in a large chamber heated by hot-air 

blasts. The cotton-dry house was a one-story brick building. The cotton, 

which entered the dry house at about 8 percent moisture, was down to 

about 0.5 percent went it went into metal containers for transfer to the 

nitrating house.

Initially, Picatinny used the Thompson displacement method for 

nitration, the only powder plant in the nation to do so. This process began, 

as did all the others, by immersing dry cotton in shallow earthenware 

pans about 4 feet in diameter and 14 inches deep and containing a 

mixture of nitric and sulfuric acids. The difference came when separating 

the nitrated cotton from the acid. Picatinny added cold water at the top 

of the nitrator to displace the acid for withdrawal at the bottom. This 

method’s advantages included spent acid of sufficient strength for future 

use, economy, and greater fire safety. The main problem was appreciable 

denitration which caused lack of uniformity in the charge. So, Picatinny 

shifted to the DuPont mechanical dipper process in 1909. It paid 

DuPont $920.00.72

The new process used four iron pots, each with two vertical revolving 

paddles turning in opposite directions, to agitate the mixture during the 18 

to 24-minute nitration cycle. Each paddle had a series of horizontal arms 

placed to quickly draw the cotton under the acid surface. The agitation 

speed began at 72rpm during immersion, dropped to 36 during the 

normal nitration period, and rose back to 72 for discharge. The normal 

charge was 1,440 pounds of acid per nitrator and the normal cotton load 

32 pounds. In both processes, the cotton and the acid then went into a 

centrifugal wringer for separation. The goal of the nitration step was a 

product with a high percentage of nitrogen and 99 percent soluble in a 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

28

mixture of two parts ether and one part alcohol.73 At Picatinny, this all 

took place in a one-story cement stucco structure.

The purification step started with preliminary boiling in large 

wooden tubs, preferably cypress, with a false bottom over steam pipes. 

Each 1,200-pound batch of pyro cotton boiled for a total of 40 hours, 

first for one 16-hour period and then for three 8-hour periods, with at 

least four changes of water. Adding water during each boil kept the 

batch completely submerged. For pulping, Picatinny used a Miller duplex 

beater. The essential features of any pulping machine were a fixed set 

of knives at the bottom of a tub and a roller with adjustable bearings 

and a removable set of knives at the top. Repeated drawing of the pyro 

cotton through the two sets of knives reduced it to the desired fineness. 

A weak soda solution neutralized the acid retained in the fibers and set 

free during fiber maceration. The Miller machine cut the hull fiber in five 

to six hours, less time per beater lot than it did the linters. The first stage 

involved lowering a large octagonal box covered with a very fine wire 

screen into the pulp to remove part of the sour water while adding fresh 

water. The removed water went to settling basins for mechanical recovery 

of any remaining pyro.74

The next stop was the poaching house because pulping released 

acid, necessitating repurification. This step resembled the preliminary 

boiling process except this time the initial boiling took place in an alkaline 

solution, one pound of sodium carbonate to one gallon of water, and used 

10 gallons of solution for every 2,000 pounds of dry nitrocellulose. Five 

boilings in neutral solutions followed. Constant agitation by mechanical 

Main Intersection 1905
29

GETTING STARTED

stirrers was necessary during all boilings. The chemical laboratory checked 

the cotton for stability, percentage of nitrogen, solubility, fineness, and 

ash.75 The tub, pulping, and poaching houses at Picatinny were one-story 

frame and corrugated iron structures.

The next operation used a Packer pulping screen to separate foreign 

matter and cotton not fully macerated by the beater. The screen was a 

large box with a brass plate with .01-inch wide slits at the bottom through 

which suction drew the cotton. Pumping, then, sent the cotton into large 

blending tubs for the next operation, forcing out water by centrifugal 

action. The wringer was a wire basket connected to a motor which 

turned it at 800rpm. Following wringing, a sample went to the laboratory 

to determine if moisture was between 28 and 30 percent, an anti-fire 

precaution. A moisture variance of 2 percent or less indicated the 

wringers had operated at a uniform rate of speed. This step concluded 

the manufacture of pyro cotton, now usually referred to as the colloid or 

the powder.76

Next came dehydration, the removal of all water and its replacement 

with ether alcohol, normally 1.25 pounds of alcohol for each dry weight 

pound of cotton. The large dehydrating press at Picatinny consisted of 

a cylinder and a movable piston run by hydraulic pressure. It applied a 

pressure of about 1,200psi to push out some of the excess water and then 

raised the pressure to 3,700psi to inject the alcohol. The alcohol displaced 

more excess water and combined with the remainder to produce a block 

of powder nearly moisture free.

The next step took place in a mixing machine which had a covered, 

brine-cooled tank with a revolving double worm to supply a kneading 

motion as operators added ether to the colloid through a distributing 

plate. Another addition was diphenylamine. Sometimes inaccurately 

called a stabilizer, this absorbed any nitrous fumes developed during 

processing. At this point, small arms powder and single perforated grains 

for 1-pounder rounds received an injection of graphite.

The granulating process started with a preliminary blocking press 

consisting of a cylinder and a piston forming the colloid into a dense 

cylindrical mass and putting it under 1,800 pounds per square inch 

(psi) pressure. This block went into a macaroni press, so called because 

straining the solid bock through a heavy brass screen under 4,800psi of 

pressure yielded a tubular end product. The final blocking press put the 

colloid into shape for the graining press. At this point, the material was a 

dense, elastic, dark brown substance.

In the graining press room, a hydraulic ram exerting 2,500 to 3,800 

pounds of pressure forced the colloid through a large steel die to come out 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

30

in the form of a flexible rope. During small arms production at Picatinny, 

as many as 50 strings could issue from the press head. When producing 

large caliber powder, there were only one or two barrels. Pulleys directed 

the ropes to the cutting machine.77

Picatinny used the can method of solvent recovery to collect ether 

and alcohol given off during drying instead of the chamber and car ones. 

Despite differences in the powder containers, all three followed the same 

steps. First, warm air circulated through the powder and then went over 

cold coils to produce a miniature fog and remove the surplus solvent. 

After reheating, the air passed back through the powder to complete a 

closed ventilation cycle.78 The arsenal had two one-story solvent recovery 

houses, one frame and corrugated iron and the other brick.

While places which came on line during World War I, such as the 

Old Hickory Plant in Tennessee, used the newer continuous dry method, 

Picatinny stayed with the older air-dry process. The powder went directly 

from the solvent recovery house to large, narrow bins in one of the 

arsenal’s three one-story dry houses where temperatures reached 450C. 

The narrowness of the bins provided a relatively thin cross section which 

helped insure even heat distribution. Several times during this process, 

the laboratory analyzed samples for moisture and volatile content. The 

powder stayed in the dry house for two to four months at temperatures 

of 1000 to 1050F. This time period was the only drawback to the system 

and the reason other plants looked to a water-dry system which promised 

to reduce the drying period to a month or less.79

Photos from;

Military Explosives

Prepared in the Office of the Chief of Ordnance, August 1919

(Washington: Government Printing Office, 1919)
31

GETTING STARTED
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

32
33

GETTING STARTED

Picatinny’s creativity showed in the blending operation. This involved 

shifting the powder from one bin to another by gravity until fully mixed. 

It was normal to blend cannon caliber powder in lots of either 50,000 

or 100,000 pounds, small caliber powder in lots ranging from 15,000 

to 50,000 pounds. The first blender at the installation was a high tower 

where workers continually dropped dried powder through a series of 

reverse pyramidal bins as many times as necessary. This required a crew 

to stay at the top of the blender during charging of the upper bin, a 

procedure which caused frequent fires, destroyed blenders, and burned 

operators. In 1915, Picatinny shifted to an arrangement of two towers 

with one bin each and conveyor belts arranged to allow charging of the 

bin in one tower from the bin in the other. This eliminated the need for 

workers on the upper story. The new design was the brainchild of Major 

Jesse C. Nicholls, assistant officer at Picatinny beginning in 1911.80

Picatinny had a mill to rework unstable powder, a procedure possible 

with powder made from nitrocellulose but neither economic nor efficient 

with nitroglycerin-based ones. The process involved no nitrating, boiling, 

or pulping. A steel-wheel mill weighing five tons pulverized the grains 

under water until the particles were fine enough to float. A discharge pipe 

took the grains to a screen with a 0.026-inch mesh. Grains too coarse for 

the mesh went back for further grinding.81

At first, the factory turned out only powder for cannons, starting 

with 500 pounds per 8-hour day and achieving a rate of 1,000 pounds 

in 1909. Horney thought another $100,000.00 would double output, 

$175,000.00 raise it to 3,000 pounds, and $300,000.00 push production 

to the 5,000 pounds per day level. The Sundry Civil Service Bill approved 

on 4 March 1909 authorized the $175,000.00, and Picatinny began 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

34

enlarging the factory to a capacity of 2,000 pounds of cannon powder 

and 1,000 pounds of small arms powder per day. However, the Ordnance 

Department planned to limit outputs to 1,000 and 250 pounds and kept 

the rest of the facility in reserve. It would supply remaining peacetime 

needs from private manufacturers to encourage them to keep their plants 

in a condition suitable for wartime expansion. The factory turned out 

370,000 pounds of cannon powder and 12,500 pounds of .30-caliber 

powder in 1910. The annual report described the work load in the 

chemical laboratory as “very large” with a “considerable amount of 

investigative and experimental work” included with more routine tasks.82

Picatinny followed the pattern of private industry in, at least, one 

respect. As W. H. Rinkenbach, a long-serving Picatinny chemist, 

remembered, “Like those of many industrial organizations, the 

laboratories of Picatinny Arsenal had their inception as an adjunct to 

plant operations. In 1907, the smokeless powder plant of the Arsenal 

began operation and it was necessary to have a laboratory for control 

and acceptance testing; so a chemical and stability laboratory began to 

function in the same year.”83

The laboratory was originally in what became building 424, but 

moved into a new structure in July 1912. Dr. Ansell, elevated to chief 

chemist, began with a staff of three but raised it to seven in 1908 and 

eight in 1909. When he resigned in November 1911, laboratory duties 

Otto F. Ansell
35

GETTING STARTED

included acceptance testing of maintenance materials and high explosives. 

The laboratory did only occasional development work until after World 

War I. Major William H. Tschappat, who served as one of Picatinny’s 

two assistant officers from 1907 to 1912, took the lead in developing the 

research group.84

While building the cannon powder plant, Picatinny was installing 

machinery intended to turn out 250 pounds of small arms powder 

per 8-hour day by 1909. Horney believed the plant, at full scale, could 

produce four-fifths of the Army’s annual peacetime procurement, but, as 

with cannon powder, the Ordnance Department wanted to keep private 

firms in the smokeless powder business during peacetime in preparation 

for war. It saw Picatinny as the source of a quick, emergency supply.85

The question of the arsenal’s relationship to private firms first arose 

during the debate over building the factory. Some considered it a blow at 

private industry, especially, at the DuPont monopoly in explosives. DuPont 

definitely saw it in this light. The company denied monopolistic intentions 

but admitted its purchases of Laflin and Rand Powder Company in 1902 

and International Smokeless Powder and Chemical Company in 1906 

gave it control of all military smokeless powder production in the nation.86

Appropriation acts of 1910 and 1911 forbade Army use of privately 

produced powder, so Picatinny’s output was the Army supply. New 

facilities at the arsenal included a plant to rework used powder. It had a 

capacity of 1,500 pounds per 24-hour day when completed in 1914. At 

the time, Picatinny had the task of supplying for the Army’s Southern 

Department, then responsible for supplying the troops occupying the port 

of Vera Cruz, Mexico.87

The use of DuPont processes and inventions in the powder factory 

sparked a clash over proprietary data. In 1908, the company and the 

ordnance chiefs of the Army and the Navy made an agreement to have 

government personnel involved in powder manufacture pledge not to 

reveal DuPont’s manufacturing secrets. DuPont, in turn, agreed to consult 

the government before giving its secrets to other nations. Horney took the 

pledge, but controversy reared when he went to work for Aetna Explosives 

Company, a DuPont competitor, after retiring in 1915. Secretary of War 

Lindley M. Garrison had delayed his retirement and another officer’s 

until the Attorney General’s office assured him it was legal for them to 

work in the private explosives industry. Garrison thought their help in 

establishing new plants would put the country in a better position should 

it enter the then raging European war. DuPont tightened its policy while 

the government insisted any process knowledge it received from the 

company was common knowledge. The parties argued the issue well into 

World War I.88
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

36

The Sundry Civil Service Bill approved on 4 March 1911 provided 

$20,000 for a plant to turn out explosive D. A temporary experimental 

plant was active in 1912 while a permanent facility was under 

reconstruction. The commander reported small output but “valuable 

information has been secured in reference to methods of manufacture 

and cost of production.” In 1913, the Chief of Ordnance found the 

product “satisfactory and the cost materially below that paid contractors.” 

He further found, “The capacity of the plant is sufficient to meet the 

expected needs of the department for this material and to some extent 

for other explosives.”89

From fiscal years 1908 through 1912, the installation reported 

expenditures for the installation and for the powder factory separately. 

The installation appropriation for 1908 was $120,247.45. Both labor 

force and work load more than doubled. There were 250 workers on 

30 June 1908, but construction work had put the average throughout 

the year at 321. Receipts and issuances of ordnance stores totaled 1,060 

items weighing a total of 21,576,380 pounds.90

In November 1911, Picatinny became home to a school for training 

ordnance officers in new types of explosives. It must have seemed a 

suitable time for summing up the history of the installation because 

the installation put out a document celebrating developments to date. 

People who knew the Army had a powder factory had probably heard the 

name Picatinny, but, still, justifying the title, Picatinny Arsenal: Famous Army 

Powder Factory, was a stretch. Picatinny being the only plant turning out 

powder for the Army at the time made its opening page boast of being 

“the premier Powder Manufacturing plant for Uncle Sam’s Army” 

technically accurate.91

The brochure painted an attractive picture, extolling the arsenal’s 

“1866 acres which have grown to be almost a garden spot with their 

towering trees and broad driveways bordered with shrubbery practically 

screening from view the rather grim buildings where powder for the 

ponderous engines of warfare is manufactured.” Among the trees were 

5,000 white ash planted in 1908 under plan prepared for Picatinny by the 

Bureau of Forestry.92

There were chestnut trees at the head of Picatinny Lake. Thirty years 

later, William Vanderbilt would remember cutting some 10,000 railroad 

ties from them along with hundreds of fence posts and 99 cords of wood. 

This work was a step up from his earlier job cutting hay and grain. 

Leonora Van Sickle remembered a Mr. Peterson who towed the logs on a 

barge from above Lake Picatinny to the dam at the base of the lake. From 

there, they went into a shop for conversion to ties.93
37

GETTING STARTED

The publication listed 116 buildings on the arsenal, 38 of them 

belonging to the powder factory. The other 78 included one office 

building, the laboratory, the guard house, three officer’s quarters, eight 

employees dwellings, ten stables and wagon houses, a stone crushing 

plant, a creosoting plant, a paint shop, a blacksmith and machine shop, 

a carpenter shop, a pipe shop, two loading houses, an engine house, a 

sewing house, three fuze houses, an ice house, a locomotive house, a filling 

house, a freight house, a scale house, a lumber house, a spring house, a 

boat house, a pump house, seven projectile sheds, 16 storehouses, seven 

magazines, and a wheel and dynamo house.94

Among the newest buildings were officer’s family quarters. Two 

Colonial Revival style buildings were necessary because the advent of the 

powder factory had tripled Picatinny’s military contingent by assigning 

the commander two assistant officers. Now known as buildings 112 and 

113, they continue to house the ranking and second ranking officers on 

Picatinny. The other assistant officer occupied what is now building 114, 

formerly the administrative office and home of the magazine keeper. 

Picatinny converted it to ornate, Second-Empire style quarters in 1907.95

Not advertised in this public relations document was an explosion 

in the powder factory’s dehydrating press on 14 June 1911 at 3:30pm. 

Classified as a low order explosion, it blew the top of the press through the 

roof and buried it in the ground 75 feet from the building. The explosion 

Horney Family before Commander’s Quarters (B-112), c. 1911
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

38

produced Picatinny’s first known death in the line of duty when a badly 

burned foreman died from his injuries. In addition, the blast “severely 

burned” one operator and “painfully burned” two others.96

An employee who arrived almost 9 months later knew of the blast 

and identified the fatality as John L. Sullivan. The other injured parties 

were G. R. Grosse, T. Cashen, and John Powell. Sullivan was instructing 

Grosse in the operation of the press. General opinion attributed the 

severity of Sullivan’s burns to his celluloid collar catching fire.97

The next recorded accident was on 6 April 1912. A static spark from 

the body of a man handling partly dried small-arms powder started a 

fire near trays of green powder for 2.95-inch mountain gun ammunition. 

There was no explosion, but the resulting gases lifted and broke up the 

roof of the light wood building, and the fire consumed the side walls. One 

man received burns to his face and hands. In the words of the official 

report, his injuries were “not severe.98 The injured party may have made 

a different assessment in stronger language.

In fiscal year 1912, the factory turned out 463,000 pounds of cannon 

powder and 106,000 pounds of .30-caliber powder plus varying amounts 

of other small-grain powders while reducing the cost from approximately 

38.5 cents to approximately 36 cents per pound. This brought the total 

since June 1908 to approximately 1.5 million pounds of cannon powder 

and 140,000 of .30-caliber at a factory cost of $683,000.00. The addition 

of $11,500.00 to cover losses due to fire and accidents brought the total 

to $694,500. Horney, now a lieutenant colonel, estimated the cost of 

procuring the same amount commercially would have been about $1.037 

million, so Picatinny had saved the government $342,500.00.99

The same year Horney reported completion of a new office building 

and the new chemical laboratory and near completion of a new magazine. 

He did not mention the fire of 26 April 1912 which destroyed a powder 

dry house in this report but did mention the completion of a replacement 

building in the report for 1913. As a sideline, the arsenal cut and creosoted 

about 5,000 railway ties during the year, most for Sandy Hook Proving 

Ground and Frankford and Watervliet arsenals.100

The arsenal’s total expenditures for fiscal year 1912 came to 

$693,107.39. Receipts and issues of ordnance items numbered 759, 

and the weight of stores received and issued, exclusive of building 

and manufacturing materials, 12,308,641 pounds. Picatinny had 294 

employees as of 30 June 1912.101

In fiscal year 1913, the factory turned out 415,000 pounds of cannon 

powder and 133,000 of .30-caliber. Cost of the cannon powder fell to 

just under 35 cents per pound, and capacity reached 9,000 pounds per 
39

GETTING STARTED

24-hour day. Allowing for holidays and repairs, Horney estimated the 

factory ran approximately 300 days a year.102

Horney figured the total cost for the 1,950,000 pounds of cannon 

powder and 235,000 pounds of .30-caliber made since 1908 at 

approximately $935,000.00 against a commercial cost of $1.375 million 

for a $440,000.00 savings. The same year saw the arsenal start procuring 

equipment for the reworking plant. Horney predicted it would produce 

“new powder of excellent quality at approximately one-half the cost 

of entirely new powder.” The Chief of Ordnance echoed Horney’s 

prediction when this plant went into operation the next year.103

In fiscal year 1913, the arsenal procured equipment to produce nitric 

acid, a key ingredient in pyrocellulose but commercial firms began offering 

it at prices low enough to make government production unnecessary. Still, 

the equipment remained available if government production became 

economically feasible. The same year saw Picatinny obtain equipment 

to manufacture high explosives. It initially concentrated on explosive 

D, turning out a satisfactory, competitively priced product. The plant 

received larger and better equipment the next fiscal year. “The capacity 

of this plant is sufficient to meet the expected needs of this department 

for this material and to some extent for other explosives.”104

Chief of Ordnance Crozier’s 1913 report to the Secretary of War 

Garrison revisited the public versus private supply issue. He read the 

fortifications and defense works appropriations bill approved on 13 

February 1913 as requiring the Army to run the powder factory at not less 

than half its capacity. Doing so would produce all the smokeless powder 

for which Congress had authorized payment, except for small quantities 

of pistol and blank ammunition powders.

This provision of law, unless repealed, will result in private 

manufacturers receiving no orders and thus giving up the making 

of powder for this department. This will throw the department 

upon its own resources in maintaining the standard and improving 

the quality, except for such assistance as may be obtained from 

the Navy. This condition is believed to be an undesirable one, 

since it largely removes the stimulus of competition, and loses 

to the department the great advantages that have heretofore 

come through the work of the extensive laboratories and 

large forces of skilled experts in the employ of the powder 

manufacturing companies.105

Crozier described France’s recent decision to abolish its government 

monopoly of powder production “as the result of disastrous experience.” 

He advised “Congress to fix what it considers a reasonable price for powder 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

40

to be furnished by contractors and with that restriction to authorize the 

department to give them a fair share of the work of manufacture.”106

Total Picatinny disbursements in fiscal year 1913 came to $425,505.42. 

The number of receipts and issuances of ordnance stores was 850. The 

weight of these stores, exclusive of building and manufacturing materials, 

was 14,188,003 pounds. Picatinny had 371 employees on 30 June 1913.107

The Chemical Laboratory had a serious explosion on 13 March 

1913 while Isadore Miller was studying the use of mercury fulminate 

in boosters. Looking back 34 years later, Granville Webster marveled at 

both Miller’s behavior and the lack of comment it raised.

The quantities of dry mercury fulminate that he handled and 

placed in the balance room where employees congregated 

seems almost incredible in these days. Two or three pounds is a 

conservative estimate. His method of loading the material was 

even more hazardous. He had the shell standing up with the stem 

of a glass funnel in the booster. He poured the fulminate through 

the funnel into the booster. Some stuck in the stem of the funnel 

and to dislodge it, he tapped the glass stem against the iron walls 

of the booster, and this set off the charge of two ounces.

Miller lost one eye, injured the other, and suffered severe cuts to his face 

and hands.108

In his report for fiscal year1914, Crozier told the Secretary of War 

the last private contract for cannon powder had been in December 1912 

and the Ordnance Department had ordered no small arms powder from 

private sources between 1 July 1913 and 30 June1914. He, then, restated 

all his arguments.

It is my opinion, as stated in my last annual report and in my 

hearings before the committees of Congress in connect with the 

current fortifications act, that it would be a serious mistake for 

the Government to abandon the practice of procuring a portion 

of its supply of smokeless powders from private manufacturers. 

The larger of these manufacturers, being also producers of 

a variety of sporting powders and other explosives, such as 

nitroglycerin, dynamite, blasting powder, etc., extensively used for 

commercial purposes, have many plants and are able to maintain 

extensive research laboratories, and train a large force of chemists 

of broad experience.109

The last point, especially, was bothersome because the Ordnance 

Department had “experienced great difficulty in securing chemists of 

the requisite skill and experience as leaders in its work, which condition, 

apparently, is of a permanent character.”110

Fiscal year 1914 saw the powder factory turn out 1.1 million pounds 

of cannon and 125,000 pounds of .30-caliber powder, 2.25 times 
41

GETTING STARTED

the previous year’s amount, bringing the respective totals since the 

factory’s opening to a little over 2 million and 360,000 at a total cost of 

approximately $1.325 million, including fire losses. The estimated cost 

by contract purchase would have been approximately $2.05 million for a 

$700,000.00 savings since 1908. The increased production reduced costs 

to 33 cents per pound for cannon powder and 43 cents per pound for 

.30-caliber, about 6 percent below fiscal 1913 figures. Production might 

have been more if the arsenal had succeeded in plans to run a second 

shift, but the isolated location and lack of commuter transportation 

prevented hiring the necessary workers.111

The same period saw Picatinny develop and issue for trial a smokeless 

powder to replace black powder in blank cartridges. This powder, which 

the Ordnance Department thought would better simulate combat 

conditions during maneuvers, was the first new item developed at 

the installation.112

Increased production was the main cause for the jump in employees 

from 371 to 457. This included a 25 percent increase in the clerical force. 

Disbursements during fiscal 1914 totaled $657,919.19 while the number 

of receipts and issuances of ordnance stores was 1,561. Stores, exclusive 

of building and manufacturing materials, weighed 16,737,471 pounds.113

Fiscal year 1915 was the first to experience the influence of World 

War with Picatinny going to two10-hour shifts in the later part of 1914. 

The arsenal turned out approximately 1.085 million pounds of cannon 

powder, 200,000 pounds of cannon powder, and 76,000 pounds of high 

explosive, all only slight increases over the previous year, while preparing 

38,000 rounds of cannon ammunition and capping, rebanding, or 

otherwise modifying 19,000 or half of them. Powder costs continued 

their decrease, to 32.5 cents for cannon and 41.5 for .30-caliber.114

This brought the total production since 1908 to 3.085 million pounds 

of cannon powder and 560,000 of .30-caliber at a total cost, including 

fire losses, of $1.784 million. The estimated commercial cost would 

have been $2.775 million, bringing estimated savings to $991,000.00. 

This was the last report filed with Horney in command and the last to 

contain these calculations. It rated the operation of the high explosives 

plant as “satisfactory” and blamed difficulties in obtaining raw materials 

for limiting production to 76,000 pounds. The mill for reworking old 

powder could achieve a maximum production of 3,000 pounds over 24 

hours but could not turn out more than 2,000 without cutting into new 

power production.115

Disbursements for fiscal year 1915 came to $782,057.02. Stores 

received and issued, exclusive of building and manufacturing materials, 

numbered 1,267 and had a total weight of 14,715,631 pounds. Despite 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

42

the increase in business and the second shift, the number of employees 

fell from the previous year’s 457 to 373, just two above the labor force on 

30 June 1913. Other 1915 expenditures covered the acquisition of several 

Dodge cars.116

One point in the Chief of Ordnance’s 1915 report with significance 

for Picatinny’s future was a reference to the need to stockpile sodium 

nitrate. Imported from Chile, this was the source of the nitrogen in 

nitric acid. “Some attempt has been made to place in storage a sufficient 

quantity of sodium nitrate to serve the country during a considerable 

period of interruption of normal supply; but there is no difficulty in saying 

now that the amount in store would produce a quantity of powder which 

would be insignificant in comparison with the requirements of a war....” 

Picatinny had constructed new magazines for sodium nitrate between 

1906 and 1908, and took advantage of this reemphasis on the subject to 

construct several magazines in the southwest corner of Picatinny. Most 

were not ready until 1919.117

On 6 September 1915, a fire in a powder mixer in the reworking and 

mixing house sparked an explosion which did $791.62 worth of damage 

to the plant, destroyed $100.00 worth of powder, and injured six workers. 

Investigators for the arsenal discovered a screw in the mixture which they 

thought had scraped metal and caused a spark.118

An explosion on 16 November 1915 took place in the Filling House, 

the site for loading powder bags and stitching them closed. A broken 

needle on one of the sewing machines struck the igniting powder being 

quilted into the end of a cartridge bag for 12-inch gun ammunition. This 

set off the powder in all the primers at the machine, two or three pounds, 

and this blast set off all the primers at four other machines 12 to 14 feet 

away. The results were “all panes of glass broken out of 6 windows, some 

mesh broken, paint and wood work blistered and charred, part of ceiling 

fall, brick wall cracked, and roof slates cracked” plus “3 women sewing 

machine operators frightfully burned [and] 2 to a lesser extent.”119

The Daily Record reported two of the women went to Morristown 

hospitals, Elizabeth Davenport to All Souls and Mrs. Theodore Spreckel 

to Memorial, both about a dozen miles from the arsenal. It, then, 

corrected itself and stated the one brought to All Soul’s was Betty Ryan. 

It had originally listed a “Bridget Ryan,” along with Mabel Travers as 

having received treatment and gone home. Remembering the event 32 

years later, Granville Webster reported the name of the second woman 

as E. Travena, not Mabel Travers. He did mention an E. Davenport but 

no name resembling Spreckel. The paper had put the non-existent Mrs. 

Spreckel at death’s door. Hopefully, it was more accurate when it stated 

both women were doing well. Webster named Miss L. L. Towland as one 
43

GETTING STARTED

of the seriously injured and H. Larsen as the slightly burned employee. 

The Record, a Morristown paper most interested in the southern half of 

Morris County and almost completely ignoring its industrial northern 

part, had no strong interest in Picatinny events or people. It referred to 

Picatinny’s new commander as Colonel P. W. Joyce instead of the correct 

Lieutenant Colonel John W. Joyes.120

Webster quoted Joyes’s report on the medical response.

In this case, a period of about twenty-five minutes elapsed 

from the alarm to the arrival of the first physician. Immediate 

telephone calls had been sent, and the physicians responded in 

their automobiles with all possible promptitude. Considering 

they had to travel five miles or so, the response was considered 

exceptionally good. Although called by this office, it is not known 

how they can be paid, as they should be by the Government—

but that is a matter of relatively small moment. The question 

presents itself however as to the duty of providing—for the sake 

of immediate relief in case of accident—a resident physician.

Webster spoke for many government employees who did not consider 

the payment question “of relatively small moment.” He was not sure but 

thought “unless some unheard of loophole was found, which I doubt, the 

answer is, that odd as it may seem now, since the employees were wholly 

blameless, the unfortunate employees themselves paid the physicians.” 

The employees would have received pay for only as much leave as they 

had accumulated regardless of how long recuperation took. In 1915, 

government workers earned 15 days leave per year. There was no sick 

leave and the arsenal had no responsibilities under law for employee 

injuries. The government called the 15 leave days a “gratuity.”121

Salaried employees had received both 30 days leave and a 30-day 

sick leave entitlement until about 1900, but per diem workers, including 

the sewing room women, received nothing. A change in the law intended 

to give all government workers 15 days leave per year, but the Controller 

General had interpreted this to deny employees any benefits other than 

the 15 days. Writing in 1947, Webster recalled “it seems to have been a 

fetish with the Controller General to find some loophole in a bill passed 

for the benefit of government personnel that would in a measure nullify 

the benefits.”122

Investigators found the Filling House poorly adapted to its purpose 

and recommended building a new one with a work process remodeled 

for safety. The arsenal replaced the steel needles on the sewing machines 

with ones of nonferrous metal.123

Webster started at the powder factory as an assistant chemist on 

1 March 1912. He recalled walking from his home in Wharton to the 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

44

station to catch the 7:30am train. “There were no motor vehicles except 

an open air touring car, which had red leather upholstery on the seats. 

This vehicle had a speed of about 12 miles per hour, made one trip per 

day to Dover, and was garaged in the barn.” Roads were dirt, and arsenal 

non-rail traffic used horse or mule power. This included the one tank cart 

providing drinking water for the different workplaces.124

Wharton was the only community directly accessible to Picatinny by 

public transportation. The three-car train carried the majority of arsenal 

employees. The only pre-arsenal stop was at Mount Pleasant. The first 

arsenal stop was at the intersection of what later became Buffington Road 

and Farley Avenue, a short block from the Main Office at what became 

the junction of Farley and Parker Roads. The train, then, took the factory 

workers to the Power House Gate near the southeast corner of Lake 

Picatinny. “At night, the train left this station at 4:40 P. M. providing it was 

not late, which it often was. The train got into Wharton not earlier than 

5 o’clock.” Webster thought the Wharton entrepreneur who decided to 

run a bus holding 28 people to and from the installation made “a notable 

advance in transportation,” even though “it was doubtful at times whether 

this bus would make it on account of bogging down in the mud.”125

Employees living in Dover had an even harder time, having to catch 

a 7:15 trolley to the Wharton train stop. “A few employees, not accessible 

to Wharton or the trolley line, drove a horse and buggy—Bill Churn, for 

example, of Mine Hill. A number living from a half mile to two miles 

or more out from the Arsenal walked.” The workforce was from nearby 

towns. “Not until during World War I was it practicable for anyone from 

Morristown to work at the Arsenal.”126

Weather could easily upset schedules. Thomas Spargo remembered 

major snows in March 1914 and December 1915 keeping people at 

the installation. His sister Marion and another woman stayed with the 

commanding officer during the 1915 storm. Several men stayed in the 

drafting room. Monday, 13 December 1915, saw 32 inches fall. Webster 

stayed on base for two nights. During the day, he continued his normal 

duty, testing cartridge bag cloth. Major Nicholls’s assistant officer duties 

expanded to include donning snow shoes and delivering hot biscuits from 

his quarters to the powerhouse, administration building, and laboratory. 

Most employees did not return to work until Wednesday, and, even then, 

they had to walk from the Cannon Gate to their work places because 

the train could go no farther. Spargo had heard his elders talk of the 

brutal blizzard of 1888, but thought, “Each of the 1914 and 1915 storms 

equaled or surpassed the earlier blizzard in property damage but by 

those times we had developed power tools to remove the snow from the 
45

GETTING STARTED

highways and the railroads quicker.” It would be another 40 years before 

a snow would completely close the installation.127

In the fall of 1911, Alexander Ackermann and three co-workers 

pioneered carpooling by commuting to and from Dover in Ackermann’s 

1909 Mora touring car, the one Webster mentioned. A colleague 

remembered the car as having the deep maroon shade popular at the 

time and being heavy on the brass work. It averaged 14 miles per gallon. 

Tops and windshields were not standard on this model. The lowest cost 

for one of its smooth tires was $42.00, and the owner was lucky if one 

lasted 5,000 miles. Another employee remembered three other vehicles 

on the reservation in 1911. One civilian employee living on the arsenal 

had a Winston, another an Overland, and the arsenal kept a Knox for 

the commander’s use. Other reminisces give different dates, having the 

arsenal not purchase the Knox until 1913 and the Overland appearing 

even later as an arsenal vehicle. Many other vehicles passed through as 

the lack of fences allowed tourists easy access.128

In addition to horses and mules, a civilian employee tended one or 

two cows in which the installation’s three officers held shares they sold to 

their replacements when leaving. The barn was south of Mount Hope 

Road abutting Green Pond Mountain.129

By 1913, a sufficient number of employees’ families lived on the 

arsenal for Rockaway Township to run a separate elementary school in 

the building now numbered 115. This former guard and fire house had 

become an office building. The school occupied the first floor while the 

two rooms on the second story remained dedicated to martial paperwork. 

One room on the first floor was the classroom while a second doubled as 

a play and discipline room.

A photo of the first class shows 21 children, evidently true beginners. 

A doctor examining them on the first day found almost none could read 

the letters on the eye chart, and the teacher, Maud Catherine Lyon, later 

Cook, had to explain she had not begun to teach the alphabet. Before 

the school opened, the children received their education in Mount Hope, 

usually going there on foot. The school lasted until 1919.130

On 13 July 1916, 17-year old Wilfred Hosking, called “Bricky” for his 

red hair, came to Picatinny as a laborer boy at $1.60 a day. College students 

worked summers in the Chemical Laboratory, and the recent Wharton 

High School graduate had a promise of reassignment as a laboratory aid 

when they returned to classes in the fall. He came to Picatinny because 

its local reputation was “favorable” and an acquaintance arranged the 

position. Hosking especially liked the idea of working only eight hours 

a day, five and one-half days a week. He well remembered his first such 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

46

day, spent extruding and cutting graphite-coated .30-caliber powder on 

the four-to-midnight shift.

The room had a low ceiling; the air was saturated with etheralcohol vapors. Windows were opened to improve ventilation, and 

that provided easy access to mosquitoes and other hungry insects. 

At the end of the shift, my face, ears and neck were solid black 

with two red balls where my eyes were supposed to be located. 

Arriving home after that shift, I did not even undress, but lay 

down and went to sleep.

Fortunately, his coworkers were helpful and he did receive the promised 

transfer at the end of his first three months.131

Another who started at Picatinny in 1916 was Philip A. O’Brien. 

The new powerhouse engineer received about $2.00 per day for six and 

sometimes seven days a week or 293 days a year. He enjoyed no holidays 

and every third week pulled a16-hour shift. He expected his career to be 

a short one but was still on post 28 years later. The powerhouse in which 

he worked, built in 1906, had a total capacity of 450 kilowatts and had 

to shut down each of its eight 125-horsepower motors at least one hour 

every day for servicing.132

Picatinny had wrought a major transformation to the quiet valley 

it had occupied for 35 years. After much effort and many dollars, it 

had become a busy, interesting, not altogether comfortable, and often 

dangerous place to work.

Elementary School Students
47

GETTING STARTED

NOTES

1 Annual Report of the Chief of Ordnance to the Secretary of War for the Fiscal Year Ended 

June 30, 1879 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1879), pp. 5, 121 

(hereafter cites as Report...1879).

2 Report...1879, p. 120.

3 A Collection of Ordnance Reports and Other Important Papers Relating to the Ordnance 

Department taken from the Records of the Ordnance Office and from Other Sources, 

(Washington: Government Printing Office, 1890), vol. III (1860-1889), 586-

587 (hereafter cited as Reports and Other Important Papers).

4 Return of Hired Men, August 1979 to April 1884, pp. 1-13. The presence of 

this payroll and others for 1879 inspired confusion over Picatinny’s birth date 

and caused Picatinny to celebrate its 75th anniversary one year early, in 1954. 

“First Payrolls Clue to Arsenal History,” and “7,000 Take Part As Arsenal Has 

75th Anniversary,” The Picatinny News, October 13, 1944, July 6, 1954.

5 Reports and Other Papers, III, 587-592.

6 “Report of Principal Operations at the Picatinny Powder Depot During the 

Year Ending June 30, 1881, Major F.H. Parker, Commanding,” Appendix 11 

in Report of the Chief of Ordnance to the Secretary of War for the Fiscal Year Ended 30 

June 1881, p. 74 (hereafter cited as Report...1881), and Reports and Other Papers, 

III, 591.

7 Reports and Other Papers, III, 592; [Rogers, Captain J. A., Jr., comp.], The History 

of Picatinny Arsenal (Picatinny Arsenal, 1931), p. 10 (hereafter cited as 1931...

History).

8 Reports and Other Papers, III, 592-593; Annual Report of the Chief of Ordnance to the 

Secretary of War for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1880 (Washington: Government 

Printing Office, 1880), pp. iv-v, and Report...1881, p. 74.

9 1931...History, p. 11; Edward S. Rutsch, The Story of Iron Making Bloomery 

Forges at Picatinny Arsenal (Vicksburg, MS: U.S. Army Engineer Research and 

Development Center, Waterways Experiment Station, September 1999), p. 9; 

Charles S. Boyer, New Jersey Forges and Furnaces, 2 vols. (Philadelphia: University 

of Pennsylvania Press, 1931, reprint 1963), I, 50, 120-121; Kevin Perry, Iron at 

Picatinny (privately printed sheet, c. 2001). Famous Army Powder Factory (loose leaf 

brochure, Picatinny Arsenal, c. 1911), p. 9 (hereafter cited as Famous Powder 

Factory), contained a photo of the monument.

10 1931...History, p. 14; Report...1881, p. 76.

11 1931...History, pp. 24-25, and “The Government Powder Depot,” The Iron 

Era, 26 April 1884.

12 Report of the Chief of Ordnance to the Secretary of War for the Fiscal Year Ended 30 

June 1882, (hereafter cites as Report...1882), pp. 104-105; 1931...History, p. 2; 

“Rockaway Township,” Robinson’s Atlas of Morris County New Jersey (New York: 

E. Robinson, Publisher, 1887), plate 20 (hereafter cited as Robinson...1887), 

and Famous Powder Factory, pp. 28-34. Archaeological study of the installation 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

48

is in an early stage, but see Jason J. Huggan, “Recent Historical Finds at 

Picatinny Arsenal,” Newsletter of the Archaeological Society of New Jersey, no. 224 

(March 2009), 1-4.

13 Robinson...1887, plates 26, 27, and Arthur Pine VanGelder and Hugo 

Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in America (New York: Columbia 

University Press, 1927), pp. 453-462, 480-483.

14 History of Morris County, New Jersey, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of 

Prominent Citizens and Pioneers (New York: W. W. Munsell & Co., 1882), pp. 308-

309, 313, 331, 332 (hereafter cited as History...Morris).

15 History...Morris, p.358. This is mainly an argument for silence, but see “The 

U.S. Powder Depot,” The Iron Era, 11 September 1880, for a piece restating 

all the Army’s arguments for putting the depot in the area. See the more 

restrained but still positive attitude in “Picatinny,” and the approving reaction 

to the arrival of American Forcite in “The New Powder Works,” The Iron Era, 

8 August 1882, 14 July 1883. See “The Government Powder Depot, The Iron 

Era, 7 March 1885, for local enthusiasm over an annual appropriation which 

would mainly go to local labor and suppliers.

16 F. H. Parker, Major of Ordnance, to the Chief of Ordnance, U.S.A., [text 

of telegram], September 9, 1880, Letters Sent, 1879-1883, p. 142, spells the 

name “Piccatinny,” as does History...Morris, p. 358. The map in Robinson...1887

refers to the depot as “Picatinny” with only one “c.” Ordnance Order No.. 22, 

Washington June 4, 1883 changed the name to U>S. Powder Depot. 1931...

History, p. 52, mistakenly gives the date of the name change to United States 

Powder Depot as 1893, but Famous Powder Factory, p. 23, correctly places it in 

1883. The Chief of Ordnance Reports began referring to the U.S. Powder 

Depot in 1884. Donald Wm. Becker, Indian Place Names In New Jersey (Cedar 

Grove, N.J.: Phillips-Campbell Publishing Co., Inc., 1964), p. 62, reports the 

two theories of the name’s origin and the “guesswork” assessment. The first 

correspondence headed U.S. Powder Depot bears the date June 9th 1883, 

Letters Sent, 1879-1883 p. 408.

17 Parker to Chief of Ordnance, September 16, 1880, Letters Sent, 1879-1883, 

p. 144, and Phipps to Chief of Ordnance, August 16, 1888, Letters Sent, 

September 26, 1884-May 13, 1889, pp. 446-448.

18 Return of Hired Men, August 1979 to April 1884, pp. 11, 14-15. See “The 

Powder Depot,” The Iron Era, 2 October 1880 for an early announcement of 

depot hiring needs.

19 Report...1881, pp. 76-77.

20 Report...1881, pp. 77-78.

21 Return of Hired Men, August 1979 to April 1884, pp. 18-38, 57-62.

22 Report...1882, pp. 102-103, and Annual Report of the Chief of Ordnance to the 

Secretary of War for the Fiscal Year Ended 30 June 1884 (Washington: Government 

Printing Office, 1884), p. 89 (hereafter cited as Report...1884). Famous Powder 
49

GETTING STARTED

Factory, p. 39, put the cost at $51,700.00. See “The Government Powder 

Magazines,” The Iron Era, 16 July 1881, for the difficulty in hiring masons.

23 Annual Report of the Chief or Ordnance to the Secretary of War for the Fiscal Year 

Ended June 30, 1889 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1889), p. 347 

(hereafter cited as Report...1889).

24 Report...1881, p. 75. Revised Draft Report: Evaluation of Structures Built Prior to 

1946 at Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey, (Prepared for the New York District, 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers by WCH Industries, Inc., Waltham MA, in 

association with Boston Affiliates, Inc., Boston MA, December 30, 1994), p. 

E-57 (hereafter cited as Evaluation of Structures 1994), describes 110 as dating 

from about 1860 and having been the home of Uel E. Wiggins. It says 

workers only added an extra ell in 1882. However, Historical Records for 

Ordnance Buildings and Ground, Dead Sheets for Building 110 (collected 

c.1946), puts the building date in 1882 and gives the initial construction cost. 

Historical Properties Report, Picatinny Arsenal, Dover, New Jersey, Draft 

Report, December, 1984, prepared by the Historic American Buildings 

Survey/Historic American Engineering Record of the National Park 

Service, Inventory Sheet for Building 110 (hereafter cited as HABS/HAER 

Inventory1984), accepts the 1882 date and makes no reference to Wiggins.

25 Report...1882, p. 103.

26 Report...1882, pp. 75, 103, and “The Government Powder Depot,” and “The 

Picatinny Powder Depot,” The Iron Era, 18 May, 15 July 1882.

27 Report...1884, p. 88. For the offspring of Farley’s edifice complex at another 

installation, see Watervliet Arsenal: A History of the Nation’s Oldest Arsenal

(Watervliet, New York: Watervliet Arsenal Public Affairs Office, 2013), p. 109. 

“The Picatinny Powder Depot,” The Iron Era, 15 June 1882, has work on the 

foundation for Magazine No. 2 starting in July 1882.

28 Report...1883, p. 93.

29 Report...1884, pp. 88-89, and Report...1885, pp. 610-611.

30 Report...1885, p. 610; Phipps to the Chief of Ordnance, December 15, 1888, 

Letters Sent, September 26, 1884-May 13, 1889, p. 478, and Historical 

Records for Ordnance Buildings and Ground, Dead Sheets for Building 171.

31 J. F. Farley, Major of Ordnance, Commanding, to the Chief of Ordnance, 

November 30, 1886, Letters Sent, September 26,1884 to May 13, 1889, 

p. 228.

32 Report...1885, p. 610: Return of Hired Men, May 1884-October 1897, p. 10, 

and J. P. Farley, Major of Ordnance, Commanding, to J. B. and J. M. Cornell, 

September 18, 1885, Letters Sent, September 26, 1884-May 13, 1889, p. 109. 

Ellen A. Holt, Robinson’s great granddaughter, first informed the Historical 

Office of his role in gate building in Holt to Public Affairs, e-mail: Cannon 

Gates, December 6, 2007, enclosed in Eva J. Bush, ARDEC Public Affairs 

Office, to Patrick J. Owens, ARDEC Historian, e-mail: FW: Cannon Gates, 

December 7, 2007, in Cannon Gate Folder, ARDEC Historical Office Files.
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

50

33 Report...1884, p. 90; Report...1885, p. 610, and Evaluation of Structures 1994, 

p. E-69.

34 Frank H. Phipps, Major of Ordnance, Commanding, to the Chief of 

Ordnance, August 16, 1888, Letters Sent, September 26, 1884-May 13, 1889, 

pp. 446-447. HABS/HAER Inventory 1984, Sheet for Building 114, puts 

Farley and later commanders in the house, and Evaluation of Structures 1994, 

pp. E-62-E-63, follows it. However, maps throughout the powder depot era 

list 114 as an office. See Map: U. S. Powder Depot, Dover, N.J., September 

1904, and Map of U.S. Reservation, Picatinny, N.J., November 20, 1906, 

Revision, April 24, 1914. The latter mentions the residence in the attic. See 

also J. P. Farley, Major of Ordnance, Commanding, to the Chief of Ordnance, 

January 31, 1885, Letters Sent, September 26, 1884-May 13, 1889, p. 34. 

War Department, U.S.A., Annual Reports, 1907: Volume VI: Report of the Chief of 

Ordnance (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1907), 78 (hereafter cited 

as Report...1907), records the decision to convert the office building to quarters. 

The HABS/HAER Inventory may have originated the error, but the present 

writer, in presentations to Picatinny employees and visitors through the years, 

did more than anyone to promulgate it. Historical Records for Ordnance 

Buildings and Ground, Dead Sheets for Building 110, confirms 110 was 

originally 3. A Dead Sheet for a building 116 confuses the issue by identifying 

it as old number 3, but this is a mislabeled duplicate for the 110 sheet. The 

actual 116 was a hose house near the present building 1. J. M. Whittemore, 

Colonel, Commanding, to Mr. W. B. Sargent, NY & NJ Telephone Company, 

December 9, 1892, Letters Sent, May 18, 1889 to February 27, 1899, p. 205, 

shows the commander was still living in Morristown. L. S. Babbitt, Colonel, 

Commanding, to the Chief of Ordnance, speaks of his predecessor, Colonel 

Adelbert R. Buffington, visiting the post daily during his tour of command 

from 1897 to 1899. L. S. Babbitt, Colonel, Commanding to Chief of 

Ordnance, August 28, 1901, Letters Sent, February 28, 1899 to July 8, 1902, 

p. 254. See also Marion E. Spargo, “The Growth of the Arsenal,” Picatinny 

Press, vol. 1, no. 2 (December 24, 1918), 7.

35 Report...1885, pp. 89-90; Annual Report of the Chief of Ordnance to the Secretary of 

War for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1889 (Washington: Government Printing 

Office, 1889), p. 347 (hereafter cited as Report...1889), and Evaluation of 

Structures 1994, p. E-65.

36 Report...1889, pp. 346-347.

37 “Historian’s Notebook,” The Picatinny News, 27 May 1953.

38 Report...1889, p. 347, and Phipps to Chief or Ordnance, June 15, 29, 1889, 

Letters Sent, May 18, 1889 to February 27, 1899, p. 7, 10-11.

39 J. M. Reilly, Major of Ordnance, Commanding to the Chief of Ordnance, 

July 3, August 25, 1891, Letters Sent, May 18, 1889 to February 27, 1899, 

pp. 156, 163; J. M. Whittemore, Colonel, Commanding, to the Chief of 

Ordnance, August 25, 1892, August 21, 1893, August 15, 1894, July 31, 1895, 

August 11, 1896, Letters Sent, May 18, 1889 to February 27, 1899, pp. 200, 
51

GETTING STARTED

223, 249, 289, 324, and Return of Hired Men, November 1889-December 

1897, especially pp. 11-14.

40 Farley to [Chief of Ordnance]: Second Endorsement, December 18, 1886, 

Letters Sent, September 26,1884 to May 13, 1889, p. 235, and Return of 

Hired Men, May 1994 to October 1889, pp. 87, 88.

41 Whittemore to Chief of Ordnance, February 13, 1894, Letters Sent, May 18, 

1889 to February 27, 1899, pp. 233-234.

42 Phipps to the Chief of Ordnance, October 9, 1888, Letters Sent, September 

26, 1884 to May 13, 1889, pp. 459-460, and February 16, 1880, October 8, 

1888, Register of Letters Received, July 1879-July 1902. The only payroll of 

the appropriate time frame showing 67 employees was August 1885. Return 

of Hired Men, May 1884-October 1897, pp. 31-32. For Tomkins’s hiring, see 

Return of Hired Men, August 1879–April 1884, p. 76.

43 Reilly to Chief of Ordnance, March 3, June 9, 1891, Letters Sent, May 18, 

1889 to February 27, 1899, pp. 143, 150, and 1931...History, pp. 29-31.

44 “Naval Depot Stores Ammunition for Fighting Ships,” The Picatinny News, 

February 12, 1943. See Evaluation of Structures 1994, pp. E-439, E-440, for the 

Navy commander’s house, now building 3250.

45 Report...1881, p. 76.

46 Reports and Other Papers, III, 593-594. Cf. Report...1881, p. 76.

47 1931...History, pp. 48-51; Report...1885, p. 616, and Famous Powder Factory, 

pp. 48-52, and “Central R. R Released,” and “New Jersey Central 

Railroad” The Iron Era, 2 June 1883, 21 March 1885. For a sample complaint 

about addressing shipments, see A. R. Buffington, Colonel, Ordnance, 

Commanding, to Chief Ordnance Officer, USA, Tampa, Florida, Major J. L. 

Chamberlain, September 7, 1898, Letters Sent, May 18, 1889 to February 27, 

1899, p.455.

48 “The Historian’s Note Book,” The Picatinny News, March 31, 1953; Farley to 

N.Y. and N. J. Telephone Co., September 9, 1884, June 30, July 7, December 

31, 1886, Phipps to N.Y. and N.J. Telephone Co., October 20, 1888, Letters 

Sent, September 26, 1884 to May 13, 1889, p. 2, 181, 183, 238, 466, and 

J. M. Whittemore, Colonel of Ordnance, Commanding to The Depot 

Quartermaster, USA, Army Building, New York, January 17, 1893, Letters 

Sent, September 20, 1890 to May 5, 1894, p. 20.

49 “The History of Picatinny,” The Picatinny News, October 9, 1942; Harris, 

“Loading,” p. 42; Return of Hired Men, January 1998 to June 1903, pp. 

2-5; , Buffington to Chief of Ordnance, January 6, 1898, Letters Sent, May 

18, 1889 to February 27, 1899, pp. 374-375, and L. S. Babbitt, Colonel, 

Commanding to Chief of Ordnance, May 31, 1899, Letters Sent, February 

28, 1899 to July 8, 1902, p. 111. “First Woman,” Picatinny News, 20 March 

1967, claims the honor of first female employees for Mrs. Mary Mills, but the 

payroll records do not support the claim.
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

52

50 Return of Hired Men, January 1998 to June 1903, pp. 3-37, 73-74, 63-87, and 

Buffington to Chief of Ordnance, April 16, 1898, Letters Sent, May 18, 1889 

to February 27, 1899, p. 396. Babbitt to Depot Quartermaster, USA, New 

York City, July 20, 1900, Letters Sent, February 28, 1899 to July 8, 1902, 

p. 125, discusses a shipment intended for China.

51 Buffington to Chief of Ordnance, April 16, July 5, 1898, Letters Sent, May 

18, 1889 to February 27, 1899, p. 396, 438; Babbitt to the Chief of Ordnance, 

July 18, 1899, Letters Sent, February 28, 1899 to July 8, 1902, pp. 43-44, and 

Return of Hired Men, January 1998 to June 1903, pp. 3-13. The copy of 

Buffington’s request for funds in the ARDEC Historical Office reads $1,250.00 

for repairs, but this would make the total $8,250.00. The writer thought the 

ordnance service figure the most likely source of error. Thanks to Mr. Ronald 

Trivedi for catching this error. The Chief of Ordnance’s reports for 1898 and 

1899 do not discuss Picatinny.

52 Buffington to Chief of Ordnance, April 11, 16, 1898, Letters Sent, May 18, 

1889 to February 27, 1899, pp. 393, 397.

53 Babbitt to Chief of Ordnance, August 28, 1901, Letters Sent, February 28, 

1899 to July 8, 1902, pp. 254-255.

54 Annual Reports of the War Department for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1903, Volume 

XIV: Report of the Chief of Ordnance (Washington: Government Printing Office, 

1903), 52 (hereafter cited as Report...1903), and “The History of Picatinny,” 

The Picatinny News, October 9, 1942. There is no record of an official renaming 

of Clifford’s Pond as Lake Picatinny. Apparently, it was a gradual alteration in 

local usage. Robinson...1887, plate 20, still shows the name as Clifford’s Pond. 

Whittemore to Chief of Ordnance, October 20, 1892, Letters Sent, May 18, 

1889 to February 27, 1899, p. 204, calls it “Middle Forge Pond.” The 1902 

map refers to Picatinny Lake.

55 AnnualReports of the War Department for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1904: Volume 

X: Report of the Chief of Ordnance (Washington: Government Printing Office, 

1904), 62-63; Captain John P. Harris, “Loading Ammunition at Picatinny 

Arsenal,” Army Ordnance, vol. VII, No. 37 (July-August 1926), 40-41 (hereafter 

cited as Harris, “Loading”), and “The History of Picatinny,” The Picatinny 

News, October 9, 1942.

56 “The History of Picatinny,” The Picatinny News, 9 October 1942; Harris, 

“Loading,” p. 40; Hudson Maxim, “Filling Armor Piercing Projectiles with 

High Explosive Bursting Charges—A Forward,” Army Ordnance, vol. VII, 

No. 37 (July-August 1926), 39, and Time Book for the Month of July 1903, 

Time Book, October 1902 to January 1907.

57 Report...1905, pp. 69-70.

58 Annual Reports of the War Department for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1906: Volume 

VI: Report of the Chief of Ordnance (Washington: Government Printing Office, 

1906), 66-67, and Report...1907, p. 78.

59 Harris, “Loading,” pp. 41-42; “The History of Picatinny,” The Picatinny News, 

October 9, 1942, and U.S. Powder Depot, Time Book, January-April 1907. 
53

GETTING STARTED

For more details on the loading process, see Instructions for Loading Projectiles 

with Explosive D, Pamphlet no. 1721, revised June 20,, 1917 (Washington: 

Government Printing Office, 1917).

60 “The History of Picatinny,” The Picatinny News, 9 October 1942; Harris, 

“Loading,” p. 42, Evaluation of Structures 1994, p. E-72, and Historical Records 

for Ordnance Buildings and Ground, Dead Sheets for Building 119.

61 Annual Reports of the War Department for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1905, Volume 

IX: Report of the Chief of Ordnance (Washington: Government Printing Office), 

70; “The History of Picatinny,” The Picatinny News, December 4, 1942; Map: 

U.S. Powder Depot, Dover, N.J., September 1904; United States Powder 

Depot, General Plan, Showing Location of Present and Proposed Buildings, 

Railroad, Wagon Roads and Water System, June 28, 1904, and Map of the 

United States Reservation, Picatinny, N.J. United States Powder Depot Jan. 25 

‘02, Revision, Nov. 20, 1906.

62 “The History of Picatinny,” The Picatinny News, 4 December 1942.

63 “Recalls Arsenal as Powder Depot,” The Picatinny News, November 19, 1943, 

and Return of Hired Men, January 1998 to June 1903, pp. 1. The newspaper 

article has Anderson starting work in 1897, but pay records show him starting 

in January 1898.

64 1931...History, p. 54, and Report...1907, pp. 46-47.

65 1931...History, p. 55.

66 “Miss Spargo and R. L. Spicer Will Receive Pins on Workers’ Behalf,” 

The Picatinny News, September 18, 1942, and Thomas J. Spargo, “Do You 

Remember When?” News-Barrage, 9 February 1945 (hereafter cited as Spargo, 

“Remember When”).

67 “Miss Lenora Van Sickles Plans Summer Retirement,” The Picatinny News, 

April 19, 1962; “Who’s Who at Picatinny: Lenora Van Sickles,” The NewsBarrage, July 27, 1945, and Clara R. Lussy, “The Woman’s Corner,” The 

Picatinny News, 7 August 1942.

68 War Department Annual Reports, 1908: Volume VI: Report of the Chief of Ordnance

(Washington: Government Printing Office, 1908), 39, 51 (hereafter cited as 

Report...1908); “The History of Picatinny,” The Picatinny News, October 30, 

1942. Major F. H. Miles, Jr., “The Picatinny Arsenal Powder Factory,” Army 

Ordnance, vol. VII, No. 37 (July-August 1926), 9 (hereafter cited as Miles, 

“Powder Factory”) wrongly puts the initial appropriation at $77,000.00 but 

cites no source. He leaves the impression Picatinny did build the factory for 

this impossible figure. Either Miles had a bad set of figures or some legend 

building had been going on to make the accomplishment seem 

more noteworthy.

69 Military Explosives, War Department Document No. 947 (Washington: 

Government Printing Office, 1919), pp. 26-45 (hereafter cited as Military 

Explosives). Cf. Erasmus M. Weaver, Notes on Military Explosives, fourth edition, 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

54

revised and enlarged (New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., and London: 

Chapman & Hall, Limited, 1917), pp. 190-201.

70 Military Explosives, pp. 27-28.

71 Military Explosives., p. 28. All descriptions of powder factory structures are from 

Map of United States Reservation Picatinny N.J.: Unites States Powder Depot, 

January 20, 1906, Revision, April 24, 1914.

72 “Miles, “Powder Factory,” p. 10; Military Explosives, pp. 30-31, and A History 

of the DuPont Company’s Relations with the United States Government, 1802-1927

(Wilmington, Delaware: Smokeless Powder Department, E. I. DuPont De 

Nemours & Company, Inc., 1928), p. 101 (hereafter cited as DuPont and 

Government). G. E. Webster, “My Thirty-five Years at Picatinny Arsenal,” The 

Picatinny News, 14 March 1947 (hereafter cited as Webster, “Thirty-five Years”) 

confirms use of the Thompson process.

73 Military Explosives, pp. 30-31.

74 Military Explosives, pp. 34a, 35

75 Military Explosives, pp. 35-36.

76 Military Explosives, pp. 36-37.

77 Military Explosives, pp. 39-41.

78 Military Explosives, pp. 42, 42a.

79 Military Explosives, pp. 42-43, and Weaver, Notes on Military Explosives, 

pp. 129-130.

80 Miles, “Powder Factory,” pp. 10-11, Military Explosives, pp. 45-46, and “Jesse 

Crook Nicholls,” biography courtesy of Unites States Military Academy 

Library, West Point, New York. The list of accidents in Appendix: Synopsis of 

Reports of Fire Boards, 1931...History, does not mention blender accidents, 

but the compiler limited the listing to the “more serious” accidents” and 

noted the earliest recorded was in 1912, not long before the new blender 

went into operation.

81 Military Explosives, p. 67.

82 Report...1908, p. 39, War Department Annual Reports, 1909: Volume VI: Report of the 

Chief of Ordnance (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1910), 6, 33-34, 

60 (hereafter cited as Report...1909), and Report of the Chief of Ordnance to the 

Secretary of War, 1910 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1911), p. 625. 

83 “The History of Picatinny,” The Picatinny News, 25 September, 1942.

84 The History of Picatinny,” The Picatinny News., 17 July, 25 September, 1942.

85 Report...1909, pp. 33-34.

86 Dupont and Government, pp. 63, 68. See also Alfred E. Chandler, Jr. and Stephen 

Salsbury, Pierre S. DuPont and the Making of the Modern Corporation (New York: 

Harper & Rowe, Publishers, 1971), p. 248.
55

GETTING STARTED

87 Report of the Chief of Ordnance to the Secretary of War, 1914 (Washington: 

Government Printing Office, 1914), pp. 24-29, 34, 53 (hereafter cited as 

Report...1914).

88 DuPont and Government, pp. 95-103, “Two Arms Experts Free to Quit Army,” 

New York Times, 14 July, 1915..

89 Report of the Chief of Ordnance to the Secretary of War, 1912 (Washington: 

Government Printing Office, 1913), p. 916 (hereafter cited as Report...1912); 

Report of the Chief of Ordnance to the Secretary of War, 1913 (Washington: 

Government Printing Office, 1913), p. 32 (hereafter cited as Report...1913).

90 Report...1908, p. 70.

91 1931...History, p. 55, and Famous Powder Factory, pp. 2, 19, 20. The dating of 

this brochure derives from its mention of serving the country over 30 years, a 

photo showing a family, probably the Horneys, in from of the commander’s 

house, a building first occupied in 1911, and a reference to Tschappat still 

serving as assistant officer, a post he left in August 1912. On Tschappat, see 

Keir B. Sterling, Serving the Line with Excellence: The Development of the U.S. Army 

Ordnance Corps as Expressed through the Livers of the Chiefs of Ordnance, 1812-1987 

with a Short Sketch of the History of Army Ordnance, 1775-1987, (Aberdeen MD: 

US Army Ordnance Center and School, June 1987), p. 50.

92 Famous Powder Factory, pp. 2, 14.

93 “WoodsmanWho Cut Arsenal Ties Now Helping Cut Plant Accidents,” The 

News-Barrage, 25 February 1944, and Lussy, “Woman’s Corner,” The Picatinny 

News, 7 August 1942.

94 Famous Powder Factory, pp. 54-55.

95 Report...1907, pp. 77-78, and Evaluation of Structures 1994, pp. E-60-E-63. See 

also note 32 for building 114.

96 1931...History, Appendix, p. 1.

97 Webster. “Thirty-five Years.”

98 1931...History, Appendix, p. 5.

99 Report...1912, p. 916.

100 Report...1912, p. 936; Report...1913, pp. 54-55. 1931...History, Appendix,

 p. 5, puts this fire on 6 April 1912. Cf. Famous Powder Factory, p. 14, on the 

creosote plant.

101 Report...1912, p. 936.

102 Report...1913, p. 37.

103 Report...1913, pp. 32, 37, and Report...1914, p. 29.

104 Report...1913, p. 32, and Report...1914, p. 29.

105 Report...1913, p. 32.

106 Report...1913, p. 32.

107 Report...1913 Report...1913, p. 55.
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

56

108 Webster, “Thirty-five Years.” This event is not in the list of explosion and fires 

in the appendix to 1931...History.

109 Report...1914, pp. 28-29. Cf. Report of the Chief of Ordnance to the Secretary of War, 

1915 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1915), pp. 23-26 (hereafter 

cited as Report...1915).

110 Report...1914, p. 29.

111 Report...1914, pp. 28, 34, 55.

112 Report...1914, p. 29.

113 Report...1914, p. 56.

114 Report...1915, p. 50, and “The History of Picatinny,” The Picatinny News, 

30 October 1942.

115 Report...1915, p. 50.

116 Report...1915,, p. 50, and “The History of Picatinny, The Picatinny News, 

11 December, 1942.

117 Report...1915,., p. 25, and Evaluation of Structures 1994, pp. E-2-E-5, E-13, 

E-156, E-160, E-161, E-163.

118 931...History, Appendix, p. 2.

119 931...History, Appendix, p. 2.

120 “U.S. Arsenal Afire; Girls Badly Burned,” Daily Record (Morristown NJ), 

November 17, 1915, and Webster, “Thirty-five Years.”

121 Webster, “Thirty-five Years,” and Famous Powder Factory, p. 17.

122 Webster, “Thirty-five Years.”

123 1931...History, Appendix, p. 6, and Webster, “Thirty-five Years.”

124 “G. E. Webster, on Retirement, Recalls Being Snowbound in Laboratory,” 

The Picatinny News, March 29, 1946 (hereafter cited as “G. E. Webster”)

125 Webster, “Thirty-five Years.”

126 Webster, “Thirty-five Years.”

127 Spargo, “Remember When”; “G. E. Webster,” and Webster, “Thirty-five 

Years.” Webster put the storm on 1 December in his 1946 interview and on 

13 December in his 1947 article. For Spargo as keeper of weather records, see 

“Cold Wave is Marked by -15,” The Picatinny News, 19 February 1943. See also 

“Snow Closes Arsenal; 1st in 40 Years,” Picatinny News, 26 March 1958.

128 “First Car to Carry Workers to Picatinny,” The News-Barrage, May 12, 1944, 

and “The History of Picatinny,” The Picatinny News, 11 December 1942.

129Map: U. S. Powder Depot, Dover, N.J., September 1904. Map of U.S. 

Reservation, Picatinny, N.J., November 20, 1906, Revision, April 24, 1914, 

and Webster, “Thirty-five Years.”

130 Carol Talley, “Bessie Jones recalls the awkward squad,” Sunday Advance, 29 

July 1979, and “Historically Speaking,” “Just like old times,” and “Picatinny’s 
57

GETTING STARTED

first teacher recalled in letter,” ARRADCOM Voice, 21 January, 17 March, 15 

September 1980. Three articles have the school at Picatinny only until in 1917, 

but the one on Mrs. Jones has her recalling infantry troops drilling. These 

did not arrive until March 1918. One of the sources for the March 17, 1980, 

article, Alice Rowe, provided the Historical Office with a copy of her report 

cards for 1913 through 1916 when she was in the grades one through three. 

Mrs. Kathleen Butts [to ARRADCOM Historical Office], Sept. 5, 1979, in 

Quarters 115 File, ARDEC Historical Office files, discusses the walk to school 

in Mount Hope.

131 Biography: Wilfred Hosking, and Living History: Wilfred Hosking and 

Picatinny Arsenal, Interview, January 1995, both in Wilfred Hosking 

Collection, ARDEC Historical Office files. The interview is available both 

in typescript and on video tape. See also “Reminiscences: ‘Bricky’ Hosking,” 

Picatinny News, 20 March 1967.

132 “Old Timer in Operating Department Recalls Thy Burnt Wood in Wartime,” 

The Picatinny News, 22 May 1944.
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

58

Chapter 2

Ways of War I

Picatinny’s first priority when the United States entered the First 

World War on 6 April 1917 was a fence. Colonel John W. Joyes “got 

some barbed wire and fence posts, and called for volunteers. The entire 

personnel of the Arsenal turned out—military and civilian, men and 

women—and the fence was put up in one day.”1

 Joyes left just over a 

month later, and Major Jesse C. Nicholls, the powder blender designer, 

commanded from 27 May 1917 until 22 October 1918.

Picatinny made approximately 0.01 percent of the smokeless powder 

the country needed between April 1917 and November 1918. The plant 

ran two 10-hour shifts and had an average daily capacity of 10,000 

pounds from 1 July to 15 November 1918. Then, it reverted to one 8-hour 

shift and 2,500 pounds per day. This continued until all manufacturing 

operations except drying and blending stopped on 1 March 1919. Total 

output from 6 April 1917 to 30 June 1919 was 1,315,627 pounds of 

smokeless powder, 2,613,850 pounds of finished cannon powder, and 

992,300 pounds of small arms powder.2

The arsenal continued loading explosive D to armor piecing rounds 

and TNT to high explosive shells, bombs, and grenades. Even when 

the nation’s explosives industry reached full production, there was not 

enough TNT. The solution of choice was to adopt the British practice 

of mixing TNT and ammonium nitrate to produce amatol. Two officials 

from Great Britain’s Ministry of Munitions, Dr. T. Martin Lowry and 

Major H. L. Armstrong, visited plants in this country to help set up 

production lines while Americans studied processes in British loading 

plants. Problems obtaining the proper ammonium nitrate crystals and 

finding the right equipment led the government to build a small plant 

58
59

WAYS OF WAR

at Picatinny to check contractors’ products and to test new processes. 

Amatol loading began on 26 October 1917.3

The amatol machinery saw limited service, and the acid and high 

explosive plants did not run at all from 1 July 1918 until the Armistice. 

The amatol plant fell victim to an explosion on 18 December 1919. The 

most tangible benefit from wartime explosive D loading was discovering 

the need to increase the density from about 1.35 to over 1.45, a goal 

beyond the reach of Picatinny’s plant.4

Early in the war, Major J. H. Meyers of Picatinny improved the 

loading of propellant charges by devising a machine which made bags in 

almost exactly the required size and then wrapped them with two-inch 

wide putteeing tape. The previous process had turned out very large bags 

and then used lacing twine to the make the charges rigid. Although the 

new method used slightly more silk per charge, the lighter silk in the bag 

walls increased productivity eight fold.5

In 1914, there were seven plants in the United States, including 

Picatinny and Indian Head, making smokeless powder, but none were 

capable of large-scale production. The private plants were DuPont’s works 

at Carney’s Point, Haskell, and Parlin in New Jersey, the Hercules plant 

at Kenvil, and a small Western Cartridge Company unit in Springfield, 

Illinois. General Crozier’s worries about private industry not meeting the 

Major Jesse C. Nicholls
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

60

challenge proved groundless. DuPont and Hercules increased pressing, 

graining and drying facilities tenfold at each of their plants, and DuPont 

built a nitrated cotton plant at Hopewell, Virginia, to supply them. 

Aetna Explosives built three plants in 1915. The Nixon Nitrating and 

Union Powder companies and many smaller firms built plants while the 

government brought Old Hickory and Nitro on line in Tennessee and 

West Virginia.6

If the arsenal turned out only a small amount of the nation’s powder, 

its employees helped other places turn out more. Lenora Van Sickles 

left the bag sewing room to inspect ordnance plants in New Jersey, 

Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Wilfred Hosking’s two years at Picatinny 

qualified him to inspect at the Carney’s Point. Laboratory employee 

Harry Hance aided smokeless powder production at both Carney’s Point 

and Parlin and did not return to Picatinny until 1 July 1919. Katherine 

Martin came to the bag sewing room on 1 February 1917, learned 

quickly, and was soon inspecting plants in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. 

Arthur Wass, formerly the powder factory foreman, worked for Aetna 

and received credit for starting up production at the company’s plant in 

Emporium, Pennsylvania.7

 This was the first, but not the last, war to see 

Picatinny kick start private munitions manufacture.

Explosive Loading
61

WAYS OF WAR

Help to other organizations continued after the end of hostilities. In 

1919, the arsenal established a course under acting chief chemist C. R. 

Franklin to teach men with chemical training how to inspect explosives 

and sent its graduates to Ordnance depots around the county. Picatinny 

considered itself the “logical choice” for this task “since the greater part 

of such testing in the Ordnance Department is done here.”8

The laboratory increased its staff from 15 to 75, enlarged its building, 

divided its personnel into Research, Analytical, Inspection, and Stability 

sections, and began doing photographic work with William Curry as 

Picatinny’s first photographer. The close connection between propelling 

charge study and smokeless powder production led to transferring the 

Research Section’s Propellant Branch to the Smokeless Powder Section. 

The Research Section became the Loading Section the new Press Plant 

Branch took on 10-inch shell loading. The laboratory’s military head 

from 1917 to 1919, Captain J. F. Bates, had the assistance of a civilian 

chief chemist. Franklin acted in this capacity while Dr. Alton L. Kibler, 

chief chemist from 1915 to 1920, was in uniform. New responsibilities 

included studying problems encountered during development of powders, 

explosives, projectiles, and fuzes and inspection and surveillance testing 

on oils, paints, cartridge cloth, and other ammunition components.9

To study the behavior of new ammunition, Picatinny constructed 

three proving grounds, one on the east side of Lake Picatinny and two on 

the west. At the time of the armistice, the grounds could handle ballistic 

work on small field guns, fragmentation of grenades and shells up to 

8-inch, crater tests of all sizes of shells and drop bombs, as well as proof 

tests for items associated with trench warfare items.10

Experiments intended to reduce the flash of gunfire led Picatinny to 

develop oxanilin, a powder which promised to reduce flash from semifixed ammunition as much as 95 percent. The Army rated it better than 

a British competitor for rounds up to 3-inch, but it failed with larger ones. 

The Army never adopted it, and there is no record of any field trial.11

In June 1917, the Ordnance Department designated Picatinny a 

storage depot for ammunition, explosives, and metal components and, in 

conjunction with Stone and Webster, Incorporated, began constructing 

54 new buildings, mostly in the southwest corner of the arsenal. Many 

stored sodium nitrate, but there were also several general storehouses, 

a garage, a round house, and a power house. Construction of a simple 

storehouse cost $6,375.00 in 1918, a sodium nitrate magazine $9,108.00. 

The influx of executives and draftsmen created additional demands for 

space, so the arsenal sealed the ceiling of the attic in the administration 

building with wallboard and laid a finished floor. One inhabitant was 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

62

Thomas Spargo, now in charge of Powder Records. The arsenal invested 

other funds in improving roads, railroad tracks, and other utilities.12

The garage was Picatinny’s acknowledgement of the automotive age. 

In 1917, the installation obtained its first trucks, Macks with solid rubber 

tires, and assigned them to its new Stores and Transportation Division. 

After the war, Picatinny acquired surplus Liberty trucks plus a few fourwheel-drive vehicles.13

Another Stores and Transportation responsibility was the railroad. 

The war saw the purchase of new locomotives, the opening a classification 

yard with two tracks, each long enough to handle 25 cars, and the extension 

of track into the Lake Picatinny area and around the magazines of the 

lower storage area in the southern portion of the installation. This last 

may have impinged on private property, but references to the area as “no 

man’s land” suggest there was no one to complain.14

An early attempt at fossil-fuel conservation did not prosper. The 

Power House substituted wood for coal but found it burned too fast.15

On September 30, 1918, the Ordnance Department designated 

Picatinny one of 17 reserve general supply ordnance depots (GSOD) 

which collected items from manufacturers in their areas for shipment 

overseas. The Picatinny GSOD had 4 officers, 155 enlisted personnel, 

and 15 civilian employees and provided 164,277 square feet of storage 

space for general items and 166,821 square feel for explosives. By January 

1919, there were 9 officers, 240 enlisted, and 10 civilians. Most of the 

military were in Picatinny’s GSOD Company.16

Fighting fires was a job of volunteers, both civilian workers and 

soldiers, until after the armistice. They relied mainly on hand-drawn hose 

carts but did have, at least, one motorized fire truck by 1917. There were 

no employees hired specifically as fire fighters until Picatinny established 

its Fire Department on 10 March 1919. It employed 15 men spread over 

two shifts.17

The same month saw the establishment of the Guard Force. Before, 

there had been only a small group of watchmen. Soldiers, often on 

horseback, patrolled the base during the war. The two forces combined 

had 120 men.18

Northern New Jersey was a long way from the front lines, but serving 

one’s country at Picatinny carried risks. On 22 February 1918, a fire in 

the powder plant’s finishing press house destroyed the roof and burned 

electric light circuits, motors, and sprinkler pipes to a total of $3,000.00 

in damages. Investigators blamed an operator for improperly adjusting 

the cutting machine for one-pounder powder and his foreman for letting 

the cutters become dirty.19
63

WAYS OF WAR

Less than three weeks later, on 22 March, steam pipes touching 

nitrated wood in a storage shed sparked a fire which caused $500.00 worth 

of damage. On June 6, another finishing-house fire destroyed powder, a 

motor, and sprinkler heads worth $70.00. It “slightly burned” the arm of 

an operator, but the report on the incident blithely noted “no lost time.”20

Even travel to and from work had its dangers. On 23 March 1918, 

a Wharton and Northern Train with two passenger coaches filled with 

homeward bound Picatinny employees went off the track. The employees 

escaped injury, but the train’s fireman did not.21

Although not as noticeably as the next one, the First World War did, 

temporarily, open doors to women. The first woman to work regularly 

in the laboratory, Miss C. M. Roman, was a stenographer. She served 

there from April to November 1918. Later, four women, unnamed but 

described as “young,” conducted smokeless powder tests in the laboratory. 

On 31 July 1918, Jennie Walker, Ph D, became Picatinny’s first female 

assistant chemist. These women held positions due for termination at 

war’s end. Although the base paper thought, in some cases, it was “likely 

they have so proven their ability that their retention is assured,” the post 

war period found women only in their prewar occupations of clerical 

work and powder bag sewing.22

Train Wreck 23 March 1918
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

64

Fire Engine 1917

Clerical Workers 1918

(In front of Administration Building Destroyed in 1926)
65

WAYS OF WAR

Picatinny built a number of temporary quarters in the southeast end 

of the installation to accommodate soldiers of the 42nd Infantry as they 

mobilized for overseas duty as well as members of the 14th and 16th 

Coast Defense companies assigned to Sandy Hook Proving Ground. 

Construction costs for the new storage buildings and troop housing 

through 30 June 1919 ran to $385,000.00.23

The war brought the installation more land. On 28 June 1918, it 

paid Thomas Robinson, the Cannon Gate stonemason, and his wife 

Elizabeth $7,500.00 for a 56-acre farm bordering Picatinny to the east. 

Furthermore, the arsenal took the initial steps toward obtaining the 253 

acres called the North Tract, or the Lidgerwood Tract after the estate 

which owned much of it. This was to the west of the northern area, called 

the Denmark Tract, purchased in 1880 from Ernest Fielder, and would 

allow expansion of the upper storage area. Proceedings to take possession 

began on 17 July 1917, but a long, complicated title search along with 

difficulty in locating the current owners delayed the acquisition until well 

after the war.24

The Robinson farm included land which had belonged to the Walton 

and Doland families and a private cemetery known as the Walton Burial 

Ground. Local legend made this the resting place of Hessian soldiers 

captured at the battle of Trenton and assigned to work at the Mount 

Guard 1919
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

66

Hope Iron Works. While Hessians did labor at Mount Hope under John 

Jacob Faesch and while their working conditions were far from ideal, they 

all seem to have survived despite what a plaque Picatinny set in stone at 

the time of the Bicentennial of the American Revolution says. In the 

1990s, Picatinny arranged for more accurate markers indicating the 

burial ground was the most likely spot for the graves of three veterans 

of the colonial side of the Revolution. Almost certainly, it is the resting 

place of Peter Doland, a Continental Army veteran whose home was 

next door to the cemetery. Efforts with magnetic, electromagnetic, and 

ground penetrating radar to establish the number of people interred were 

inconclusive, but at least ten members of the Doland, Walton, Burwell, 

and Fordham families lie there. Markers are mainly fieldstones without 

names, but a more elaborate headstone with funerary verses for Susan 

Walton, who died in 1815 at age 16, survives.25

For an area still heavily rural, the increase to 1,300 employees in 1918 

was significant. The total reached 2,167 on 1 December 1918 but fell to 

941 on 30 June 1919, the date of a massive layoff which left only 509 to 

report for work on 1 July. Employees with six months service on this date 

received a bonus of $240.00.26

World War I saw the start of arsenal journalism with three 

publications. PAlab News, a type-written newssheet begun in December 

1917, only covered laboratory subjects. Picatinny Press, a monthly which 

first appeared on 26 November 1918, more than two weeks after the 

signing of the Armistice with Germany, covered matters of interest to all 

employees. It was an eight-page, two-column magazine. In April 1919, 

came The Picatinny Magazine. This monthly started out with four large 

columns on each side of one single-sheet but changed to a four-page, 

double-column leaflet in July 1919. The latest issue in Picatinny files 

carries the dateline December 1919.27

The few surviving issues of the Magazine combine patriotic appeals 

to work hard and buy Victory Bonds with columns on social and athletic 

doings at the installation. The closest to a discussion of a controversial issue 

was a rejoinder to people who refused to buy bonds from a government 

bent on implementing the prohibition of alcoholic beverages. The favorite 

literary form was verse aspiring to humor, as in an ode to the Chemical 

Laboratory which punned on the names of chemical substances. Most 

news items referred to marriages, births, comings, and goings in the 

various departments. Sports pages reported Picatinny baseball and its 

trap shooting tournament. Organization of the latter began in April 1919 

with formation of a club, setup of a finance committee, and drafting of 

rules. The club was open to all employees willing to pay $2.00 dues. Later, 

teams from other concerns, including Hercules, competed.28
67

WAYS OF WAR

Recreation facilities were limited. A Bachelor’s Officer’s Club lasted 

until 1 August 1919, the month the arsenal opened a recreation building 

for laboratory and office personnel. The new building was to provide a 

place where “workers engaged in closely confining work could go to enjoy 

their noonday repast with fresh air and opportunity for exercise.” The 

absence of employees allowed ventilating workplaces, a long recognized 

and pressing need the arsenal managed to ignore until 10 months after 

the armistice. The Red Cross, Young Men’s Christian Association, and 

Knights of Columbus, working out of tents and huts, first provided 

workers and troops with recreational facilities and, then, supplied medical 

aid during the 1919 influenza epidemic.29

Even more limited were eating facilities. The closest Picatinny came 

to a cafeteria was “Pop” Borcher, a former janitor who made himself the 

arsenal’s first “chef ” by setting up a hot plate in a building in the powder 

factory area. The menu was coffee and hot dogs.30

Arsenal employees did not unionize until eight months after the 

armistice. On 25 June 1919, approximately 125 employees met under 

the direction of a vice president of the National Federation of Federal 

Employees and the president of the already existing local at the Lake 

Denmark Powder Depot. There were 60 charter members. The new 

organization made a point of its loyalty. “It is the purpose of this 

Union to work coherently with the Commanding Officer and his Staff. 

There will be no strikes or labor troubles but everything will be done 

by arbitration methods.” The organizers rashly predicted these methods 

made it “certain that agreements will be made which will be satisfactory 

to all concerned.”31

Employees worked ten hours a day, six days a week, not including 

time to and from work. One man remembered “walking most of the 

time due to the poor train service,” and Thomas Spargo told of “waiting 

an hour and a half for a train, with the thermometer six degrees below 

zero.” Thomas’s sister Marion, reminiscing in 1942, thought, “Those at 

the Arsenal now, driving over concrete roads which are cleared when 

the first sign of snow comes, can hardly realize what transportation was 

during the previous war.” She went on, “With the thermometer keeping 

below zero for weeks, the ice grew deeper and deeper, and the ruts in the 

road became thicker and thicker. Your car got in one rut at the flag pole 

and stayed there until you arrived at Union Turnpike.”32

Looking back from the perspective of two decades, an arsenal 

historian spoke of Picatinny’s “vital part in the victory of the allies”.33 

“Useful part” would have been more accurate. The nation would not 

have fallen to the Hun if Picatinny had not existed. However, the nation 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

68

was better able to war against the Hun because Picatinny could perform 

many and varied tasks.

Picatinny Peak and Lake and Boathouse June1919
69

WAYS OF WAR

NOTES

1 “Employees at Picatinny During First World War Reminisce on Trying Times,” 

The Picatinny News, 19 December 1941.

2 War Department Annual Reports, 1919: Volume I (Washington: Government Printing 

Office, 1920), 3924 (hereafter cited as Report...1919), and Order of Battle: Zone 

of the Interior: Organization and Activities of the War Department, Volume 3, Part 1 

(Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History, 1988), 351 (Here after cited as 

Zone of Interior: War Department). Cf. “The History of Picatinny,” The Picatinny 

News, 24, 31 July, 30 October 1942.

3 Capt. John P. Harris, “Loading Ammunition at Picatinny Arsenal,” Army 

Ordnance, Vol. VII, No. 37 (July-August 1926), 42-43 (hereafter cited as Harris, 

“Loading,” and “The History of Picatinny,” The Picatinny News, 23 October 

1942.

4 Report...1919, I, 3924; Harris, “Loading,” pp. 42, 43, and [Rogers, Captain 

J. A., Jr., comp.], The History of Picatinny Arsenal (Picatinny Arsenal, 1931), 

Appendix, p. 10 (hereafter cited as History...1931).

5 History...1931, p. 43.

6 Capt. J. P. Harris, “Manufacture of Smokeless Powder During the World 

War,” lecture, Picatinny Arsenal, 14 September 1929, typescript in ARDEC 

Historical Office files, p. 1 (bound in loose-leaf folder marked Ammo 

Engineering Design, History of Powder and Propellants).

7 “Who’s Who at Picatinny: Lenora Van Sickles,” News-Barrage, July 27, 1945; 

Inspection Division, Ordnance Department, to Inspector of Ordnance, 

Wilmington, Del., Subject: Transfer of Mr. Wilfred Hosking, September 13th. 

1917, in Hosking Papers, ARDEC Historical Office Files; “Old Laboratory 

Employee Returns,” The Picatinny Magazine, Vol. 2, No. 2 (12 July 1919), 4; 

Clara R. Lussy, “The Woman’s Corner,” The Picatinny News, 12 June 1942, and 

Arthur Pine VanGelder and Hugo Schlatter, History of the Explosives Industry in 

America (New York: Columbia University Press, 1927), pp. 909-912.

8 “School for Inspectors,” The Picatinny Magazine, Vol. 2, No. 2, (12 July 1919), 3.

9 “The History of Picatinny,” The Picatinny News, 25 September 1942; 

Report...1919, I, 3925, and Major A. L. Kibler, “The Picatinny Laboratories,” 

and J. S. Bates “The Loading Section,” Picatinny Press, 16 November 1918, 26 

November 1919.

10 J. S. Bates, “The Loading Section,” Picatinny Press, 26 November 1918.

11 Army Ordnance, 1917-1919, No. 380: No. 1939: History of Artillery Projectiles

(Washington: Government Printing Office, 1921), p. 13.

12 “The History of Picatinny,” The Picatinny News, July 31, 1942; 1931...History, p. 

56, and “Arsenal Activities,” The Picatinny Magazine, vol. 2, no. 20 (19 December 

1919), 1. For examples of construction costs, see Historical Records for 

Ordnance Buildings and Grounds, Dead Sheets for Buildings 2, 3, 21, 22.

13 “History of Picatinny,” The Picatinny News, 11 December 1942.
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

70

14 “History of Picatinny,” The Picatinny News., December 4, 1942. Map of 

Picatinny Arsenal, Picatinny Arsenal, U.S.A., Dec. 6, 1917, Revision, April 18, 

1919, shows a stretch of track extending to meet the Wharton and Northern 

tracks just outside the arsenal boundary at the Cannon Gate.

15 “Old Timer in Operating Department Recalls They Burnt Wood in Wartime,” 

The Picatinny News, 22 May 1942.

16 Zone of Interior: War Department, Vol. 3, Part 1, 336-338. The ARDEC Historical 

Office has two photos of the company. One donated by Mrs. Kathleen Toker 

Butts appeared in [Manny Meyers], “Historically Speaking,” ARRADCOM 

Voice, 19 November 1979.

17 Felix Medore, “History of Picatinny: The Fire Department,” The Picatinny 

News, 9, 16 April 1943, and Photo: Fire Engine 1917-18i19, No. S2-81 in 

ARDEC Historical Office files. In preparing his short history in comic strip 

form, Medore had access to long serving department members, including 

Chief Isidor Yamin and Assistant Chief C. C. “Slim” Andrews.

18 Felix Medore, “History of Picatinny: Guards,” The Picatinny News, 19, 26 March 

1943.

19 1931...History, Appendix, p. 2.

20 1931...History, Appendix, p. 3.

21 Daily Advance, 25 March 1918.

22 “New Work for Women at Picatinny,” The Picatinny Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 8 (28 

May 1919).

23 Zone of Interior: War Department, Volume 3, Part 2, 782, Part 3, p. 1379, and 

Map of Picatinny Arsenal, Picatinny Arsenal, U.S.A., Dec. 6, 1917, Revision, 

April 18, 1919. In an interview four decades later, a Picatinny teacher of the 

time mistakenly referred to the 45th Infantry. She did remember the soldiers as 

coming from Arkansas and New Mexico, and the 42nd was a southwestern unit. 

Carol Talley, “Bessie Jones recalls the ‘awkward’ squad,” Sunday Advance, 29 July 

1979.

24 [Plant Engineering Group, Picatinny Arsenal], Plant Design, typescript 

[c.1942], p. 3, in ARDEC Historical Office Files, and 1931...History, pp. 31-

39. Ellen A. Holt to Patrick J. Owens, ARDEC Historian, e-mail: Re: Cannon 

Gates, 10 December 2007, in Cannon Gate Folder, ARDEC Historical Office 

Files, confirms farm owner and the stonemason were the same man.

25 Kevin Perry, The Walton Burial Ground, typescript, 1995,; Jane E. Simms, 

Locating Graves Sites Using Geophysics at Walton Cemetery, Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey, 

Letter Report GL-95, January 1995 (Vicksburg MS: Environmental Resources 

Division, Environmental Laboratory, Waterways Experiment Station); William 

Sandy, Brian Morrell, and Edward S. Rutsch, Technical Report: Archeological 

Investigation of the Walton Cemetery, Picatinny Arsenal, Rockaway Township, Morris 

County, New Jersey (Newton NJ: Historic Conservation and Interpretation, Inc., 

February 1995), and Amy Wood and Laurie H. Rush, United States Department 

of the Army Fort Drum, New York: Report to the Cultural Resources Manager, Picatinny 
71

WAYS OF WAR

Arsenal, New Jersey: Remote Sensing Archaeological Survey at Walton Cemetery (Fort 

Drum NY, 8 July 2005), all in ARDEC Historical Office files. See also “Ancient 

Cemetery Found at Arsenal,” The Picatinny News, 2 June 1944. On the Hessians 

in Mount Hope, see Lion G. Miles, “The Iron Master and the Hessians,” 

Journal of the Johannes Schwalm Association, Inc., vol. 2, no. 1 (1981). For a capsule 

history of the burial ground, see Kevin Perry, Jason, J. Huggan, and Patrick J, 

Owens, “Picatinny’s Walton Burial Ground, in Siobhan Fitzpatrick, ed., Ghosts, 

Ghouls & Gravestones: The Trades of Burial (Madison NJ: The Museum of Early 

Trades and Crafts, 1013), pp. 64-76.

26 1931...History, p. 71; Report...1919, I, 3924, and “The $240. Bonus,” The 

Picatinny Magazine, vol. 2, no. 7 (16 August 1919), 2.

27 “3 Papers Here in World War,” The Picatinny News, 5 December1941, and The 

Picatinny Magazine, vol. 2, no. 1 (5 July 1919), 3, and no. 20 (20 December 1919).

28 “Down with Prohibition,” and “The Laboratory Choir,”; “Trapshooters 

Defy the Elements,”; “Trapshooting,”; “Sentinels Awarded Twilight League 

Championship,” and “Trapshooting,” The Picatinny Magazine, vol. 1, no. 4 (3 

May 1919), vol. 1, no. 7 (May 24, 1919), no. 2 (12 July 1919), vol. 2, no. 4 (26 

July, 1919), 1, vol. 2, mo. 7 (16 August 1919), 1, 3.

29 “For Sale,” 4, and “Recreation Building Opened,” The Picatinny Magazine, vol. 

2, no.1 (July 5, 1919) no. 7 (16 August 1919), 3 and “Editorial, “The ‘Y’,” and 

“The K. of C. Hut,” Picatinny Press, vol. 1, no. 2 (24 December 1919), 4, 5.

30 “History of Plant Cafeterias Told,” The News-Barrage, 9 June 1944.

31 “Arsenal Employees Organize Union,” The Picatinny Magazine, vol. 2, no. 4 (26 

July, 1919), 1.

32 “Employees at Picatinny During First World War Reminisce on Trying Times,” 

The Picatinny News, 19 December, 1941.

33 “The History of Picatinny,” The Picatinny News, 17 July 1942.
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

72

Chapter 3

Ways of Peace

Despite the post-Armistice decrease in personnel, Picatinny still had 

work to do. In January 1919, its ammunition storage depot, until then a 

separate entity under the Supply Division of the Ordnance Department, 

merged into the arsenal and storage was the installation’s main activity 

until 15 August 1919. There were two main storage areas, one in the 

southeast and the other to the northwest. In the fiscal year ending 30 June 

1919, Picatinny received 896 railroad cars of materials and shipped 444. 

During the next fiscal year, it received 1,803 carloads and shipped 446 

with the total weight of materials handled coming to 68,002 tons or 4.14 

tons per man per day.1

The arsenal continued chemical and explosives research along 

with experimental work on loading fuzes, primers, detonators, boosters 

and shells. Fiscal year 1920 saw the loading of 27,066 shells and 2,560 

bombs of all sizes and the making of bags for 78,068 seacoast and field 

cannon charges. Experimental development work was the only activity 

in the powder factory during this period, but the Chemical Laboratory 

workload increased as Picatinny began surveying and testing powders 

and explosives in postwar storage.2

Preliminary design work for the Picatinny Project, an effort to 

establish a small experimental plant for design and development of 

artillery ammunition, began in August 1919. Besides new buildings and 

a renovated powder factory, designs envisioned giving the powerhouse 

a new boiler plant with a three-phase, 60-cycle, 2,300-volt system. In 

July 1919, Picatinny workers unloaded 220 carloads of machinery and 

building materials. Earlier, it had received approximately 100 carloads of 

salvaged machinery and materials.3

72
73

WAYS OF PEACE

At 12:05am on 18 December 1919, a fire in building 244, a research 

laboratory in the present 400 area, set off a small explosion which set off 

a large one. The blasts and fire destroyed the laboratory building and 

three nearby structures worth $87,800.00 and caused $49,696.00 worth 

of damage to other arsenal structures, $1,935.25 worth to buildings at 

the neighboring Lake Denmark Naval Ammunition Depot, and $248.10 

worth to buildings off government property. The blast shook communities 

as far away as Morristown and shattered windows up to seven miles away. 

Destroyed property and damage to equipment in the research buildings, 

the sawmill, the hose engine house, and the paint and millwright shops 

came to $131,065.05. Employees lost $204.45 in personal property.

Marines from Lake Denmark joined in fighting the fire, and shrapnel 

fragments shattered the thigh of Private Oliver McCormick. He died in 

Dover General Hospital. Three other marines suffered injuries Picatinny 

described as “slight” but the local press categorized as serious. Also 

injured were four Picatinny employees and several civilian guards. The 

injured Marines were Privates Paul A. Green, Edward Butler, and Paul 

Luce. One paper erroneously reported the death of a soldier named 

Wilkins. A reporter described the one-story brick laboratory as “flaming 

from every window, and fire was rising from the hole where the roof used 

to be. On each side, other, smaller structures were on fire. Every little 

while there would be an explosion as though a heavy shell had burst, and 

the flames would shoot a hundred feet into the air.” One overwrought 

newspaper story had panicky residents fearing the end of the world, but it 

was the work of a writer far from the scene imagining how people should 

react to an explosion. Local papers reported people remaining fairly calm 

because the area had heard several munition-plant blasts during the war. 

Many thought the blow was at Hercules.4

Work conducted in this area had included studying loading problems, 

especially extrusion methods of amatol loading, plus testing fillers and 

fuzing systems. Even without the blast, Picatinny had limited resources 

with which to realize its dream of becoming the Army’s center for 

ammunition development. The Army had planned to house much of the 

new plant in existing buildings, but the explosion destroyed several and 

others were obsolescent.5

Despite the loss of facilities, the Chief of Ordnance ordered “the 

expansion of Picatinny to an extent that would provide sufficient capacity 

to permit complete development of all types of ammunition and the 

perfection of processes that had been started during the war.” This was 

the signal to launch the Increased Facilities Project.6

A proposal to establish drawing and forging facilities at Picatinny was 

stillborn, and the arsenal never manufactured projectiles or cartridge 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

74

cases. Construction and installation of equipment for other work began 

in March 1920. Contractor work on 50 buildings started 1 July 1920, 

by which time Picatinny workers had nearly completed the tool shop, 

the electric transmission lines, and the booster loading, fuze loading, 

pyrotechnic, and bag-making plants.7

Construction did not stop regular work. In fiscal year 1920, Picatinny 

loaded 27,066 shells and 2,560 bombs of various sizes, made bags for 

78,068 artillery charges, and did experimental loading of fuzes, primers, 

detonators, boosters, and shells. Experimental work remained the only 

activity in the powder factory. The arsenal received 1,903 boxcars of 

materials and shipped 446, handling 68,662 tons, or 4.14 tons per man 

per day.8

Picatinny planning took place within the framework of War 

Department planning which stressed maximum use of existing facilities 

and the ability to expand in response to emergency demands. Government 

policy further stressed preparing the arsenal to train personnel to run 

other plants and an active research section to supplant manufacturing 

activities once the other plants took over the bulk of war production. 

Unfortunately, realizing these goals “required vast expenditures which 

could never be completely obtained in peacetime, regardless of how 

urgent the need.”9

Working on the cheap meant buildings “too small, incapable 

of expansion, and inadequately equipped.” In addition, because 

“construction put into effect during peacetime required that buildings 

and utilities be closed in [order] to reduce maintenance costs and to 

eliminate the scattering of small forces of operators over large areas, 

it can readily be seen that an Arsenal cannot be entirely sufficient for 

peacetime operation and, at the same time, lend itself to major expansion 

during an emergency.”10

One way to expedite work and still heed the dictates of economy 

was to turn existing magazines into operations buildings. Helping arsenal 

engineers and draftsmen implement the new layout were experts in 

explosive loading who had come to Picatinny during the war. Surplus 

loading equipment and powder presses came from closed plants. Two 

large trussed steel buildings held enough materiel to serve as the arsenal’s 

supply depot for several years. The new setup was in place by 1922.11

Initial tasks included establishing shops for the experimental 

manufacture of metal components, renovations to the powder factory, 

and installation of facilities to study raw materials, high explosives, 

pyrotechnics, and trench warfare materials. Approximately 50 buildings 

underwent remodeling, the powerhouse received a new boiler and an 

electric generating system, and the arsenal gained new electric lines, steam 
75

WAYS OF PEACE

pipes, and fire and water systems. Metal components technicians migrated, 

under orders, to Picatinny from Frankford Arsenal in Philadelphia. Other 

new workers were local hires, many former wartime employees.12

Modification and expansion of one magazine provided facilities for 

melt loading bombs and artillery shells while combining a set of entirely 

new buildings with an existing hydraulic pump house provided storage 

space for projectiles loaded with explosive D.13

The melt-loading building contained two individually operating, 

mechanically agitated, steel-jacketed kettles for processing straight TNT 

and 50/50 amatol and a similar two-kettle arrangement for melting 

and mixing 80/20 amatol. The amatol work required special extruding 

machines because it was too viscous to pour from pails to shells. Other 

facilities received components and explosives and loaded, packed, and 

shipped shells. The main advantage claimed for this arrangement was the 

ability to efficiently shift from loading one type of explosive to another, 

but postwar policy eliminated all fillers except TNT. Picatinny never 

used the section allotted to 80/20 amatol, and the dryers, crushers, and 

screens for processing ammonium nitrate were obsolete even before 

installation. About the same time, changes in loading methods eliminated 

shell preheating. Having the preheating chamber in the middle of the 

building had wasted much space and made for an awkward layout.14

Workers in this building filled all separately loaded ammunition, 

including bombs and 155mm shells, and loaded busting charges for fixed 

and semi-fixed rounds. Assembly of propelling charges and fuzing for 

and packing of 3-inch, 75mm, and smaller rounds took place in another 

remodeled magazine with separate rooms for powder weighing, assembly, 

and packing.15

Modification of another large magazine produced a bag-loading 

facility incorporating ideas from plants active during the war. Here 

occurred elevation and discharge of the powder into hoppers feeding the 

weighing and filling booths while manufacture of the bags and filling of 

the igniters took place in a group of buildings to the southwest.16

Loading ammunition components took place in remodeled magazines 

on the west side of the installation in the present 200 area. Inserting 

explosive into steel tubes to form pellets happened in a large building 

with several small booths while loading of detonators, primers, and fuzes 

took place in several smaller ones. Preparation of mercury fulminate and 

primer mixtures took place in separate buildings designed to rigid safety 

requirements. The original designation for the fulminate mixing building 

was 191, but later generations knew it as 235.17

One facility requiring complete rebuilding was the explosive D loading 

plant. This was due to a decision to change the density specification from 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

76

1.35 to over 1.45 and the need to automate or semi-automate several 

tasks. The plant in the central section of what became building 241, 

originally numbered 345, gave satisfactory service until well into World 

War II, but the arsenal had to concede, “This was not, however, the result 

of a better design or foresight, but due to the process of loading being 

an old one with no material changes.” Watson-Stillman Company of 

Roselle, New Jersey, designed and built the plant and supplied its large 

hydraulic presses, hydraulic pumps, and accumulators. Elaborate interior 

narrow-gage tracks and revolving turntables moved the large shells into 

and out of the press chambers.18

A plant for experimental manufacture of high explosives erected in 

1921 and 1922 in the central part of the arsenal gained entirely new 

buildings designed to carry out almost any chemical process under varied 

operating conditions and to conduct experiments from the beaker stage 

to semi-plant scale operations. A proposed laboratory designated for 

poison gas research appeared on a 1922 map, but there is no evidence it 

went beyond the proposal stage.19

Before World War I, Army fuze development was at fuze-production 

plants, especially Frankford, and it was usually the work of production 

people, not designers. In 1917, the Ordnance Department established 

an Experimental Ammunition Department at Frankford to oversee all 

mechanical development work on fuzes for, at first, artillery ammunition 

Turntable for Explosive D Loading
77

WAYS OF PEACE

and, then, bombs. The war ended before most of the new products could 

reach the troops, but the new organization acquired a strong contingent 

of design and testing engineers, draftsmen, and mechanics. After the 

war, the Ordnance Department moved the organization and many of its 

people to Picatinny for closer coordination with explosives developers.20

The only machine shop on Picatinny in 1919 was a combination 

machine, electric, and pipe shop on the south shore of Lake Picatinny. 

It handled both plant maintenance and manufacture of small tools, 

dies, and fixtures. Initial planning called for increasing capacity with 

new equipment, but competing plans which favored commercial firms 

supplying most metal components made it difficult to settle on the 

proper capacity for the government plant. The idea of increasing arsenal 

manufacturing capacity to the maximum allowable with existing space 

and equipment prevailed, and Picatinny remodeled four large magazines 

and equipped them with lathes, automatic screw machines, planers, 

millers, and related items.21

On the utility front, Picatinny designed and installed new electric 

and steam transmission lines plus new sewer, fire, and water systems and 

redesigned the powerhouse with an electrical generating system and 

a new boiler plant. Use of exhaust steam to generate power for some 

powder factory processes reduced costs. This was when the arsenal began 

using Picatinny Lake for its industrial and fire-protection water supply 

because even deep wells could not supply these needs and still meet 

potable water demands. For the first time, railroad tracks ran up the west 

side of Picatinny Lake and took pressure off the line on the east side. 

The railroad went through the powder factory area, and work there had 

to stop when a train passed. A new classification yard could handle 150 

cars.22

Although not covered in the Increased Facilities Project, the Picatinny 

Golf Course began its slow evolution in 1921, when one Captain 

Hartrick, first name unknown, persuaded the commander, Major J. H. 

Pelot, to permit a four-hole affair using 3-inch cartridge cases for cups, 

bamboo fishing poles for flag staffs, and cartridge cloth for flags. By 1925, 

the course had nine holes and was able to host its first tournament. The 

pro shop was in the rear of a truck until it moved into a room in what is 

now Building 119.23

Fluctuations of postwar budgets reduced the Picatinny workforce to 

600 in 1919, with the first layoff on 1 July 1919, but the demands of 

construction raised it to 1,000 in 1919 and 1920. It reached 1,670 in 1921 

but quickly dropped to 680. There were 530 employees on 10 July 1926, 

and buildings and equipment, not counting stores, had a total value of 

$5,369, 246.42.24
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

78

A 1926 guide to Army posts rated Picatinny “one of the most desirable 

of all of the Ordnance Stations,” and found its quarters for married officers 

especially inviting. The two stone, two brick, and three frame structures 

were “all modern” with hard-coal ranges and hot-water heating systems. 

Three older frame quarters for married non-commissioned officers had 

undergone modernization. One had a hot-water furnace, but the other 

two used stoves for heating. There was a problem of too few quarters. 

Two officers had to live off post, usually in or near Dover, and needed 

private cars. Buses carried children to schools in Dover.

The base earned this high rating despite being miles from stores and 

churches. There was no chaplain on post, and shopping was “usually done 

in New York City.” Other drawbacks were the climate, the scarcity and 

consequent high wages of servants, and the lack of horses for riding and 

polo. The golf course and two tennis courts help balance these defects, as 

did the area’s large supply of deer and pheasant for hunting and bass and 

pickerel for fishing and the fine swimming in Lake Picatinny.25

The same year found Picatinny’s work commanding serious attention 

from the ordnance community. As Army Ordnance, the journal of the Army 

Ordnance Association, wrote, “The rapid rise in the relative importance 

of ammunition in the last two wars in which our nation has participated 

called for an ammunition establishment with facilities and personnel to 

cope with the multitude of problems related to the manufacture, storage 

and use of ammunition.” While appreciating the arsenal’s production 

work, it found “Picatinny’s principal product at any time is the knowledge 

of the arts and sciences in the manufacture and technical use of 

ammunition.” The journal helped its readers decide how well the arsenal 

did the job of “perpetuating the knowledge of the ammunition industry 

of this great nation” by devoting almost its entire issue for July-August 

1926 to articles on the installation by its key personnel.26

Major Norman F. Ramsey commanded Picatinny from September 

1922 to July1926. After serving in the Spanish-American War as an enlisted 

man, he won an appointment to West Point and graduated in the Class of 

1905. He held several ordnance positions in France from October 1918 

to August 1920 and then went to the Army War College and served in the 

Office of Secretary of War before taking charge of Picatinny. During an 

explosion of 28 May 1925, he earned a commendation for rushing into a 

burning, explosive loaded building to rescue an injured employee. There 

were 11 other Army officers working with Picatinny’s 530 civilians.27

Ramsey’s son, Norman F. Ramsey, Jr., remembered the arsenal as a 

fine place to live. Although the lack of other children made getting up a 

baseball game difficult, he enjoyed having a golf course and tennis courts 

right next to the family home. He regretted the family’s next assignment 
79

WAYS OF PEACE

was at Fort Leavenworth, a post which did not allow children to play golf. 

He believed this cut short the golf career he had started at Picatinny and 

forced him to settle for the less glamorous life of a Nobel Prize physicist.28

Commanding the largest segment was Major Francis H. Miles, Jr. As 

Chief of Operations, Manufacture, he was over the Explosives, Loading, 

Metal Components, and Service departments, the Plant Engineering and 

Planning divisions, and the Plant Design, Tool and Fixture, and Central 

Planning sections. Each of the four departments had a Planning Section 

and several divisions. The Explosives Department’s main subunits were 

the Propellent Manufacturing, Explosives Property, High Explosives 

Manufacturing, and Pyrotechnic and Trench Warfare divisions and the 

Fuze Powder Plant. The Propellent Manufacturing Division subdivided 

into Pyrocellulose, Smokeless Powder, and Blending and Packing sections. 

The Loading Department had two divisions, Propellent Charge and 

Shell and Bomb, and the latter had five sections titled Melt Loading, Press 

Loading, Experimental Loading, Complete Round, and Fuze, Booster, 

and Primer. The Metal Components Department had no divisions but 

did have Machine, Projectile, and Plating sections and an Experimental 

Laboratory. The Service Department had a Millwright Division, a 

Carpenter Division with Tinsmith and Paint sections, an Electrical 

Division with Power Line and Telephone sections, a Power Division with 

Railroad Rolling Stock and Steam Shovels and Cranes sections, and a 

Pipe Division with Steam Line, Water Line, and Sewer Line sections. 

Miles’s responsibilities were larger and more complex than when, as a 

temporary lieutenant colonel, he had run the entire arsenal for just under 

a year after World War I.29

The other main organizations, usually under a military head with 

a civilian second-in-charge, were the Chemical Laboratory, Technical, 

Inspection, Stores, Administrative, and Safety divisions. The Inspection 

Division had Metal Components, Explosive, Loading, and Procured 

Stores sections with the Metal Components Section having charge of 

the Gage Laboratory. The Stores Division had subunits for Ordnance 

Stores, General Stores, General Labor, Railroad Track Maintenance, 

and Transportation plus the Print Shop. The General Stores Section 

had charge of the Burning Ground while the Transportation Section’s 

subunits included the Garage plus the Rail and Cranes and the Stables 

and Grounds units. Section titles in the Administration Division were Mail 

and Records, Purchase, Civilian Personnel, Allotment and Cost, Voucher, 

and Property. The Safety Division had an inside safety engineer and a 

resident safety engineer who had charge of an outside safety engineer as 

well as the Guard Force and Fire Department.30
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

80

Miles authored of the article on the powder factory. “Many people 

including some active Ordnance officers still think of powder when 

Picatinny Arsenal is mentioned.” Although now a small part of arsenal 

activities and on a limited production schedule, Miles had “no doubt 

the factory has been the agency through which the Army has gained the 

larger part of the technical powder information which it now has. In fact, 

what the Army knows about technical explosives is directly attributable 

to the establishment of the powder factory and its control laboratory.”31

Since the end of World War I, the factory had averaged less than 

750 pounds of powder per work day, too small an amount for cost 

effectiveness. The postwar emphasis on economy combined with a large 

surplus from the war ruled out large-scale production. By 1926, the 

surplus powder was nearing the end of its stable life and Miles hoped 

Congress would recognize the need for reserve stocks and step up the 

factory’s production. This was important to the Ordnance Department 

in maintaining familiarity with production methods and keeping costs 

reasonable. It was important to Picatinny because steady production 

supplied overhead funding to support research.32

The factory’s chief focus was on flashless nonhygroscopic (FNH) 

smokeless powders, an effort begun in 1919. By 1926, attention to cotton 

Major Norman F. Ramsey
81

WAYS OF PEACE

purification, structural colloids, and drying had produced powders whose 

flash was a dull red glow visible for only 300 to 400 yards under the 

best of conditions and entirely invisible when discharged from a muzzle 

below the crest of a hill. Their only smoke was from the black-powder 

igniting charges, and the arsenal was pursuing a smokeless igniter. Noise 

levels in smaller guns and howitzers were down to a level undetectable by 

World War I sound-ranging equipment. Miles did not know how long it 

would be before powders would become completely flashless, noiseless, 

and smokeless.33

The Loading Department was under Captain John P. Harris. He had 

joined the Army from DuPont in World War I and had stayed in and 

helped plan new loading arrangements for Picatinny. In 1926, he not only 

had charge of the arsenal’s brand new loading facilities but doubled as 

head of the Planning Division and took on the job of explaining loading 

operations to Army Ordnance readers.34

The explosive D plant could load approximately a hundred 12, 

14, or 16-inch armor piercing shells in 8 hours. Mechanical turntables, 

each with four loading stations, moved the shells around the presses. A 

barricade of heavily reinforced concrete surrounded the portion of a 

turntable which passed under a hydraulic loading press. A shell in a truck 

received a charge at the first loading station, and a quarter turn moved 

it so a second shell could take a charge. A second quarter turn put the 

first shell within the barricade and under a specially designed press with 

a capacity of 500 tons when operating at 3,500 pounds per square inch 

(psi) water pressure. The shell had to be directly under the ram so the ram 

did not strike the side walls, and the arsenal had installed several devices, 

including turntable indicators and safety stops on hydraulic cylinders, to 

insure the cylinders moved the shell into a centralize position before the 

pressman could apply the pressure. Other hydraulic cylinders operated 

armor-plated doors in the barricade. The ram had to leave the shell 

before the doors could open.35

Equipment and procedures used in pressing explosive D were the 

products of much experiment. Use of a flat ram came only after testing 

with all shapes and sizes of rams and plungers. Determining the diameter 

of the ram was important for uniform density since density was higher in 

the center with a small ram and at the sides with a large one. Moreover, 

the ram had to allow all unpressed explosive to escape freely without any 

compression so it would be available for reuse.36

The size of the cavity to fill was important because some rounds 

required pressures as strong as 30,000psi to reach the desired density 

of 1.48. Rams too small for the cavity would need extensions unable to 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

82

withstand such pressures. Too large a ram ran the danger of striking the 

side wall.37

Experiments found coarser materials easier to press and productive of 

greater density. Work up to 1926 suggested limiting the grain size to a point 

where not more than 15 percent would pass through an 80-mesh screen, 

but Picatinny would not recommended a change in the specification until 

it made a study of its economic impact. Experiments on the size of the 

pressed increments determined the length of the increment should not 

exceed the diameter of the ram.38

Another study covered supporting shells during loading. 16-inch 

armor-piercing shells created problems because, under the pressure 

of the ram, their sharp points produced a wedging action which often 

caused them to stick in the supporting blocks. Picatinny’s solution was to 

design and manufacture a support made to a very close tolerance with a 

special grade of steel.39

By 1926, the enlarged bag-charge loading plant could turn out 1,000 

8-inch howitzer, 500 155mm gun, and 100 12-inch gun charges, or their 

equivalents, in eight hours but had a problem getting enough powder 

into the bags to provide the velocities necessary in the larger caliber guns. 

Picatinny’s solution, stacking the grains end on end, required installing 

special machinery. Another initiative sought a cotton fiber usable in 

powder bags because the government envisioned situations where silk 

might be hard to obtain.40

The original designs for the melt-loading plant for TNT and amatol 

laid out in 1919 called for loading the equivalent of 5,000 75mm rounds 

in eight hours, but the designers had understood Picatinny, because it was 

the government’s only large-caliber ammunition arsenal, might have to 

load all sizes of projectiles, up to and including 12-inch, as well as bombs 

and grenades. The majority of orders were for 4,000-pound bombs, the 

only loading of these bombs in the United States at the time.41

Picatinny used the cast method, pouring increments of explosive into 

a shell and letting it solidify before pouring another, to load TNT because 

it achieved a higher density than a pressing method. Liquification of 

TNT, which melted at approximately 800C, took place in kettles with 

steam pressure at five pounds. Contraction during solidification caused 

pipes and blow holes to form in the casts, and loaders had to make the 

castings in several pours and frequently break the crust which formed on 

the top of the cast.42

The cast method made it easier to load containers of varying shapes. 

The loader poured the TNT at a temperature slightly above the setting 

point to minimize cavitation and to obtain smaller crystals and greater 

density. Another anti-cavitation measure was the use of a funnel, called 
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a riser, for the last pour. This poured more TNT than necessary with the 

excess portion in the funnel having most of the cavitation. Workers broke 

off the funnel after solidification. Next came drilling the fuze hole and 

cleaning its threads.43

Picatinny experiments in the 1920s showed a cooler temperature in 

the projectile made for greater explosive density and raised the possibility 

of eliminating the need to preheat the projectile. However, this would 

have required finding a way to keep shell-storage buildings and storage 

rooms at a uniform temperature. Ideas for eliminating the need to drill a 

cavity in the TNT to accept the booster, the most dangerous step in TNT 

loading, included pouring the last charge through a former to create a 

ready-made cavity. Other investigations covered the use of automatic and 

semiautomatic machinery to load and assemble small caliber ammunition 

and the loading of bombs and large shells by the pellet method. This 

method poured a given amount of TNT into the shell and increased it by 

adding cast pellets. Researchers thought the TNT manufacturing plant 

could cast the pellets and then ship them to loading plants. Work through 

1926 indicated the process could reduce loading time for a 2,000-pound 

bomb from 38 hours to three. Picatinny also studied the carton method 

Germany had used during World War I. It put TNT into paper or light 

metal cartons shaped to fit different bombs and shells.44

The major change Picatinny made in loading fuzes, primers, and 

boosters was, instead of pressing, to put almost all explosive components 

into pellet form and then to consolidate the pellets in the cavities. Harris 

considered fuzes, which could have as many as 50 parts, the Loading 

Department’s most difficult task.45

Major Herman H. Zornig, Chief of the Technical Division, explained 

the engineering, research, and production phases of complete round 

development. The engineering phase studied the requirements of the 

using services and their experiences with various types of ammunition 

along with of advances in science, manufacturing, and engineering 

techniques and their application to ammunition and then designed 

new materials, components, and complete rounds. This work included 

preparation of drawings and specifications and the technical direction of 

manufacturing and testing of items throughout the development process. 

In addition, this phase formulated plans for research and development 

work in manufacturing techniques, coordinated activities in the research 

and production phases, and transmitted necessary technical knowledge 

to the using services.46

The engineering phase was the responsibility of the Engineering 

Staff. The division divided its engineers among Propellant, High 

Explosive, Fuze, Projectile, and Pyrotechnic sections to match the 
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developing specialization of civilian scientists and engineers. Zornig, who 

had received his master of science degree from MIT in 1923, had three 

civilian technical advisers, one a specialist in chemistry and chemical 

engineering, the second trained in mechanical engineering, and the last 

knowledgeable about how troops actually used ammunition.47

The research phase covered the study of problems in pure science 

for application to such specific problems “as the production of a new 

explosive of given characteristics or the determination of data needed to 

work out the design of a new component.” It included “laboratory work 

which is necessary in devising and developing a manufacturing process, 

particularly that work which is necessary before a semi-plant scale unit 

can be built.”48

The production phase not only covered manufacture of materials, 

mechanisms, components, and complete rounds for experimentation and 

testing but also development of manufacturing processes, equipment, 

and techniques, critical study of new ammunition component designs, 

and development of instruction methods for commercial manufacturers 

who lacked experience in ammunition work.49

The Technical Division had charge of an Administrative Section, the 

Ammunition Drafting Room, and the Ordnance Museum. The last was 

a central collecting point set up just after the war to hold foreign items 

brought to Picatinny for study.50

The research phase fell to the Chemical Laboratory Division. Zornig 

wore a second hat as chief of this division but delegated actual control to 

the Chief Chemist, Doctor George C. Hale. The production phase fell 

under Miles’s Manufacturing Division.51

Coordination among people and organizations followed an 

established scheme of technical administration, the first step being a study 

to establish general development policies, set objectives and the guidelines 

for achieving them, and rank the objectives in order of importance. The 

next was dividing the projects among the engineers. Since available funds 

perennially fell short of project requirements, the Technical Division 

chief and his assistants had to make hard decisions about the amount 

of money allotted to each effort. During each of the three phases, every 

project was under an engineer from the responsible division.52

A written technical plan spelled out the scope and objective of each 

project and its relation to other efforts. Its preparation could simply mean 

drawing data from board reports, Ordnance Committee minutes, official 

correspondence, and similar sources, or it could entail detailed study and 

conferences involving several arsenal organizations. A conference might 

touch on means to achieve objectives, but the general practice was to leave 

such decisions to the engineer in charge. This person had the authority to 
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appropriate funds within the overall program budget and to decide how 

to subdivide the work. He prepared and submitted a technical report 

which the Technical Division chief reviewed, critiqued, and submitted 

to the Ordnance Department. The division chief held a formal monthly 

conference with all persons in charge of projects to discuss progress 

and general technical questions while informal conferences dealt with 

issues specific to individual projects. One effort on-going in 1926 was 

compilation of knowledge gained from varied projects into a handbook 

for ammunition engineers. The initial target audience was arsenal 

personnel, but Picatinny hoped to see it become the Army standard.53

Picatinny designed seven of the nine new buildings in the 

experimental high explosives manufacturing plant for study of a one 

specific process each. The remaining two housed storage tanks for raw 

materials and a control laboratory. Processes under investigation in 1926 

were manufacture of raw materials, manufacture and purification of 

tetryl, manufacture and purification of TNT, purification and reworking 

of explosive D, drying of high explosives, grinding and sieving of high 

explosives, and purification of potassium chlorate. Colgate graduate C. 

J. Bain, a research chemist with DuPont before joining Picatinny, had 

charge of high explosive development and detailed it for the journal’s 

audience.54

Bain and his staff boasted of having, for the most part, adapted standard 

equipment to diverse needs instead of acquiring special apparatus for 

different projects. This was more a matter of necessity than preference. 

One effort was the purification of potassium chlorate, bromates in which 

had been a leading cause of primer failure. A process tested on a plant 

scale removed the bromates, and, by 1926, the plant had manufactured 

several thousand pounds to the revised primer specification. Another 

primer project was the Chemical Laboratory’s development and transfer 

to semi-scale production of a manufacturing process for pentaterythrite 

or pentarythritol tetranitrate (PETN), igniters for improved propellants 

not ignitable by standard primers.55

The explosive D rework plant devised processes to recover scrap 

explosive produced during projectile loading and free ammonia from 

manufactured lots. When dicyandiamide, guanidine nitrate, and 

nitroguanidine showed sufficient potential as ingredients in highexplosive charges and propellants to merit further study, the raw 

materials manufacturing plant developed processes for their largescale production. High explosives studied and developed to the point 

where large scale production was feasible included trinitronaphtalene, 

tetranitronapthtalene, cyclonite, nitrated castor oil, nitrated linseed oil, 

mononitroxylene, dinitroxylene, and guanidine picrate.56
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In World War I, the United States adopted the European practice of 

using tetryl as the explosive component for booster charges. Manufacturers 

in this country quickly learned to turn out a usable product but one of 

much lower quality than the best European ones. Items were about even 

in acidity, neither more than 0.08 percent, but tetryl from this country 

showed melting points from 127.50C to 128.50C while 128.50C was the 

low melting point for foreign tetryl. The high for the latter was 129.50C. 

In addition, while gas evolution was not more than 4.0 cubic centimeters 

(cc) in 40 hours for the European version, for the native tetryl it was 

25cc in 20 hours. These differences indicated serious variations in purity. 

Purity was important because the explosive had to fire after a long storage 

period. By 1926, the arsenal’s semi-scale plant was turning out a product 

practically chemically pure.57

The path to this achievement was neither easy nor straight. Initial 

studies of acetone and nitric acid recrystallization, and water boiling 

methods for purifying crude tetryl were unsuccessful. Acetone’s miscibility 

with water prevented acid removal from tetryl in solution while use of 

nitric acid required additional boiling treatments plus special equipment 

to deal with the corrosive acid. Moreover, solution of tetryl in nitric acid 

increased explosive hazards. Purification by boiling in neutral water 

only worked with tetryl ground to pass through a 150 mesh screen. The 

grinding itself was dangerous, and tetryl ground so fine did not flow 

well in pelleting press hoppers. Picatinny had to devise a new process 

which improved the quality of the extruded tetryl and, so, decreased 

the purification work done in the recrystallization process. It also had to 

perform recrystallization with a solvent not miscible with water to allow 

acid removal by warm water washing and to control recrystallization to a 

point which insured the finished tetryl flowed freely. In 1924, it thought it 

had a process ready to move to semi-scale production. The new method 

produced 500 pounds of high quality tetryl in 15-pound batches which 

compared well with the foreign high quality product. The melting point 

was 129.230C, total acidity was 0.0005 percent, and gas evolution was 

2.53cc in 40 hours.58

Formation of tetryl in both new and old processes was by nitration 

of dimethylaniline, a yellowish and oily liquid, and the first step was 

dilution of the dimethylaniline to prevent a violent reaction with the 

nitric acid. Picatinny did not change the standard dilutant, sulphuric 

acid, but did establish the ratio of one part dimethylaniline to 14.4 parts 

96-99 percent sulfuric acid. Considerations important at this point were 

suppression of side reactions, including the formation of sulphonic acids, 

and keeping temperatures below 300C. For the next step, nitration of 

the dimethylanimine sulphate into tetryl, Picatinny shifted from straight 
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nitric acid to a mixed acid containing approximately 66.7 percent nitric 

acid, 15.8 percent sulphuric acid, and 17.5 percent water. This eliminated 

the need for duriron, enameled ware, or similar special equipment. The 

process used 9.6 parts of this acid to nitrate one part of dimethylaniline 

and took place in a jacketed nitrator. Keeping temperatures in the 680C to 

730C range was important as too low a temperature made for a sluggish 

reaction and too high a one caused side reactions, especially oxidation. A 

cooking time of 20 minutes allowed complete nitration.59

Instead of separating the tetryl from the spent acid by filtering the 

tetryl from the acid mixture and washing it, the Picatinny process drowned 

the whole charge in water and decanted the water. Cooling the nitrator 

charge to 500C gave the largest yield of tetryl while reducing solubility 

losses by using a smaller amount of drowning water. Using 100 parts of 

water not over 300C to one part tetryl produced a drowned charge whose 

temperature and water volume did not seriously affect yield. Next came 

agitation of the charge in air for 10 minutes, settling for 15 minutes, and 

sour water decanting through a series of catch boxes. An additional cold 

water wash removed the acid still on the surface of the tetryl crystals, 

but large amounts of occluded acid still remained along with several side 

reaction products. Picatinny’s experiments showed two warm washes, 

with 50 parts water at 950C to one part tetryl and each wash lasting 

1.75 hours, removed these. This was a compromise solution because the 

immersions caused tetryl loss.60

The charge then underwent washing in a centrifuge to reduce 

moisture content to about 10 percent and drying for approximately 48 

hours in air circulating at 300C to 350C, a temperature range which 

allowed the occluded acids little opportunity to decompose the tetryl. 

After drying, the crude tetryl had a minimum melting point of 128.50C, 

a maximum acidity of 0.15 percent, a maximum material insoluble in 

acetone of 0.5 percent, and a maximum gas evolution of 8cc in 8 hours. 

Only the melting point approached a satisfactory level. The acidity and 

gas evolution figures indicated deterioration after relatively short storage.61

One of the most efficient ways of reducing acidity was to dissolve 

the crude tetryl in a solvent not miscible in water and follow with a 

warm wash. This allowed filtering of the insoluble materials while in 

the solution and ready control of recrystallization to produce a uniform, 

free flowing liquid. Picatinny dissolved air-dried tetryl in 4.5 times its 

weight of benzene at 680C to 700C, filtered it, and ran it through three 

15-minute washes with water in the same temperature range in volume 

equal to the benzene solution. Determining the desirable times and 

temperatures for the washes, as with the other specifics of the process, 

required several experimental runs. Although washing took place under 
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88

agitation sufficient to almost emulsify both liquids, they separated about 

10 minutes after the wash and allowed drawing off the water.62

Workers recrystallized the charge by cooling it to 250C, researchers 

having determined cooling below this point did not increase the yield 

enough to justify the additional time. A time increase would have been 

significant because benzene given off during recrystallization had to go 

into a steam distillation unit for purification prior to later reuse. Omitting 

distillation would have introduced impurities in the finished tetryl. After 

decanting the benzene liquors, the tetryl went into a centrifuge for another 

wash and spent 48 hours in a tray dryer with air circulating between 

650C and 750C.63

Lessons learned during development included the need for either 

lead or enameled crystallization equipment, the necessity for distilled 

water to insure quality, and the requirement to have no water present 

during crystallization of the tetryl from the benzene solution. The last 

was important because occluded water could form picric acid during 

stability testing and increase gas evolution.64

Reaching the initial goal did not end process development. One area 

of further investigation was recovery of spent acid in order to reduce the 

expense of sour water disposal. When laboratory experiments indicated 

gravity filtration of the nitrated charge could recover at least 70 percent 

of the spent acid, Picatinny designed and made plans to install a filter 

in its semi-scale plant. Experimental studies indicated the potential to 

efficiently denitrate these acids to recover reusable nitric and sulphuric 

acids without affecting the purity of the final product and so reduce costs 

significantly. Also seeking cost efficiency were studies to control crystal 

size. Booster pellet production required uniform crystal size as changes in 

size meant expensive changes to the dies and punches on the pellet press. 

Other experiments looked at ways to help the tetryl flow freely through 

the loading press hopper and to reduce dust and, consequently, toxicity.65

Other investigations sought an initiating explosive less susceptible to 

heat and moisture than mercury fulminate, performed laboratory work on 

a form of TNT which would not extrude during storage, and investigated 

possible substitutes for TNT. The last effort, which arose from concerns 

over toluene shortages, looked at such alternatives as amatol, TNX, 

picric acid, and dinitrophenol. Because the first two still required toluene, 

Picatinny researchers focused on picric acid and dinitrophenol.66

Doctor Hale did extensive work on the manufacture of cyclonite, a 

substance until then considered too dangerous for military use because 

of its extreme sensitivity. One cyclonite processing procedure he studied 

involved nitrolysis of hexamine and required large amounts of 96-98 

percent nitric acid, a dangerous reagent, and recycling of large amounts of 
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nitrogen oxides to resynthesize the nearly anhydrous nitric acid for reuse. 

Less than half the carbon from the starting hexamine was recoverable 

as a useful explosive. In 1925, Hale published a procedure which added 

hexamethylene-tetramine to 10 percent nitric acid to obtain a yield of 68 

percent. Furthermore, he showed a large excess of 97-98 percent nitric 

acid was necessary to minimize dilution.67

H. M. Brayton, a World War I Ordnance captain who became one 

of Zornig’s assistants, drew the task of discussing fuze work. The Fuze 

Section’s first step after receiving a new requirement from the Ordnance 

Department was a drawing board study concentrating on space needed 

in the shells intended to use the fuze. Then, designers devised different 

mechanical combinations which fit the given space and functioned safely 

and effectively in it. Next, they laid the designs on a drawing board for an 

assembly study to determine their suitability for quantity manufacture, 

preferably by a punch press or, the second choice, an automatic screw 

machine. The aim was to avoid such machining operations as drilling, 

milling, and shaping because they slowed production. A satisfactory 

design normally took several months.68

Having decided on a design, developers made drawings of all 

necessary parts and placed orders with arsenal shops. Often, they 

first made a model by hand to avoid the high tooling costs of initial 

manufacture. The same reasoning prompted testing of doubtful design 

features by improvisational means before turning out the first items.69

The engineer in charge determined the static tests for the first sample 

fuzes. The first was usually another assembly study involving more 

searching for unsafe features. Then, a fuze without explosive underwent 

jolt, jumble, and drop tests. The jolt test put the fuze at the end of a 

long, heavy arm which rose and dropped suddenly through a space of 

about six inches. The jumble test rotated it around the corners of a box at 

approximately 30 revolutions per minute (rpm). The engineer in charge 

specified the exact length of time for each test, but jolt and jumble testing 

generally lasted two hours. Drop testing involved falls at various angles 

and from different heights. To pass, an item had to survive repeated falls 

from 10 feet.70

Next came arming tests to see if the fuze would move from the safe 

to the arm position during firing. A fuze with a centrifugally operated 

arming device required rotation about its axis to check the angular 

velocities at which they armed while one armed by setback or inertial 

locking from gun firing required measurement of the force parallel to the 

axis. The force could not be more than one-half the lowest setback in any 

cannon firing the fuze. Bore-safety testing, which loaded the fuze and set 
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90

it off in the safe position, insured neither boosters nor main charges would 

detonate if the fuze functioned in the cannon.71

Fuzes passing these tests underwent cannon firings at one of 

Picatinny’s proving grounds. First firings of impact fuzes were into 

wooden boards. Successful candidates proceeded to Aberdeen Proving 

Ground in Maryland for testing under field conditions. Aberdeen’s longer 

ranges allowed firing with standard propelling charges. Testing of impact 

fuzes was especially time consuming, since it involved firings all weapons 

intended to use the fuze with all the propelling charges for each weapon. 

The Ordnance Department’s Technical Staff observed and judged the 

tests while Picatinny’s staff had the job of correcting defects.72

Following Ordnance Department approval, Picatinny made several 

thousand fuzes and sent them to intended users for firing under conditions 

resembling actual warfare. This testing was the basis for acceptance 

and manufacture for service use, a decision requiring approval by the 

Technical Staff, the Ordnance Committee, and the Secretary of War.73

As with explosives, much of Picatinny’s fuze work concentrated on 

remedying problems experienced during the war. This meant devising 

tests to determine the causes of fuze failures. A straightforward way 

with impact fuzes was to fire them into a sand butt and recover them 

for analysis. Because it used an inert load, this method did not test the 

explosive train and its inability to simulate graze action or the effect of 

different kinds of impact further limited its usefulness. It was useless with 

small-caliber shells fired at high velocities because the shells broke on 

impact with the sand.74

Designers thought it would be sufficient to fire mechanical time fuzes, 

which took their cue to fire from the military version of an egg timer, 

inside a shell, observe the position of fall, and then recover and examine 

it, but fuzes which failed to burst in the air appeared to have functioned 

correctly because they ran down while in the ground.75

Two other methods were more successful. One was simply the process 

of elimination, removing one part after another until the fuze functioned. 

If, after every part except the mainspring and gear train were out, the 

fuze still failed, the problem was a spring not strong enough to drive the 

gear train under centrifugal force. The second method subjected the fuze 

to varying set-back forces and rotational speeds to see if one of these were 

the cause. “Such tests must be carefully planned, otherwise one will get 

into trouble with some of the other features such as a reduction in the setback to the point where failure of the safety devices occurs.”76

Other fuze challenges were in the logistics area. Standard practice 

up to and during World War I was to transport shell and fuze separately 

for assembly at the point of use. This required a precision of scheduling 
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impossible amid wartime chaos. Postwar policy was to design fuzes safe 

enough to assemble to their rounds at the loading plant. Another goal was 

to combine different firing actions, such as superquick or delay detonation, 

in one fuze for hand setting by gunners or bombardiers. Complicating 

matters was added functions meant added weight and costs. Another 

objection was the increased difficulty of manufacturing multi-mode fuzes. 

A fuze fired only once and in only one mode so production designers 

considered work on each unused mode wasted effort. Picatinny’s position 

was, “It is probably better to simplify the supply problem and burden the 

manufacturing facilities provided the factories of the country can handle 

it without disproportionate effort.” Designers of combination fuzes faced 

an additional requirement to devise fuzes usable in cannons varying in 

caliber from 1.8-inch to 12-inch with muzzle velocities from 300 to 3,000 

feet per second (fps), maximum pressures from a few thousand up to 

40,000psi, and rotation rates from 1,600 to over 25,000rpm.77

When it entered World War I, the United States found all its 

pyrotechnic rockets, flares, and cartridges obsolete and had to use French 

items. The Army did not even issue its program of requirements for 

this area until August 1918, and only a small percentage of the items it 

produced reached Europe before fighting stopped. The War Department 

appointed a Pyrotechnics Board in 1919 to prevent recurrence of this 

situation, and its report led to a Pyrotechnic Unit at Picatinny. In 1919, 

the unit had two buildings and a staff of three. In 1926, 15 people had 

charge of 20 buildings, including a small machine shop, two rows of 

mixing and charging buildings, store houses, and a photometric gallery 

plus spectrographic examination equipment. In charge was Captain Ira 

A. Crump, a veteran of a World War I antiaircraft battalion.78

The board’s recommendation to remove pyrotechnics from the 

category of fireworks and to develop more substantial items able to meet 

strict requirements for waterproofing, efficiency, and durability meant 

the unit “had to design and develop almost an entirely new system of 

pyrotechnics.” Specifically, the board recommended 5 non-projected 

signals for use by both ground troops and what was then the United 

States Army Air Service and 19 projected signals for day and night use, 

7 for ground troops, and 12 for the Air Service. Differences in mission 

needs and in requirements for propellant charges and fuze delay times 

made the War Department’s push for common signals for ground and air 

forces impractical.79

Picatinny began work on Air Service signals in 1919 and had green 

chain with parachute, white star, cluster, and yellow smoke with parachute 

signals approved for service use by 1926. It had completed development 

work on a white chain with parachute signal and was conducting 
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experimental and development work on green signal star with parachute, 

green star cluster, and message signals.80

Progress on similar signals for ground forces was slower. Requirements 

for the signals to have a maximum weight of one pound and an illuminant 

or color component able to withstand setback without breaking up and 

the need to fire it from a projector weighing not more than three pounds 

made it difficult to achieve the minimum height requirement of 600 feet. 

In 1926, red single star with parachute, yellow smoke with parachute, 

white single star with parachute, red chain with parachute, red star cluster, 

and white smoke signals were ready for service testing.81

Picatinny helped troops choose correct signals in the dark by devising 

a marking scheme in which the position of knurled bands on the signal 

indicated the color while the number of bands indicated cluster, chain, or 

single star. Another aid was raised letters on the closing caps.82

In its other work, Picatinny developed only the munition, leaving 

weapon development to others. With pyrotechnics, it had to develop 

launchers, a demanding project because the Pyrotechnics Board had 

recommended scrapping all previous projectors, rockets, Very pistols, and 

rifle grenade dischargers. The Air Service had strong objections to the 

Very pistol because its frequent hangfires either started fires or required 

throwing the pistol overboard with the signal. A Picatinny developed 

grenade signal which did not require a projector was unsatisfactory, 

so it developed a signal which needed a projector and then developed 

the projector. This was small and light because its principal parts were 

aluminum. If a hangfire occurred, opening the projector caused the 

signal to drop away from the plane.83

By 1926, this projector had received approval for service use but a 

projector for ground troops had not. Key to the delay was a requirement 

for the projector or discharger to fire rifle grenades as well as signals. 

Other requirements stressed simplicity of construction, durability, a 

weight no greater than a standard service rifle, the ability to send a signal 

to a minimum height of 600 feet, and the ability to accept signals as fixed 

rounds. Picatinny sent five different types of projectors to Camp Benning, 

Georgia, for evaluation, and the Infantry Service opted for a muzzle 

loading, bayonet tromblon type more suited to signals than grenades. 

Picatinny was manufacturing two for Cavalry and Infantry service testing 

in 1926 while planning to develop a breech loading projector able to 

handle rifle grenades as well as the newest signals.84

The Pyrotechnic Board wanted two new flares for aircraft use. The 

first type was to give 700,000 candle power for three to four minutes, the 

other 300,000 candle power for seven to eight minutes. Picatinny had 

developed six experimental types and tested three of them when it had 
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to shelve the effort to deal with an Air Service urgent requirement for 

a night landing flare. The arsenal developed several versions before its 

type III went into service. This flare, which functioned 100 feet below 

the plane and burned at 325,000 candle power for three minutes, had 

saved 15 Air Service and air mail pilots and planes by 1926. Despite this 

success, Picatinny was working to improve the item, especially to make 

it waterproof. The arsenal was also optimistic about a flare to illuminate 

bomb targets despite stringent requirements.85

Other lines of investigation active in 1926 included a pyrotechnic 

composition for illuminating projectiles, a tracer for 37mm antiaircraft 

guns, and test flares, signal cartridges, and a wind direction signal for the 

Air Mail Service. In addition, researchers were constantly looking for new 

materials for colors and lights to supplement the few which fit military 

needs.86

Another of Zornig’s assistants was Fred Olsen. In charge of chemical 

research at Aetna Explosives Company before becoming coordinator 

of chemical research and development on smokeless powder, high 

explosives, and loading at Picatinny, his task for Army Ordnance was to 

explain the connection between Picatinny, which was under the Ordnance 

Department’s Manufacturing Service, and the same department’s Field 

Service. He began by comparing ammunition and cantaloupes, items 

meant for one-time use. “The problems of transportation, storage, and 

distribution are quite similar for both commodities, the main thing being 

to furnish the article to the consumer in a satisfactory condition at the 

right time and place.” Olsen hoped “just as the fruit dealer can contribute 

to the improvement of cantaloupes by accepting and distributing only the 

best grade of fruit, so can the Ordnance Field Service affect the design of 

ammunition by its constructive criticism of the quality of the ammunition 

entrusted to its care.”87

Two recent developments influenced this relationship. One was “a 

growing recognition of the need for two kinds of ammunition, one for 

use in an emergency, the other for war reserve.” Picatinny was helping 

the ammunition foremen and surveillance inspectors responsible for the 

latter, usually Field Service military personnel, by paying more attention 

to features “which did not contribute directly to the functioning of the 

round, but are rather for the purpose of combating the ravages of time 

and weather.” These included “metal plating to avoid corrosion and 

rusting, water-proofing, high purity and stability of the explosive elements, 

appropriate marking to aid in identification,” all intended to deliver to the 

Field Service “ammunition which requires less close surveillance and less 

renovation, and can be handled with less confusion.” The second new 

influence was an emphasis on developing bombs and shells for shipping 
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as complete items, including fuzes, primers, detonators, and fins. This 

decreased Field Service bookkeeping and confusion during transport.88

Some of the steps toward efficiency Olsen stressed, such as insuring 

ammunition containers were properly marked and easily stackable, 

seem too obvious for mention. Still, they were necessary and their value 

would have quickly become apparent if Picatinny had not taken them. 

Picatinny evaluated the ability of items to withstand rough handling, 

subjecting all components to the same jolt and jumbling testing as fuzes 

and putting packing boxes through a tumbling barrel test. The latter was 

a large barrel fitted with baffles and obstacles. Picatinny often worked 

with a local contractor, Container Testing Laboratories, Incorporated, of 

neighboring Rockaway on this testing.89

Much of Picatinny’s interaction with the Field Service involved 

surveillance of stored rounds. Problems usually involved propellants 

because “most of the high explosives employed for military purposes 

are inherently of good chemical stability.” Thinking in 1926 held it 

“extremely improbable that even the poorest sample of the lowest grade 

of TNT will show any signs of chemical decomposition whereby it loses 

its nitrogen, carbon, etc., during the next hundred years.” Despite such 

confidence, serious deterioration had occurred in both TNT and amatol 

charges which had spent years in warm storage. Physical impurities from 

manufacture had segregated and moved in oil form to other parts of 

the shell, including the booster cavity. In the most serious cases, the oil 

exuded from the shell. Picatinny’s study of the problem found this created 

no special hazards in handling and storage but made the shells unusable. 

In 1926, the arsenal was studying methods of renovating the shells and 

of eliminating the exudation in new munitions.90

Nitrocellulose powders were much more unstable than high 

explosives and required closer surveillance. The average life of a service 

lot was 15 years, but some took only six years to decompose to a point 

requiring destruction. Picatinny helped the Field Service spot the onset 

of deterioration.91

Picatinny kept a representative sample from each propellant lot and 

semiannually subjected it to 1350C methyl violet and 65.50C surveillance 

testing. The Field Service put stored lots through the same tests and 

compared results with Picatinny. If the Picatinny evaluation showed its 

sample, stored in close to ideal condition, had gone bad, the whole lot 

probably had. If the field evaluation showed deterioration not visible in 

the master sample, attention focused on conditions at the storage site.92

Olsen expected many of his readers to encounter deteriorated powder 

at some point in their duties and rushed to reassure them about its safety. 

“As a matter of fact, powder which fails to pass the surveillance test has 
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probably decomposed to a point where part of its nitrogen has disappeared 

and the explosive characteristics have been diminished.” Such powders 

were unsuitable for service use because they fired at low pressures and so 

gave rounds slower muzzle velocities, but stability testing did not detect 

this problem. It required either microscopic examination or a difficult 

chemical test to determine actual volatile content. Powder stored in leaky 

containers in a dry atmosphere could lose enough volatile material to 

increase its rate of combustion to where there was the danger of excess 

pressure in the gun. Picatinny admitted it could do little to identify a low 

volatility problem before the high pressures appeared during firing, but it 

emphasized testing containers for leaks was more important than stability 

testing of powders in the containers. Checks revealed at least 30 percent, 

and perhaps as much as 50 percent, of bulk powder containers were leaky 

because the seams of their zinc liners opened during transport and their 

rubber gaskets shrunk and cracked with age.93

In 1926, Picatinny was studying several thousand pounds of 

deteriorated powder from leaky containers at Charleston and Curtis 

Bay ordnance reserve depots and its own magazines. Some grains from 

the depots, but not from Picatinny, showed color changes apparently 

related to variations in stability. During 1350C testing, colored grains 

exploded within 10 minutes while uncolored ones from the same box 

took 60 minutes or more. There had been several recent fires at reserve 

depots, but no evidence linked these to the colored grains. All powders 

with deteriorated grains had the potential for unplanned ignition. A 1924 

fire at Old Hickory Ordnance Plant had started in powder stored in leaky 

containers.94

Picatinny studied the question of “whether these evidences of 

deterioration are increasing because of the development of discolored 

regions from inherent centers of instability, or whether good grains are 

‘infected’ by the acid spots of bad grains in their vicinity.” To decide, 

researchers handpicked bad grains from a powder lot at Charleston and 

added them to good powder in ratios from 0.1 to 20 percent. Some of 

the samples went into airtight boxes and others into boxes with rubber 

gaskets removed to allow exposure to the atmosphere. The samples, 

then, went into especially constructed wooden magazines, one box to a 

magazine, at the two depots and Picatinny to stay there until ignition 

occurred. Periodic testing checked for any increase in the percentage of 

deteriorated grains. The study, intended to develop improved stability 

and surveillance tests, was still in progress in 1926.95

Picatinny’s work with FNH powders held promise of a solution to 

storage problems. Stored in a saturated atmosphere at 650C, these had 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

96

longer useful lives than the service powder in use in 1926. Underwater 

storage seemed another promising, if paradoxical, way to reduce moisture. 

It offered two advantages, the lower average temperatures underwater 

and the way water quickly removed heat produced by nitrocellulose 

decomposition. Powder stored underwater at Picatinny performed well 

during 1926 firing tests.96

Picatinny’s role in dealing with field ammunition problems was usually 

responsive. It needed Field Service personnel to inform it about problems 

and to supply items for analysis. Standard practice was for the field to 

send Picatinny samples of ammunition which consistently malfunctioned 

and then arsenal shops and labs went into action to decide on corrections 

to existing rounds and on improvements to future designs.97

H. S. Deck believed there was “no branch of industry in which safety 

is of so great an interest to both capital and labor” as explosives. The 

interest of both parties was great, but not necessarily equally great. The 

capitalist stood to lose dollars, the laborer body parts. Still, there was 

an economic incentive to safer practices, and many private plants had 

adopted measures with which Deck, who had been at Laflin and Rand 

before becoming Picatinny’s chief of plant engineering, was familiar. 

Other influences were prodding from the New Jersey Department of 

Labor and plain humanitarianism.98

Picatinny’s testing of friction ignition of explosives used a variation 

on a friction pendulum machine developed by the Bureau of Mines at 

Bruceton, Pennsylvania. The main alteration was a temperature control 

attachment for testing molten TNT and amatol. The testers placed 20 

grains of explosive on the machine’s anvil and a shoe on the pendulum 

Friction Testing Pendulum
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stuck the sample on each swing. Adjusting the pendulum’s length 

controlled the intensity of the friction. This treatment failed to ignite 

most explosives then in use.99

A drop test machine judged sensitivity by the minimum drop necessary 

to ignite. A 2kg weight could set off lead azide and mercury fulminate 

with a drop of two inches but needed to drop 13 inches to set off TNT 

and 32 inches to detonate black powder.100

The tester for sparking properties of metals and ignition properties 

of explosives subject to spark was a variation on the flintlock pistol. 

Investigators placed an easily ignitable chemical, such as black powder, 

in the pan and the metal on the hammer. If the metal did not ignite 

the material, it was nonsparking. By 1926, Picatinny had used this test 

to classify monel-metal, alcumite, everdur, and several special bronzes. 

Some tests showed ignition of the black powder even when there was no 

visible spark.101

Ignition property testing put the explosive in the pan and a specially 

designed flint in the hammer. Findings in the 1920s showed sparks which 

would ignite black powder but not tetryl or TNT could set off some 

airplane flare mixtures. Picatinny admitted while “work with this test 

had been very instructive, it has not gone far enough, however, to be 

considered as established.” Still, it had lead to development of a fireproof, 

non-sparking floor covering.102

Picatinny’s safety work on static electricity concentrated on eliminating 

the charges. There was little data on the amount of static necessary to 

ignite different materials nor on the origin of such charges. Researchers 

thought the risk of ignition low enough to make much of the work done to 

eliminate static charges unnecessary, but they did not have the necessary 

Spark Tester
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

98

data on the maximum charge producible under plant conditions versus 

the charge necessary to set off an explosive. They especially wanted more 

data from evaporation, drying, and solvent recovery processes, areas not 

involving the standard static charge formed by friction but ones produced 

by moisture leaving the process material.103

Picatinny was a place where people drilled, bored, and pressed 

explosives every day, and Deck emphasized “there are many phases in 

connection with these operations about which basic information should 

be our stock and trade, such as, for example, the best material for cutting 

tools where sparks are a hazard; safe cutting speeds; the most effective 

rate of feed or depth of cut, and the shape or grinding of the cutting 

edge.”104

There was little worry about safety and explosive pressing overall, 

“probably because of the relatively small number of accidents in this 

class of work,” but there were qualms about repressing ammonium 

nitrate and the high pressures used in loading mercury fulminate. “No 

new equipment is required to carry out this investigation; tests in which 

pressing is carried out under conditions sufficiently severe to show that 

the normal process provides an approved margin of safety will establish 

safe practice.”105

Picatinny safety researchers found much of the explosive data already 

collected of little use. For example, the detonation rate was of little 

relevance when the aim was to prevent the ignition of an explosive, not 

its detonation. Studies of brisance were more useful because they helped 

investigations into shields and barriers for worker protection. In 1926, 

Picatinny was looking into fire resistant and shock absorbent materials to 

replace steel barriers which gave a “feeling of security somewhat out of 

proportion to protection they afford.”106

Safety researchers at Picatinny in the 1920s did not lack for case 

studies. On 30 May 1920, unserviceable and apparently unstable powder 

burst into flame from an undetermined cause and destroyed five buildings 

with a total value of $13,926.00 and testing ground equipment, powder 

boxes, and a boiler worth a total of $80,800.00. Picatinny decided not 

to rebuild the structures and made destruction of unserviceable powder 

a top priority in its storage work. Investigators further recommended 

a constant temperature magazine for the proving grounds and better 

roadways to storage buildings.107

On 8 August 1920, an explosion of unknown origin and an ensuing 

fire caused no injuries because they took place at 1:17am. They did 

cause $33,000.00 worth of damage to buildings in the powder factory 

area and destroyed equipment originally costing $72,228.00 and having 

a replacement value of $230, 216.00. The latter included boiling tubs, 
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Miller duplex and Jordan beaters, motors, an Allis Corliss engine, lathes, 

milling machines, shafting, pumps, tanks and setting equipment. Studying 

the blast, Picatinny decided to put the boiling tub and beater houses 

and the reworking mill equipment in separate buildings with enough 

space between to prevent fires from spreading. The arsenal rebuilt the 

two buildings but on a new site because the original was too close to the 

powerhouse. It planned to equip new buildings with the means to shut off 

heat and electricity during non-operating hours.108

On 12 August 1921, a retort containing acid exploded and inflicted 

cuts and burns on Doctor Herbert E. Foote, a research chemist, and Frank 

McPeck, his assistant. Foote faced loss of an eye. On 19 September 1921, 

a high wind blew embers from the burning ground into a pile of powder 

and started a fire which destroyed salvage powder, telephone poles, and 

a flat car for a damage total of $459.20. Investigators recommended 

“better fire protection for this area.”109

On 2 December 1921, an explosion of undetermined cause did 

$1,200.00 worth of damage to a fulminate dry house. Picatinny saw this 

as an opportunity to replace hand mixing methods with a mechanical 

mixer.110

Friction between a chisel and a tank, both steel, set off nitrocellulose 

in the tank on 26 April 1923. Operators had thought the tank empty, an 

error which led to amputation of the shattered arm of one worker and 

injuries to two others.111

The explosion on 13 June 1923 did $100.00 worth of damage to 

the mercury fulminate loading building plus $200.00 worth to equipment 

and caused one death. Investigators could not definitely fix the cause 

but suggested three possibilities. The first was someone dropping a full 

mixing tray. Another was the accidental knocking over of a 2-ounce 

bottle of mercury fulminate used in an experiment. The third was 

someone trying to clean up an accidental spill of mercury fulminate. 

Recommendations included conducting no experimental work in regular 

production buildings when production was on-going and removing all 

experimental apparatus before resuming production. On 26 September, 

powder samples undergoing stability tests decomposed and generated 

enough heat to start a fire which destroyed a building valued at $500.00 

and injured a firefighter.112

Victims of an explosion in a propellant plant building on 23 

October 1923 showed remarkable alacrity in returning to work. As the 

report put it, “2 men blown out of room – no lost time.” A defect in the 

mechanical heat-regulating equipment caused excess heat when a pound 

of an experimental flashless powder developed by Picatinny was under a 

pressure of 400psi in a hydraulic press rising toward 850C. This was to 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

100

make the explosive plastic so it could go through a die for forming into 

a perforated grain. The powder went into the press at 9:00am, and the 

blast occurred at 11:45am.113

Grenades tested on 17 April 1924 lay dormant in the Pyrotechnic 

Area until 25 April when phosphorous from one or more started brush 

fires. Moisture had evidently prevented earlier ignition. Lessons learned 

were to restrict firings in this area to days of low wind and to fire objects 

at a high angle over Lake Picatinny. A fire which began at approximately 

6:30am on 9 July 1924 destroyed one building valued at $900.00, did 

$150.00 worth of damage to another, and ruined $4,000.00 in materials 

and supplies. The probable cause was combustion of cotton linters stored 

in the destroyed building generating sufficient heat to ignite ether, alcohol, 

diphenylamine, and other inflammable chemicals.114

Picatinny and Lake Denmark dodged disaster in October 1924 when 

a brush fire swept down Green Pond Mountain from the northwest and 

threatened the explosive storage magazines. Major Ramsey ordered the 

removal of powder and shells from threatened buildings while 500 men 

dug trenches, built back fires, and doused flames. Firefighters, in addition 

to arsenal and Naval depot personnel, included state troopers and 60 

soldiers from Governors Island in New York.115

Investigators posited four possible causes for a chemical laboratory 

fire on 24 January 1925. They were a motor spark igniting ether fumes, 

a spark from a worker’s shoe, a static discharge from either a broom or a 

worker, or ignition of spilt metallic sodium by water from a refrigerator. 

Recommendations included replacing single-phase motors with threephase ones, instituting an inspection system for all motors on the arsenal, 

and putting refrigerators used for solvent storage in separate buildings.116

The explosion in a melt loading building on 28 May 1925 killed 

Ralph Burklow of Kenvil, severely burned a second employee, completely 

destroyed the building in which it occurred, and caused a forest fire which 

destroyed 50 acres of Picatinny woodland. A very fortunate foreman had 

left the building minutes before the blast. The arsenal valued the building 

at $4,100.00. Damage to neighboring buildings came to $924.50 while the 

bill for equipment damage was $4,000.00. Three suggested explanations 

focused on the melt kettle. First, explosive trapped in working parts of 

the discharge valve may have blown when someone opened or closed 

the valve. Second, friction from the stirrer striking explosive clinging to 

the kettle or from direct rubbing between stirrer and kettle may have set 

off the explosive. Third, the iron pipe at the end of the hose used to heat 

water in the kettle may have struck explosive in or around the kettle.

Investigators’ recommendations included eliminating discharging 

valves and emptying kettles by tilting, designing stirrers not integral to the 
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kettles and operable from another room, and changing safety procedures 

to forbid withdrawal of stirrers from kettles until explosives had 

completely remelted. The investigators further noted the experimental 

melt loading facilities dealt in units much larger than their designers had 

contemplated and recommended moving the entire area farther from the 

officers’ housing area.117

Seven men received commendations for bravery for their actions 

during this blast. Majors Ramsey and Miles entered a burning building 

to remove an injured employee. Millwright Foreman Thomas E. James 

and Chauffeurs William C. Swayze and Thomas M. Roach removed 

Burklow’s body from the burning loading building. John Stank, assistant 

foreman of Experimental Loading, removed loaded bombs from the 

burning building, and Charles Zeek, assistant foreman of Primer Loading, 

removed them from the surrounding area.118

On 24 July 1925, sparks from an oxy-acetylene torch boring a hole 

in a steel upright ignited pyro cotton and this fire blew up an ejector and 

an outlet pipe in the poaching house from total damages of $25.00. This 

led to a recommendation to change arsenal safety regulations to require 

electric drills instead of oxy-acetylene ones where possible and to require 

safety engineer approval for any use of the latter.119

Picatinny learned several general lessons from these events and was 

anxious to impart them to other explosive plants. First, it stressed the 

need for a “place of refuge in which personnel can find shelter from 

the inescapable shower of projectiles and fragments resulting from a 

major explosion.” Remembering times when firefighters had to abandon 

vantage points and hose positions due to danger, it suggested armored 

coverings, such as on gun carriages, for hoses and personnel. Workers 

had frequently improvised such coverings. The arsenal further stressed 

the seemingly obvious need to do explosive research and development 

in isolated buildings with the least possible number of workers. Another 

need was for exterior signs indicating exactly what materials were in any 

given building. Picatinny had had “innumerable instances in which a fire 

would have been fought with vigor if the fire fighting force had known 

there was no unusual hazard.”120

Army Ordnance saw no need for a chapter on the Stables Section. 

John H. Gunther took charge of the stables and 24 horses on June 15, 

1923. Four saddle horses did guard duty on Picatinny Ridge, one team 

drew the wagon taking drinking water to buildings which still had no 

pipes, two teams worked basic farm jobs, and one each drew the ice and 

garbage wagons. One team worked for the lumber yard, one for the 

Stores Department, and one did miscellaneous jobs. One miscellaneous 

job was pulling a v-shaped wooden plow to clear snow on unimproved 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

102

roads. A Mack truck with solid tires and a v-shaped plow from a Holt 

Trenton tractor took care of the good roads. The cows owned in shares 

by Picatinny military now numbered eight.121

One advantage over earlier years was the presence of medical help on 

post. Doctor Augustus Lynn Landon Baker, a surgeon at Dover General 

Hospital and a major in the Medical Corps Reserve, took charge of 

Picatinny’s infirmary in 1922. The infirmary was then on the northwest 

corner of Farley Avenue and Parker Road in the present building 119, 

then numbered 49. The former storage and loading building had added 

infirmary to its resume during the World War I influenza epidemic. Baker 

originally had only two enlisted personnel as assistants, but a photo from 

the 1920s shows a staff of nine civilians, six women and three men. A 

companion photo shows eight women and two men.122

Despite fires, explosions, and deaths, Deck could argue, “Contrary to 

popular opinion statistics show that the accidents to employees in modern 

explosives plants do not compare unfavorably with non-explosives plants. 

In fact the claim is made that explosives plants operating under the 

influence of an effective safety organization offer less hazard on the whole 

than many plants in the non-explosives industries that are commonly 

considered as being safe.”123

Infirmary Personnel 1920s
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The explosives had a rebuttal. At the end of its many pages of praise 

for Picatinny, Army Ordnance had to insert a box telling its readers, “As this 

issue of Army Ordnance goes to press Picatinny Arsenal is a mass of 

wrecked buildings and equipment.”124
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

104

NOTES

1 War Department, Annual Reports, 1919, Volume I, Part 4 (Washington: 

Government Printing Office, 1920), 3924 (hereafter cited as Report...1919); 

1920, Volume I, 1205 (hereafter cited as Report...1920), and [Plant 

Engineering Group], Plant Design, typescript, c. 1942, p. 3, in ARDEC 

Historical Office files (hereafter cited as Plant Design).

2 Report...1920, I, 1295. One reason for doing surveillance at Picatinny may 

have been a fire caused by bulk propellant self-igniting at Raritan Arsenal 

in 1919. “Picatinny lab team ensures nation’s munitions stockpile is safe for 

Soldiers’ use,” The Voice, February 27, 2004.

3 Plant Design, pp. 4-5, Report...1919, I, 3925, and Report...1920, I, 1205. Cf. 

“A Letter from Washington,” The Picatinny Magazine, vol. 2, no. 7 (August 

16, 1919), 1, and [Rogers, Captain J. A., Jr., comp.], The History of Picatinny 

Arsenal (Picatinny Arsenal, 1931), p. 56 (hereafter cited as History...1931).

4 1931...History, Appendix, p. 10, Plant Design, pp. 3-4, “Arsenal Explodes; 

$1,000,000 Damage,” and “One Dead In Arsenal Fire,” New York Times, 

18, 19 December 1919, and “Blast in Arsenal” “Two Killed in Blast At 

Arsenal,” and “Explosions Felt Here,” [newspapers unknown], 18 December 

1919 (clippings in Scrapbook of 1926 Explosions Articles in ARDEC 

Historical Office). The 1931...History orders events as explosion, fire, then 

another explosion, but the arsenal commander’s initial public statement, 

followed here, had the fire first followed by the two explosions. The first 

Times piece referred to the panicking crowds. It would have been impossible 

for a Times reporter to have made it to the scene in time to see initial 

reactions. Local press stories seem more accurate for a population familiar 

with explosions.

5 Report...1920, I, 1205. Map of Picatinny Arsenal, June 15, 1920, notes the 

locations of buildings destroyed in the blast.

6 Plant Design, p. 4. Cf. 1931...History, p. 56.

7 Capt. John P. Harris, “Loading Ammunition at Picatinny Arsenal,” Army 

Ordnance, vol. VII, no. 37 (July-August 1926), 43 (hereafter cited as Harris, 

“Loading”), and Report...1920, I, 1205.

8 Harris, “Loading”, 1205.

9 Plant Design, p. 2. For the War Department plans and their connection to 

Ordnance Department activity, see Constance McLaughlin Green, Harry C. 

Thomson, and Peter C. Roots, United States Army in World War II: The Technical 

Services: The Ordnance Department: Planning Munitions for War (Washington, D. C.: 

Office of the Chief of Military History, 1955), pp. 50-64.

10 Plant Design, pp. 2-3.

11 Plant Design, pp. 4-5.
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12 Maj. N. F. Ramsey, “Picatinny Arsenal,” Army Ordnance, vol. VII, no. 37 (JulyAugust 1926), 3; “The History of Picatinny,” The Picatinny News, 7 August, 20 

November 1942; 1931...History, p. 56, and Plant Design, p. 8.

13 Plant Design, p. 5.

14 Plant Design, pp. 5-6.

15 Plant Design, p. 7.

16 Plant Design, p. 7.

17 Plant Design, pp. 7-8, says the “southwest” portion of the arsenal, but they 

were not very far south. Map of Picatinny Arsenal, Jan. 20, 1922, Revision 

8, July 15, 1924 inserted in Plant Design (hereafter cited as Map, 1922) 

shows the work in buildings north of Mount Hope Avenue. See also Revised 

Draft Report: Evaluation of Structures Built Prior to 1946 at Picatinny Arsenal, New 

Jersey, (Prepared for the New York District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 

by WCH Industries, Inc., Waltham MA, in association with Boston Affiliates, 

Inc., Boston MA, December 30, 1994), p. E-110 (hereafter cited as Evaluation 

of Structures 1994).

18 Harris, “Loading,” p. 43; Evaluation of Structures 1994, pp. E-113-E115, and 

Plant Design, pp. 6-7 plus Map, 1922.

19 Plant Design, p. 8; Map, 1922, and C. J. Bain, “High Explosives,” Army 

Ordnance, vol. VII, no. 37 (July-August 1926), 49-50 (hereafter cited as Bain, 

“High Explosives”).

20 H. M. Brayton, “Fuzes,” Army Ordnance, vol. VII, no. 37 (July-August 1926), 

32 (hereafter cited as Brayton, “Fuzes”).

21 Plant Design, pp. 8-9.

22 1931...History, p. 56; Plant Design, p. 9; “The History of Picatinny,” The 

Picatinny News, 4 December 1942, and Map, 1922.

23 Picatinny Arsenal Golf Course: A History (Dover, N. J.: Picatinny Arsenal, [c. 

1975]) n.p.

24 1931...History, pp. 62, 71. Management Review and Analysis Division, 

Comptroller, Picatinny Arsenal, Long Term Trends, 30 June 1976, p. 66, 

gives the 1921 high as 900.

25 Sullivan, Charles J., Army Posts and Towns: The Baedeker of the Army (Burlington: 

Free Press Printing Company, 1926), pp.64-65.

26 “Editorial: Picatinny Arsenal, 1880-1926,” Army Ordnance, vol. VII, no. 37 

(July-August 1926), 60.

27 Norman F. Ramsey, [Jr.], Higgins Professor of Physics, Harvard University, 

to Capt. David P. Miles, Student Officer Center, Aberdeen Proving Ground, 

February 21, 1981, photocopy in ARDEC Historical Office Files, Ramsey 

Folder, gives a capsule summary of Ramsey career, including the enlisted 

years not mentioned in Norman Foster Ramsey, typescript, in the same 

folder. See also US Army Ordnance Corps Hall of Fame Nomination: 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

106

Norman F. Ramsey in the Ramsey folder. On the military and civilian 

workforces, see “Military Staff Picatinny Arsenal 1926,” Army Ordnance, vol. 

VII, no. 37 (July-August 1926), 6, and 1931...History, p. 71

28 Dr. Norman F. Ramsey, “Atomic Clocks,” lecture at Picatinny, April 25, 

1997, video tape in ARDEC Historical Office Files.

29 Army Ordnance, vol. VII, no. 37 (July-August 1926), 18, 76. This paragraph’s 

use of “propellent” defers to Picatinny’s official name for its organizations. 

Except in such cases, this work used the currently preferred “propellant.”

30 Army Ordnance, vol. VII, no. 37 (July-August 1926), 18, 76, pp. 6-7, 18.

31 Maj. F. H. Miles, Jr., “The Picatinny Arsenal Powder Factory,” Army Ordnance, 

vol. VII, no. 37 (July-August 1926), (hereafter cited as Miles, “Powder 

Factory”).

32 “Powder Factory”, p. 11.

33 “Powder Factory”, p. 12.

34 Army Ordnance, vol. VII, no. 37 (July-August 1926), 76. Biographical details 

on the articles’ authors come from this page. Supplemental information on 

Harris comes from “Col. John P. Harris, ‘Mr. Picatinny’ dies,” Daily Advance

(Roxbury NJ), January 12, 1982.

35 Harris, “Loading,” p. 44.

36 Harris, “Loading,” p. 44.

37 Harris, “Loading,” p. 44.

38 Harris, “Loading,” pp. 45-46.

39 Harris, “Loading,” p. 46.

40 Harris, “Loading,” p. 46.

41 Harris, “Loading,” p. 47.

42 Harris, “Loading,” p. 47.

43 Harris, “Loading,” p. 47.

44 Harris, “Loading,” p. 48.

45 Harris, “Loading,” p. 48.

46 Major H. Z. Zornig, “Organization and Administration of Development 

Work at Picatinny Arsenal,” Army Ordnance, vol. VII, no. 37 (July-August 

1926), 19 (hereafter cited as Zornig, “Development”).

47 Zornig, “Development,” p. 19.

48 Zornig, “Development,” p. 19.

49 Zornig, “Development” p. 19.

50 Zornig, “Development”, pp. 18, 20, and ARDEC Museum (Picatinny 

Arsenal, NJ: US Army Armament Research and Development Center, n.d. 

but c.1986).
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51 Zornig, “Development,” p. 19.

52 Zornig, “Development,” pp. 20-21.

53 Zornig, “Development,” pp. 21-22.

54 Bain, “High Explosives,” pp. 49-50, and “Who’s Who at Picatinny: Clarence 

J. Bain,” News-Barrage, 9 February 1945.

55 Bain, “High Explosives,” pp. 50-51. Bain used the term “pentaterythrite”, 

but “pentarythritol” is more common. See “Pentarythritol Tetranitrate,” 

Encyclopedia of Explosives and Related Items (Dover, New Jersey: U.S. Army 

Research and Development Command, Large Caliber Weapon Systems 

Laboratory, 1978), vol. 8, P-86-P-121.

56 Bain, “High Explosives,” p. 50-51.

57 Bain, “High Explosives,” p. 51, and C. J. Bain, “Tetryl—Development of a 

Manufacturing Process at Picatinny Arsenal,” Army Ordnance, vol. VI, no. 36 

(May-June, 1925), 435 (hereafter cited as Bain, “Tetryl”).

58 Bain, “Tetryl,” pp. 435-436.

59 Bain, “Tetryl,” pp. 437. See Military Explosives, War Department Document 

No. 947 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1919), p. 129, for the 

original process.

60 Bain, “Tetryl,” pp. 437-438.

61 Bain, “Tetryl,” p. 438.

62 Bain, “Tetryl,” p. 438.

63 Bain, “Tetryl,” p. 438.

64 Bain, “Tetryl,” p. 439.

65 Bain, “Tetryl,” pp. 438-439.

66 Bain, “High Explosives,” pp. 51-52.

67 Marvin Carmack, “George Clyde Hale, Hoosier Chemist and Pioneer 

in Ordnance Research and the Early Chemistry of the Explosive, 

RDX,” revised draft of paper delivered to Annual Meeting of the Indiana 

Academy of Science at Manchester College, November 2, 1990, pp. 1-2. and 

“Cyclotrimethylenen-itramine, Cyclonite, or RDX,” in Basil R. Fedoroff and 

Oliver E. Sheffield, Encyclopedia of Explosives and Related Items, PATR 2700, 

Volume 3 (Dover, New Jersey: Picatinny Arsenal, 1966), C612. Professor 

Carmack kindly provided the copy of his paper in the ARDEC Historical 

Office file on George C. Hale.

68 Brayton, “Fuzes,” p. 30.

69 Brayton, “Fuzes,” p. 30.

70 Brayton, “Fuzes,” p. 30.

71 Brayton, “Fuzes,” pp. 30-31.

72 Brayton, “Fuzes,” p. 31.
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

108

73 Brayton, “Fuzes,” p. 31.

74 Brayton, “Fuzes,” p. 27

75 Brayton, “Fuzes,” pp. 27-28.

76 Brayton, “Fuzes,” p. 28.

77 Brayton, “Fuzes,” p. 29.

78 HCapt. Ira D. Crump, “Pyrotechnics,” Army Ordnance, vol. VII, no. 37 (JulyAugust, 1926), 24 (hereafter cited as Crump, “Pyrotechnics”), and “The 

History of Picatinny,” The Picatinny News, 6 November 1942.

79 Crump, “Pyrotechnics,” pp. 24-25.

80 Crump, “Pyrotechnics,” p. 25.

81 Crump, “Pyrotechnics,” p. 25.

82 Crump, “Pyrotechnics,” p. 25.

83 Crump, “Pyrotechnics,” pp. 25-26.

84 Crump, “Pyrotechnics,” p. 26.

85 Crump, “Pyrotechnics,” p. 26.

86 Crump, “Pyrotechnics,” p. 26.

87 Fred Olsen, “The Relation of Picatinny Arsenal to Field Service,” Army 

Ordnance, vol. VII, no. 37 (July-August, 1926), 53 (hereafter cited as Olsen, 

“Field Service”). In 1929, Olsen moved to Western Cartridge Company, 

later Winchester-Western. See A Brief History of Winchester Smokeless Propellants

at http://www.wwpowder.com/history.html.

88 Olsen, “Field Service,” p. 53.

89 Olsen, “Field Service,” pp. 55, 57.

90 Olsen, “Field Service,” p. 55.

91 Olsen, “Field Service,” 55.

92 Olsen, “Field Service,” p. 55.

93 Olsen, “Field Service,” pp. 55-56.

94 Olsen, “Field Service,” p. 56.

95 Olsen, “Field Service,” p. 56.

96 Olsen, “Field Service,” pp. 56-57.

97 Olsen, “Field Service,” p. 57.

98 H. S. Deck, “Safety in Explosives Plants,” Army Ordnance, vol. VII, no. 37 

(July-August, 1926), 33 (hereafter cited as Deck “Safety”).

99 Deck “Safety,” p. 34.

100 Deck “Safety,” p. 34.

101 Deck “Safety,” p. 35.
109

WAYS OF PEACE

102 Deck “Safety,” p. 35.

103 Deck “Safety,” p. 35.

104 Deck “Safety,” p. 36.

105 Deck “Safety,” p. 36.

106 Deck “Safety,” p. 36.

107 1931...History, Appendix, p. 9.

108 1931...History, Appendix, p. 3.

109 1931...History, Appendix, p. 11, lists the September event but not the August 

one. On this, see “Retort Explodes; 2 Hurt,” New York Times, 13 August, 

1921.

110 1931...History, Appendix, p. 5.

111 1931...History, Appendix, p. 9.

112 1931...History, Appendix, pp. 6, 10.

113 1931...History, Appendix, p. 9.

114 1931...History, Appendix, p. 8, 11.

115 “Flames Threaten Picatinny Arsenal,” New York Times, October 27, 1924.

116 1931...History, Appendix, p. 10.

117 “Man Killed by Arsenal Explosion,” The Daily Record, May 29, 1925, and 

1931...History, Appendix, p. 8.

118 Major John A. Brooks, Jr., “Personnel: Commendations for Heroic 

Conduct,” Army Ordnance, vol. VII, no. 37 (July-August 1926), 70-71.

119 1931...History, Appendix, p. 4.

120 Deck, “Safety,” p. 37.

121 John H. Gunther, untitled and undated memoir in ARDEC Historical Office 

files, Miscellaneous Biographies folder.

122 “Baker Retires After 20 Years,” The Picatinny News, July 10, 1942; Evaluation of 

Structures 1994, p. E-72, and Photos: Hospital Staff, B119 (Old 49), numbers 

S2-806 and S2-807 in ARDEC Historical Office Files.

123 Deck “Safety,” p. 37.

124 “Picatinny Wrecked,” Army Ordnance, vol. VII, no. 37 (July-August, 1926), 61.
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

110

Chapter 4

1926

The value of the real estate and plant at Lake Denmark Naval 

Ammunition Depot was $3,460,747.06 on 1 July 1925. It was roughly 

the same one year later, on 10 July 1926, when the depot contained stores 

and materials worth $84,399,506.29. By the end of the same day, the total 

value of real estate, plant, stores, and materials had decreased sharply.1

The Navy facility which had been Picatinny’s neighbor since 1891 

continued as a storage depot through World War I. After the war, became 

the repository for the Navy’s surplus large-caliber ammunition. In 1926, 

it covered 461 acres and had 160 buildings, 44 of them storing rounds 

Lake Denmark Naval Ammunition Depot, c.1920

Commander’s House (B-3250) foreground, Stable (B-3316) across road

110
111

1926

loaded with explosive. Although many of these facilities were temporary 

structures, they were fireproof and had lightning rods. The depot 

employed 73 civilians and had a Marine detachment numbering 80. At 

approximately 5:15pm on 10 July 1926, lightning struck and started a 

fire in temporary storehouse No. 8. Sailors and marines had just turned 

a stream of water on the flames when the storehouse blew at 5:20. Five 

minutes later, the explosives in temporary storehouse No. 9 about 150 

feet away, detonated. Embers, missiles, and heat from these blasts set off 

fires in other nearby buildings. At approximately 5:45pm came a third 

explosion at shell house 22.2

Mrs. Sophia Schrader, her husband, Lieutenant Herman C. Schrader, 

and their daughter Francis lived directly across from No. 8, and they and 

Mrs. Schrader’s visiting brother and sister-in-law went to the front porch 

when they heard the lightning strike. Mrs. Schrader noticed “the awful 

smoke coming out of the magazine.” She later recalled, “I shall never 

forget the look on my husband’s face. He went to the telephone and 

shouted back to us, ‘Run out, get to safety.’” Her last view of him was in 

his car driving toward the barracks and the depot powerhouse.3

William Skews, who had spent 23 of his 45 years at the powerhouse, 

was the engineer on duty. He remembered, “Lieutenant Schrader, 

blowing his horn loud and steady, brought me to the door,” where Skews 

“saw the wisp of smoke over the magazine, and I knew what was going to 

happen. I’ve been through these things before, but this is the worst ever.” 

He not only knew “what would happen,” but “what I ought to do next.”4

Temporary storehouse No. 8 was in the depot’s fourth district, and 

Skews blew its alarm, a whistle. He, then, noticed Marines reaching the 

burning building and Lieutenant Schrader going to join them. Skews sent 

fireman William Barris to deliver a message and had just begun readying 

his building for emergency work when the first blast threw him “200 

feet, clean out of the power house, and after I landed, I didn’t know 

anything for awhile.” Nine days later, he could not recall how he, Barris, 

and several others formed a group and surmounted a 12-foot wall topped 

by three feet of barbed wire. His first memory was of the Marines in 

the group going in an ambulance to Boonton while he and Barris rode 

in a vehicle driven by Richard Veal, a Newark man who had been in the 

area swimming. By then, they were near Marcella, about three miles from 

the depot.5

Private Maurice Hardaker spread the fire alarm for his sentry post by 

the gate facing Picatinny. He phoned the guard at the enlisted barracks 

and the inspector of the powerhouse and was in the middle of his 

required calls to depot offices when a fleeing Mrs. Gertrude Gately saw 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

112

him just before the blast. After it, “We didn’t see the sentry box again nor 

Hardaker.”6

James M. Weaver, a 19-year old Marine private, was changing clothes 

after returning from leave when he heard the alarm. Thinking the fire 

routine, he and five or six other Marines were pushing a hose cart toward 

the flames when the first storehouse blew, throwing Weaver’s comrades 15 

feet into the air and knocking the rubber boots off one of them. Weaver 

and two others started running. Rescuers found them on a mountain road 

Depot Main Gate Pre-Explosion

Depot Main Gate Post-Explosion
113

1926

near Oak Ridge and took Weaver to Patterson General Hospital. He had 

cuts and bruises all over his body, and the remnants of his shirt were 

around his feet.7

Mrs. Laura J. Clarke had come from Arkansas to the depot home 

of her son, Marine Corps Captain Burrel H. Clarke, and his two sons 

while the boys’ mother was taking tuberculosis treatments at a New York 

sanitarium. The lightning strikes convinced her “this was a dangerous 

place to be.” Her son was initially reassuring until a closer thunder clap 

made him think lightning had struck something at the depot. He and his 

next door neighbor, Lieutenant Commander Doctor Edward Brown, left 

to see what was happening. The first explosion occurred just as they drove 

off, blowing in windows and blowing out doors. Mrs. Brown suggested 

they leave, but Mrs. Clarke took time to change her dress. “‘So, I went 

upstairs, and while I was there, the second explosion happened. I grabbed 

up, of all things, a black silk slip, and started downstairs. It got as far as 

the landing and then saw that the rest of the stairs were gone. I had to 

jump.’” Mrs. Clarke had cuts on neck, shoulder, arm, and knee, then a 

brick hit her head and her next memory was of wandering on the parade 

ground. Mrs. Brown, who had gone home for her kittens, found her and 

the boys and drove them off the base.8

Along the way, Mrs. Brown spotted a man she had thought in the brig 

clearing wreckage. Asking who freed him, she learned, “There ain’t no 

more brig.”9

The Clarkes and Browns were among 53 people who took refuge at 

Charlottesburg, a colony of summer homes about 25 miles from Lake 

Denmark. Alton J. Hunter, a Marine Corps truck driver, delivered 37 of 

them. He drove his truck toward the fire after the first explosion, but the 

second sent him back to the barracks. He loaded as many women and 

children as he could in his vehicle and drove to safety. All the refugees had 

powder blackened skin, and one Marine arrived without clothes, the blast 

having removed everything, including shoes.10

The depot commander, Captain Otto C. Dowling, received word 

of the fire at his residence from one of Hardaker’s phone calls. Driving 

toward the fire, he saw black smoke but was not sure if it came from 

storehouse 1 or 8. As he stopped to take on some Marines, “My hand 

was on the door of my car. Then came a terrific flare. Both storehouses 

disappeared. I was knocked down on my face. I was dazed and blinded.”11

Private Casimir Kensick took Dowling’s arm and guided him to 

Picatinny. Kensick had been taking a hose cart to the fire with three other 

Marines when the first blast killed the others, destroyed the cart, and 

turned the hose to ash. Dowling reported Kensick had a chance to keep 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

114

going but stayed with his sightless commandant. Kensick asked if they 

should “get out,” but Dowling stated such action would be “shirking.” 

Dowling was “so dazed I did not hear the following explosions, but I could 

feel their impulses, and we were knocked to the ground several times. My 

eyesight began to clear. I looked around. The whole exploded area was 

ablaze, a terrible fire that leaped hundreds of feet into the air.” Dowling 

and Kensick returned to the power plant to try to form a plan of action 

and found Chief Clerk Henry D. Wadhams. Dowling ordered him to stay 

there while he and Kensick went to Dowling’s quarters. Dowling thought 

the “badly scorched” Kensick “partially bereft of his senses, but he stuck 

by me.” Dowling sent the private for more Marines but “I suppose he 

couldn’t find any.”12

Dowling did not find his family at home but presumed them safe. 

He did find the horses and mules stabled at the north end of his house 

running wild and too scared to catch. Wadhams, injured and dazed by the 

second explosion and worried about his own wife, showed up to report he 

could do nothing at the powerhouse because the steam pipes had broken. 

He and Dowling tried to douse a fire in a shed near the house, but the 

water pressure in the hose kept dropping. At this point, Dowling backed 

Temporary Storehouse No. 9 prior to explosion

(National Archives and Records Administration)
115

1926

a car out of the garage, sent Wadhams to phone the Third Naval District 

Headquarters in New York for help, and went looking for fires. He saw 

some 30 burning buildings, none with explosives. He tried to return to the 

fire area but had to stop at the Marine barracks. Dowling made his way 

to Dover General Hospital, had his eyes treated, and attempted to return 

to the depot. He made it to Picatinny where, finding he could do nothing, 

he opted to go back to the hospital.13

Dora Dowling was safe. The first explosion blew all the glass out of 

her back windows, wrecked plaster, and threw her to the floor. The second 

collapsed the roof just as she was going out the front door. Her home was 

by the back gate, a gate Captain Dowling had recently ordered locked to 

keep out bootleggers. Mrs. Dowling was surprised not to see the guards 

usually posted there with keys. She was wondering how she would get out 

when the third explosion toppled the gates. One newspaper charged the 

guards with fleeing and preventing many people from reaching safety. 

The same bulletin wrongly reported people battered down the gates with 

heavy timbers. The explosion had demolished a sentry box, threw gate 

guard Private George J. G. Bush 30 feet, and knocked him unconscious. 

He recovered and helped six civilians, including four children, climb a 

ladder and escape over a high wire fence.14

Private William Goss was driving a car about 50 yards from building 

25 at the time of the first blast. Jumping out of the sinking vehicle, he 

saw all its glass was gone even though he had seen and heard no 

breaking. Twelve days later, the car was still in a hole where a grassy knoll 

had been.15

The approximately 60 Marines in the barracks began running toward 

the fire when they heard the alarm, but the first explosion knocked them 

down. Private Ephraim P. Ervin, one of 25 Marines from the Brooklyn 

Navy Yard who arrived at Lake Denmark for target practice on Tuesday, 

6 July, heard an officer shout “Every one for himself ” and headed for 

Lake Picatinny. Ervin, four other marines, and a civilian launched a 

rowboat which sank due to holes from shell fragments. The six swam to 

the west bank of the lake with Ervin saving his buddy, Private Edward 

Roberts, from drowning. Later, around 7:30pm, Corporal Marvin Lewis 

and five other Marines arrived at the base and found they had to escape 

the magazine area by crossing Lake Picatinny. The only available boat 

was across the lake, and Lewis, the only swimmer of the six, swam for the 

boat and then returned with it for the others.16

Lenora Van Sickles was doing chores in her home across the road from 

the depot when the house collapsed on her. Her bother Alfred pulled her 

out. He had been in the garage when it split and covered him and his car 

with boards. They drove to Wharton where, looking in a store window, 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

116

she learned she was bruised, bleeding, and wearing shredded clothes. She 

had scars on her face 36 years later. Doctor H. W. Rice treated her. He 

had just delivered a baby to a woman living near the Dover-Wharton line 

a couple of miles from Picatinny. The explosion made the mother insist 

on going to a relative farther away. She and the doctor reached the new 

site only 20 minutes before the birth.17

About a hundred yards from the depot was the Mount Hope home 

of John Peterson and family. Peterson had just arrived home, hurrying 

to beat the rain. “As I reached the door, lightning flared. An instant later 

the very heavens and all the surrounding earth seemed to vomit flame. 

The volume of sound deafened me.” The first blast threw his wife and 

children across the room. They were all heading for the door when “‘a 

second detonation hurled us to the ground and brought down the rest of 

our home.” Rescue workers eventually found the Petersons and delivered 

them to Morristown Memorial Hospital. Injuries included John shocked 

and badly cut, Mrs. Peterson suffering from shock and a severed neck 

artery, 16-year-old Isabel badly shaken up, six-year-old John, Jr., shocked 

and blinded, and Eleanor, 17 days old, shocked and bruised.18

Ella, Josephine, and Catharine Buckley lived in a 75-year old house on 

a farm one-half mile from the depot. The first blast shook the house and 

sent the sisters running into the woods. They walked for three hours until 

another refugee gave them a lift. A fourth sister, who lived on Long Island, 

sent her three sons to the site where they found the house had collapsed. 

The men continued to search amidst still exploding ammunition but 

finally had to stop. They went to Dover where another relative told them 

the sisters were safe.19

“Bricky” Hosking was at his home in Wharton. “Everyone within 

miles of Picatinny Arsenal heard the first and two subsequent detonations. 

We at home were out of the house immediately and actually witnessed 

the ‘ball of fire’ of the second and third detonations. It seemed to form 

high in the sky and travel downward much like an atomic detonation 

which I witnessed some years later. Location of the fire ball led us to 

believe it was at Picatinny, but within an hour or so we were informed it 

was at the Navy Depot.”20

 Police in Washington, New Jersey, found an unnamed woman from 

Mount Hope wandering dazed on the highway between Washington 

and Highbridge. The blasts had destroyed her home. Gathering a few 

belongings but with no thought of her husband and children, she fled, 

apparently on foot, the seven miles to Dover and then took a cab to 

Jersey City. Evidently in shock, she spent the two days aimlessly roaming 

nearby communities until taking the bus to Highbridge. She, then, began 
117

1926

walking, apparently toward her home. The authorities put her on a train 

to Dover.21

The three miles between the depot and Rockaway Borough did not 

protect the community. The first blast stopped the tower clock at First 

Methodist Episcopal Church at 5:20 and shook the ground and shattered 

glass in the central business district. Despite the shock and flying glass, 

three operators at the telephone exchange in Gerard’s Drug Store stayed 

at their posts to handle the surge of calls. Some calls requested doctors 

and ambulances, some asked what had happened, and some advised the 

women to flee. Feeling the shock from the second explosion, they left the 

building. Seeing everyone running around outside convinced them phone 

service was a necessity, and they returned to work. A fourth woman came 

back from a break, and a clerk from the drug store and an operator from 

Lake Hopatcong who happened to be in town volunteered to help. The 

six women worked for nearly 36 hours with shells soaring over the town 

and debris dropping in it. AT&T would later boast of their heroics in 

its advertising.22

Glass shattered in buildings as far as Denville, four miles away, while 

there was serious damage to homes in Mountain Lakes, an elegant 

residential community just beyond Denville, and shattered glass and 

falling embers in Butler in the extreme northeast of Morris County. 

Decades later, a woman from Bloomingdale, just beyond Butler, told 

her children about motorists stopping and clearing debris from Main 

Street and about the maintenance man at Glenwild Lake who had just 

finished his spring cleanup when boards and other debris descended. At 

Denville, the shock was strong enough to throw the chief of police into 

the air while he was directing traffic on the town’s main highway and 

to completely destroy the large glass window covering almost the entire 

front entrance of Saint Mary’s Roman Catholic Church. Sharing a rock 

stratum with Lake Denmark was the reason Newfoundland, ten miles 

northeast of the depot, suffered serious damage. The extended distance 

and lack of damage in between made blaming the blasts for the fall of a 

house under construction in New Brunswick dubious.23

Help came from many sources. A National Guard detail from Trenton 

under Captain John H. McCullough and including Doctor Murray B. 

Kirkpatrick delivered 100 cots and 200 blankets for the more than 350 

refugees at the National Guard Armory in Morristown on 11 July. Doctor 

Kirkpatrick found more than 200 lying uncovered on the floor. The 

helpers, then, moved on to Picatinny.24

As the car carrying Major Mark O. Kimberling of the New Jersey 

State Police and Colonel Stanley H. Ford from the 16th Infantry on 

Governors Island, New York, approached the depot, a 5-inch shell landed 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

118

directly in front of it. A few minutes later, a shell fragment landed at their 

feet as they surveyed the ruins.25

Brooklyn Navy Yard detached 70 Marines who arrived within hours 

while Fort Jay in New York City provided troops to assist rescue work and 

prevent looting. Quantico, Virginia, sent 200 Marines on 11 June and 

another 200 on 12 July. Master Sergeant Robert Fry was playing baseball 

at Quantico at 6:35pm on 12 July when ordered north. He did not even 

shed his baseball uniform before boarding a De Havilland observation 

plane and flying to Washington to pick up Quartermaster Sergeant E. E. 

Lookout. They were in Garden City, Long Island, by 8:45pm. Lookout 

delivered photographs, fingerprints, and health and dental records to 

Lieutenant W. W. Scott, Jr., adjutant of the Brooklyn Navy Yard and 

the man responsible for identifying dead Sailors and Marines. Captain 

William R. Sayles from the Navy Yard took command of the depot from 

the injured Dowling and personally led patrols in search of dead bodies.26

Mrs. George R. Buck of Dover was one of the first civilian volunteers. 

She helped bandage wounds at the emergency hospital which the 

American Legion and its Women’s Auxiliary set up at the Dover Elks’ Club 

and later prepared a report on the role of local people and organizations 

during the emergency. Coordinating activities of many religious and civic 

groups were the Men’s and the Women’s committees, ad hoc groups of 

leading citizens. The National Red Cross, at the request of a committee 

formed by the mayor of Dover and advised by a panel of seven locals, 

took charge of relief efforts on 11 July and divided its efforts into two 

phases. The emergency period concentrated on rapid distribution of 

food, clothing, temporary shelter, and medical aid while the period of 

permanent rehabilitation required a more detailed assessment of needs 

and resources. Both phases were under the West Morris County Branch 

and drew on funds raised in surrounding towns. Miss Helen Headly 

and Mrs. L. T. Peck directed Red Cross activities from the U.S. Hotel in 

Morristown. At the end of July, the Red Cross issued checks to cover local 

expenditures prior to its taking charge. The earliest donations were of 

food and clothing, but a thousand dollar check from local philanthropist 

Geraldine R. Dodge on 13 July marked a shift to money offerings.27

On Sunday, 12 July, Secretary of the Navy Curtis D. Wilbur, escorted 

by Rear Admiral Charles P. Plunkett, commander of the Third Naval 

District, arrived, reviewed the situation, and issued a statement suggesting 

a lightning bolt caused the catastrophe. Wilbur had left his office so 

suddenly a clerk was in charge of the Navy Department for much of the 

weekend. Despite not knowing if the buildings had lightning conductors, 

Wilbur confidently stated they were “as well protected against such 

hazard as was humanly possible.” He described the 17 bodies discovered 
119

1926

so far as those of Marines doing their duty and running to the fire at the 

time of the first explosion. The secretary promised a board of inquiry 

with a broad mandate, including investigating the question of removing 

the facilities to less populated areas.28

The Navy and the Army announced an end to the danger of major 

explosions on 13 July. This did not stop a temporary deputy sheriff from 

dashing through neighboring Berkshire Valley telling people to evacuate. 

Soldiers from the 16th Infantry finally caught and detained him until 

his superiors could convince him of his error. Sightseers were already 

driving to the area on the 13th despite thirteen explosions between 3 and 

8 o’clock the same morning. These were from single large-caliber rounds 

or multiple small arms cartridges. Rain during the evening of the 13th 

quenched the remaining fires, but a Navy flyer spotted a new one near 

the remaining magazines on the morning of the 14th. Marines quickly 

doused it. More small arms cartridges detonated later in the day.29

Since the blast took place late Saturday afternoon, most newspapers 

did not carry reports until Monday, 12 July. However, the Newark Sunday 

Call of 11 July carried the headline “SKY RAINS DEATH, INJURY 

AND DESTRUCTION.” While it followed rumor in numbering the 

dead between 50 and 75 and the injured in the hundreds, it carried 

Refugees at Morristown
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

120

interviews with many eyewitnesses and reported facts and stories which 

other papers would later echo, including the death of Doctor Brown and 

the heroism of the Rockaway phone operators. The article did correctly 

identify a lightning bolt as the initial culprit and applied a metaphor 

later stories would stress when it compared the area to World War I 

ravaged Belgium.30

On Monday, two small installations in a remote part of New Jersey 

found themselves front page news throughout the area. The New York 

Herald Tribune’s headline screamed “10 Known Dead, 36 Missing, 

$100,000,000 Damage in Jersey Munitions Blast; Bursting Shells Bar 

Relief.” The 100 million figure was a press favorite, although the New 

York American came up with “86 MILLIONS!” The first accounts 

uniformly reported 10 known dead but numbered the missing at 

26, 36, 38, and 43. The Evening World put the injured at 200 while the 

Evening Graphic said 400. The Graphic had the highest damage figure, 

$200 million.31

 Lawrence T. Clarke, an East Orange photographer, felt the shock of 

the first explosion about 18 miles away on a golf course near Caldwell, 

New Jersey, and drove to Mount Hope. He arrived at 7:45pm and, 

courtesy of daylight saving time, was able to shoot the scene from the 

top of a tall tree. Shells were falling in the bushes when he arrived, and 

he had to promise the guards he would be responsible for his own safety 

before they let him pass.32

American writer Louis W. Fehr claimed the honor of first reporter 

in the “Shock Zone,” a distinction he shared with Harry Drucker, a 

photographer who supplied stills for the American and films to International 

Newsreels. After a 16-hour wait, they entered the depot via Picatinny on 

Sunday, 11 July. Captain Ira D. Crump, the Pyrotechnics chief, was one 

of their escorts. Brigadier General Hugh Drum, the World War I veteran 

commanding at the scene, greeted them with, “You’ll find it like the 

Western Front. Shell holes and everything.” A Drucker photo carried the 

caption “New ‘NOMAN’S LAND.’” The journalists encountered their 

first shell hole about 200 yards inside the gate, the result of a 12-inch 

shell hitting the golf course. They had hardly entered the arsenal grounds 

before “the smell of powder began to sting.”33

Accompanying Drum were Secretary of War Dwight F. Davis, Major 

General Charles P. Summerall, commander of Second Corps Area, 

and Brigadier General Clarence C. Williams, Chief of the Ordnance 

Department. Davis had been visiting on Long Island at the time of the 

blasts. The party repeatedly had to take cover from exploding shells and 

made its command post at the Burnt Meadow Inn about four miles from 

the blast area.34
121

1926

New York Daily News writer Jack Reilley disputed Fehr’s claim of 

priority on the explosion ground. He reported how he, photographer 

Al Willard, and an unnamed editor found an unused, heavily wooded 

back road early in the morning of 11 July and made their way in the 

dark without lights for eight miles before reaching the gate. Photographer 

Willard took his first photos by flashlight but soon had more illumination 

than he wanted from exploding14-inch shells. The party changed 

location with alacrity. Willard shot from atop a 300-foot steel water tower 

by Captain Dowling’s residence until more explosions suggested retreat. 

Reilley reported the group stayed on the installation for five hours, until 

9:00am, without meeting anyone. He was another who could not resist 

“no man’s land” imagery.35

All newspapers made a point of reporting their peoples’ exposure 

to danger and the on-the-spot coverage, but thieves probably beat the 

journalists to the scene. Looters were active early, and officers returning 

home found medals and gold braid stripped from their uniforms.36

Approximately 30 cameramen arrived in time to allow audiences in 

Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Newark theaters to watch newsreels of the 

disaster during the afternoon and evening of 11 July. Motion picture 

cameraman John A. Bockhorst and still photographer M. A. Baron, both 

of International Newsreel, flew over the depot on the morning of the 11th 

to take the first aerial photos of the blast zone. Captain R. L. Berry of the 

Navy contacted the company for copies which General Drum, Admiral 

Plunkett, and other brass viewed in a makeshift theater. The officers used 

the films to determine which magazines had blown and which were in 

danger of blowing and to plan their next moves.37

Fehr was back late Monday morning as one among 75 reporters and 

photographers on an arranged tour. Their 14 cars stopped a quarter of a 

mile before where Fehr had gone the previous day and spent 20 minutes 

studying the wrecked home of the arsenal’s chief pipe fitter at the foot of 

Picatinny Peak. Army minders permitted reporters but not photographers 

to climb the peak. From there, Fehr saw gray smoke had replaced flames 

over most of the area. He heard only a few shells explode.38

In addition to building damage, there were many dead birds and 

rabbits, victims of concussion and shock. Chickens spotted in the rear of 

an officer’s quarters had lost their feathers but not their lives. Reporters 

fed and watered a black spaniel at the house of John Williams, an arsenal 

engineer who had been in Dover with this family when the blasts occurred. 

The dog adamantly refused to desert his post.39

Despite the continuing danger, immigrant iron-mine workers 

evacuated from in and around Mount Hope were anxious to return 

home. The small box houses were all they had. At 3:00pm on 12 July, 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

122

after much pleading, a military escort took one man home to feed his 

chickens. He found the chickens alive, but his house lacked windows and 

his furniture was under the plaster from ruined ceilings. He left with a suit 

and two shirts for himself and a dress for his wife.40

“Bricky” Hosking joined a crowd at the arsenal entrance on Monday, 

12 July. Soldiers who had arrived on Sunday, 11 July, were keeping 

people out, but an officer recognized him and sent him to the temporary 

administrative office on the arsenal commander’s front porch. His first 

tasks were helping the chief of the smokeless powder area stop the flow of 

acids from punctured tanks and finding serviceable replacement tanks.41

To prove the area safe, the Army gave reporters another tour in the 

evening of Tuesday, 13 July. It began in Mount Hope at 6:00pm and 

then went into the Navy and the Army installations. Reporter Fehr found 

the devastation “like earthquake and hurricane damage.” There was no 

evidence of fire damage in Mount Hope despite its closeness to the bases. 

The miners had begun returning to the area the same day, but Fehr saw 

few of them. He did see “dozens of cows, a few horses, innumerable 

chickens and two pheasants.” There were dogs of various breeds guarding 

the properties of absent owners. Miners who had returned were working 

on pens and coops to hold the animals. The homes were lost causes. Fehr 

found most could not speak English.42

Across from the depot, Alfred Van Sickles was surveying his wrecked 

home. In the same area were the houses of A. C. Cook, formerly a brown 

shingled bungalow, and A. J. Kock. A small American flag still flew on 

Kock’s fence. Nearby, the blasts had not only destroyed a house but had 

blown away a storehouse to reveal the owner’s still.43

When the smoke cleared, the Institute of the Makers of Explosives 

oversaw compilation of a detailed report which made vivid the destruction 

on both installations and in the surrounding communities.44

Storehouses 8 and 9 were one-story hollow-tile or brick-and-hollowtile structures with wooden roof boards and roof sheeting supported by 

steel trusses and purlins. No. 8 had contained 2,106 50-pound cast TNT 

depth charges with detonators removed, 850 TNT-loaded aerial bombs, 

1,800 300-pound TNT depth charges, and 100 25-pound Mark I bombs. 

These held 670,000 pounds of explosives. No. 9 had held over 1.6 million 

pounds of TNT, 1.25 million in 50-pound boxes and 350,000 in 10-pound 

boxes plus some 150 Mark IV aircraft bombs with 250 pounds of TNT 

in each. The explosion in shell house 22 set off over 180,000 pounds of 

TNT loaded in bombs and in 5, 8, and 14-inch shells. There were fuzes 

in the shells.45

“This building, together with is foundation, has completely 

disappeared,” was a finding repeated for building after building. There 
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1926

were two large craters where No. 8 had been, one in place of 9. In the 

case of 22, “There were three distinct sub-craters in the big crater where 

this building was located; two of which were deep and well defined, and 

the third shallow but distinct.”46

Almost every building within 3,000 feet of 8 and 9 suffered complete 

destruction while the ones from there to the depot boundary, about 5,600 

feet, received limited damage because they held no explosives. Only 

slightly damaged were 18 subsurface magazines 2,200 to 4,000 feet from 

the main blasts. These 18’x12’ concrete structures were in the hillside and 

had stone-face retaining walls in front and concrete roofs covered with 

dirt. A retaining wall 1,200 feet from the blast lost a few stones.47

Storehouses in the south area of the depot typically had concrete 

foundations, tile or hollow-tile and brick walls of varying thickness, steel 

roof trusses resting either directly on the walls or on light steel columns in 

the walls, steel purlins, and one-inch roof sheathing covered with asbestos 

shingles, asbestos paper, or tar roofing. “In many instances all that was 

left of the buildings were bent and twisted structural steel members and 

remains of the crushed and demolished walls. Except in the buildings 

where explosions actually occurred concrete foundations and floors were 

almost undamaged.”48

The powerhouse, a brick building1850 feet from the blast with steel 

roof trusses and four-inch cinder concrete roof slabs covered with slate, 

suffered a crushed roof. Survival of the brick walls owed much to the roof 

crushing rather than offering resistance. As a rule, brick walls survived 

better than tile ones. A brick stack at the back of the powerhouse was 

almost intact except for a crack of 15 to 20 feet at the top. Now Picatinny 

building 3013, its brick walls sport a stucco covering. The Navy’s brick 

administration building, 1,700 feet front the blast, survived and still 

stands, although reduced in size and remodeled.49

At 3,300 and 3,500 feet respectively were temporary building number 

7 and magazine number 5, both brick structures with steel roof trusses. 

Structural steel roofs added missile hazards to other dangers. “Sections of 

roof beams and pieces of angles and other structural steel badly twisted 

and beat were noticed everywhere on the depot grounds. Most of the 

sections that were noticed were from four to seven feet long and would 

have penetrated any light roof construction.”50

Uphill 3,200 feet from the blasts was the wooden-frame Marine 

barracks. It collapsed from fire at 11:00am Sunday morning, over 

seventeen hours after the first explosion. Two brick houses near it suffered 

partly wrecked walls and roofs, but the frame dispensary only had damage 

to its interior plaster board.51
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

124

Several residences had formed a semicircle around temporary 

storehouses 8 and 9. “All were demolished and furniture, clothing and 

other contents were a mass of debris.” The depot commander’s house at 

the top of the hill and 4,360 feet from the main blasts “was not seriously 

damaged” except for “falling plaster, breaking windows and doors,” but 

the shocks destroyed most of the family’s household good. Dora Dowling 

might have questioned the “not seriously” categorization from her 

viewpoint in the middle of the falling plaster and broken glass. Reporter 

Reilley described the rear of the house as a wreck. The brick stable 

across the road survived substantially intact.52 Today, these still stand as 

Picatinny’s most architecturally impressive structures.

Storehouses in the north portion of the depot were Austin buildings, 

structures having concrete foundations, 8-inch hollow-tile walls with 

pilasters under the trusses, steel trusses or girders, steel rafters sheathed 

with roof boards and paper roofing, and, in some cases, light steel columns 

on the pilasters. The damage here showed “clearly the lack of structural 

strength of tile under shock. The roofs were not so badly damaged but 

the tile and side walls were crushed in with, in many instances, part of the 

side walls hanging to the still standing roof.”53

Moving from the Navy depot to the Army arsenal, investigators found 

more of the same. Almost every building on Picatinny suffered damage 

Explosion Aftermath
125

1926

because they were below the explosion sites and had nothing between 

them and the blasts except an occasional tree. They also took hits from an 

assortment of missiles, including stones, pieces of railroad ties and roof 

trusses, and loaded projectiles. The missiles did little damage, but some 

rounds exploded after impact. The examining board, thinking the rounds 

unarmed and the impact not very severe, attributed these detonations to 

heat not penetrating to the main charge until after impact. A providential 

wind change spared Picatinny the Navy depot’s extensive fire damage.54

The blasts demolished most buildings directly downhill and between 

1,000 and 2,000 feet away. The completely wrecked included a frame 

guard headquarters, a frame and corrugated iron garage, a frame 

searching shed, a frame and corrugated iron cotton picker and dry house, 

a frame stable and shed, a frame nitrocellulose nitrating fan and pump 

house, a four-story, hollow-tile nitrocellulose nitrating house, and a twostory boiling tub house with tile walls and wooden roof trusses and floor 

beams. The blasts and a fire took care of most of building 38, originally 

Magazine No. 3, but left its end walls standing. A frame shed 1,100 feet 

from the blows went down, but the tanks it sheltered survived, as did 

several outside tanks which remained on their foundations.55

Located about 1,500 feet from the main explosion was Picatinny’s 

powerhouse. The brick structure dated from 1906 and had steel interior 

columns and roof trusses, steel supported floors, a concrete roof slab, and 

slag roofing. Its north and south ends suffered serious damage, but the 

central section, including two stacks survived, as did the coal conveying 

system on the south end and the ash skip hoist on the north. Investigators 

attributed this to steel construction, interior bracing, and a relatively 

flat roof.56

Survival of the brick end wall and part of another wall of the main 

office building, also 1,500 feet from the blasts, “gave further evidence 

of the strength of a substantial and well built brick wall.” Still, the loss 

of its rear addition and of the end away from the explosions meant the 

building would see no further use. The laboratory, 2,050 feet from the 

blasts, was beyond salvage even though its brick walls remained upright.57

Three of the Millwright Shop’s four brick walls survived. The destroyed 

wall was the one away from the explosions and was probably a casualty of 

the way air pressure struck the building. Blast pressure collapsed the roof 

and twisted its trusses. The machinery remained intact.58

Forty pounds of dry guncotton in a small building northwest of 

the main office exploded and wrecked the building while 50 pounds of 

moisturized gun cotton in a nearby building did not explode but burned 

with the structure. One hundred pounds of nitrocellulose in an alcohol 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

126

solution and fifteen pounds of nitrocellulose paste suffered no damage 

even though the building holding them fell.59

Strong interior bracing was the reason a raw materials storehouse 

1,800 feet from the blasts fared better than its demolished neighbors even 

though more exposed. The three-story building had a steel frame set on 

concrete foundations for its first-story side walls along with steel columns 

in concrete, steel floor beams, a reinforced concrete roof slab, and a 

practically flat slag roof. The only severe damage was to the tile curtain 

walls of the upper stories.60

The damage report used a storehouse 1,850 feet from the main blasts 

to push one of its main arguments. The steel roof trusses on the side 

toward the explosions collapsed and pulled down the entire roof while 

the wall remained upright. “The roof trusses in this case appeared to be 

of about ordinary construction and designed to withstand ordinary wind 

pressures, snow loads, etc. with about one-quarter pitch, but evidently 

the trusses were not strong enough to withstand the tremendous pressure 

exerted on the roof surface and transmitted by the purloins to the trusses.” 

The slanted roof may have reduced pressures from snow loads, but it was 

not equal to a flat roof in withstanding explosion waves.61

DAMAGE AT PICATINNY

Powder Factory
127

1926

Explosive D Recrystallization Building

Laboratory
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

128

Tetryl Nitrate Building

Picatinny Main Office
129

1926

High Explosive Control Laboratory

Small Arms Powder Blender
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

130

Shed and Flatcar

Storehouse
131

1926

The report had high praise for the survival skills of concrete. The 

concrete partition wall in a poacher house 1,400 feet from the blasts only 

tilted slightly at its top while the rest of its building lay on the ground. The 

wall provided a measure of shelter for a neighboring guncotton storehouse 

which, joined with the building’s location in a hollow, prevented all 

damage except ripped-off doors. A large section of the concrete roof slab 

on a refrigerating house about 1,750 feet from the blast did not break 

even when the tile walls under it collapsed, so there was little damage 

to equipment.62

The area 2,000 to 3,000 feet from the main blasts included many 

manufacturing buildings. One of these was building 43, a bag loading 

plant built around Magazine No. 2. The original one-story 1884 structure 

now had a two-story annex with 18-inch brick walls, steel roof trusses, a 

false ceiling of tile arches between steel beams, and a corrugated iron 

roof laid on steel purloins and with a slope of one-quarter in one. The 

collapsing roof trusses penetrated the ceiling, and the brick walls suffered 

serious damage. Still, the walls stood and the building, after several 

remodelings and additions, is today headquarters for the installation.63

Nearby was building 49, the infirmary. Its brick walls remained intact 

despite a partially crushed slate roof. A photo of the damage suggests a 

flying projectile rather than blast pressure hit the roof.64

Infirmary (B-119)
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132

The TNT purification, tetryl manufacturing, and ammonium picrate 

manufacturing buildings, three-story brick structures with steel frames on 

concrete foundations, were still in sound condition, and the equipment 

they sheltered escaped serious damage.65

A brick storehouse 2,850 feet from the blasts had very heavy lower 

walls finished with concrete seven feet high and a stone coping around 

the building. Above the coping, the walls were lighter but with pilasters. 

On the side facing the railroad track, the building had heavy concrete 

buttresses about seven feet high on each side of its three doors. There 

were steel roof trusses with plank sheeting and a slate roof. Investigators 

suspected the collapse of the roof trusses on the side facing the explosion 

caused the partial collapse of the wall on the same side. The other walls 

remained almost intact. A nearby storehouse of similar construction 

showed similar damage, apparently from the same cause. A third such 

storehouse fared better because the second one shielded it.66

Blast pressure almost disintegrated the concrete slab roof on the 

machine shop. This was good for the building because the pressure 

did not travel through the purloins to the trusses. Purloins and trusses 

remained “in almost perfect condition and the walls, not subjected to all 

kinds of pressure by the collapsing trusses, were practically intact.”67

A storehouse a hundred feet closer to the blasts than the machine 

shop had the same exposure and similar construction, including 18-inch 

brick walls, but its roof trusses collapsed when pressure on the roof went 

through its 2-inch sheathing to the purloins. The pressure also kicked out 

a side wall.68

The condition of the carpenter shop and similarly constructed 

buildings led to the conclusion “that the pressure exerted on the corrugated 

iron roofing, which was only supported on the purloins with no sheathing 

between, was transmitted to the purloins which held and further to the 

trusses which collapsed.” In contrast, additional bracing by heavy iron 

beams anchored in brick walls held the walls of the component parts 

shop in alignment. The roof showed the expected crushing on the side 

toward the blasts although the 2-inch roof sheathing remained intact.69

The Pyrotechnic Area had “mostly small buildings of frame 

construction, which were more or less wrecked.” Some fared better than 

others. A brick, one-story solvent recovery house with brick partition 

walls, 1.5-inch roofing boards on wooden rafters, and a corrugated iron 

roof suffered a shattered roof, but its walls only cracked in places. Tray 

and vapor dry houses, both frame buildings with corrugated iron inside 

linings, fell under the heading “wrecked but not entirely demolished” 

because their interior partitions braced them.70
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1926

A storehouse 3,200 feet away with the same construction features 

as the storehouse 2,850 feet away suffered similar damage, including 

collapse of the roof and three walls. Only its south gable end remained 

standing. A shop building at a distance of 3,300 feet bared better except 

for caving in of the side facing the explosions and collapse of the roof 

trusts into the tile ceiling. The walls remained almost intact thanks to the 

cross I-beams supporting the ceiling.71

A shell machine shop with 18-inch brick walls, brick pilasters, 2-inch 

wooden roof sheathing covered with slate, and steel roof trusses and 

purloins survived with walls intact, roof trusses only slightly bent, and 

roof sheathing in good shape except for a small opening at the ridge. 

Investigators attributed the slight damage to the building not directly 

facing the explosion site and being 3,800 feet away. Two nearby shops 

of the same construction suffered even less, but two large buildings with 

light steel frames and steel sheathing were almost complete wrecks. A 

frame shed of light construction was a complete wreck despite 4,000 feet 

separating it and the explosions.72

Several structures beyond the 3,000-foot mark but still on the east 

side of Lake Picatinny collapsed completely. All were hollow-tile buildings 

with corrugated iron roofs on wooden rafters and 8-inch tile walls. They 

housed testing galleries, a photography shop, a storehouse, and the 

ballistics laboratory. A nitrocellulose dry house of similar construction 

had a crushed roof, but its walls were intact because trees and the lay of 

the land sheltered it.73

Substantially built structures more than 4,000 feet from the blasts 

suffered little. The barn and the quarters for the commander and his 

two ranking assistants suffered only broken windows and plaster. Major 

Ramsey was going out the door to check on the fire alarm when he 

objects flying through the air told him there had been an explosion. He 

suffered a cut hand from diving to the floor just before the shock waves 

reached him. The family did not have its personal goods shattered as had 

the Dowlings because they had already crated them in preparation for 

moving to a new assignment at the end of the month.74

Ramsey’s home abutted the golf course. It was Saturday, so there 

were players, both military and local residents, on the links in the late 

afternoon. All escaped injury from the falling debris which riddled 

the course.75

The hollow-tile storehouses in the southern part of the arsenal 

survived, although their sloping roofs bulged on the sides toward 

the explosions and several had portions of their walls collapse. These 

buildings had 8-inch tile walls and roofs supported by wooden rafters. 

Similar roof bulges and tile damage appeared on the 50 small buildings 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

134

of similar construction in the extreme west of the installation. Most 

were storehouses, but a few housed experimental loading of primers and 

detonators and others fulminate of mercury manufacture.76

Unsurprisingly, the investigators concluded the severity of damage 

to Picatinny buildings varied according to distance from the explosions, 

structural strength, and the kind of barriers between the buildings and 

the explosions. They reemphasized “positively that the peaked type of 

roof was the weakest part of the building.”77

As for the roof trusses, “they appeared to be of the ordinary strength 

and spacing, probably designed to withstand a maximum wind velocity 

of 100 miles per hour, which with most of the roofs having 1⁄4 pitch would 

be equivalent of a perpendicular pressure of about 24 lbs. per sq. ft.” 

This was the expected pressure from a wind storm exerting its force in 

a horizontal direction. The explosive waves struck the sloping roofs at 

right angles. “The wave velocity varied but in some cases undoubtedly 

exceeded 100 miles per hour. Even a 100 mile per hour gale striking the 

roof in the direction it did would have created a pressure of 50 to 60 lbs. 

per square foot.”78

Other factors mitigated damage even when the trusses could not 

handle the pressure. “The steel frame flat roof buildings such as 325, 326, 

327 and 328, showed remarkable strength, particularly when the interior 

was well braced by beams, supporting floors and to noticeable extent, by 

concrete floors at the different levels as compared with wooden floors laid 

on steel girders.”79

The damage report squarely opted for reinforced concrete as the 

material to resist explosion damage with substantial brick walls the second 

choice. “Light structural steel buildings of the unit knock-down type, 

such as buildings 316 and 317, were absolutely valueless under shock and 

pressure as here occurred.” Furthermore,

The light tile walls did not have sufficient structural strength to 

withstand the shock and the action of the collapsing roof. On 

the other hand, the tile ceiling arches in some of the buildings at 

Picatinny showed excellent results, being strengthened by the steel 

beams carrying the arches spaced comparatively close together. 

For the purpose of curtain walls or similar walls in a substantial 

structural steel or reinforced concrete frame building, tile may be 

used but it should not be placed in long or high span walls and 

never be depended upon in those circumstances for structural 

strength.80

Unlike the press, the investigators’ coverage of damage off 

government property was unsensational. Journalists try to humanize 

catastrophe, bureaucrats to sterilize it. Aiming for a scientific study of 
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1926

the effects of explosion waves at a distance, the report could describe 

damage to a house without even suggesting someone lived in it. It led 

off by noting the 14 houses between the Cannon Gate and the Union 

Turnpike, 1.5 and 2.5 miles from the blasts, suffered no damage “other 

than the knocking down of plaster, the breaking of a few windows, and a 

door or two pulled out.” Marine Quartermaster Sergeant Warren Laise 

Granger used the sentry box at the Cannon Gate to receive and send 

messages for some 25 hours after the explosion while shells and other 

debris fell around him. Southwest from Picatinny was the most favored 

direction, with “no damage outside of an occasional pane of glass being 

broken.” Spicertown and Wharton had “practically no damage at all,” 

but this had not stopped an unauthorized Paul Revere from spending the 

night of 10 July telling Wharton residents to evacuate. Decades later, a 

woman who was a little girl in 1926 remembered everybody in Wharton 

heading for Pennsylvania.81

Three frame houses and their outbuildings in a corner of the 

ammunition depot about 2,500 to 2,700 feet from the blasts had their roofs 

fall in and some, described as “those of flimsy construction,” collapsed. 

In contrast, “five or six fairly well constructed frame residences and 

bungalows” on Mount Hope Road only “had the upper portions of the 

houses pulled out and roof supports damaged.” These included the Van 

Sickles and Peterson homes. Other frame dwellings at the foot of the hill 

in Mount Hope suffered damaged roofs and loose siding while a nearby 

church “did not suffer any external damage but was considerably ripped 

to pieces inside.” This would have been by the Mount Hope Mine, and 

the church would have been the one erected by the mining company for 

its workers in 1868. Between Picatinny and the church were two or three 

farm houses and barns, several dwellings, and a number of bungalows 

which “all had roofs seriously damaged, porches pulled out, and sidings 

damaged.” Immigrant miners would have resided in this area.82

Mount Hope the village enjoyed the protection of Mount Hope 

the mountain so its buildings experienced only “slight” plaster and 

glass breakage. A hill sheltered “a collection of cheap frame dwellings” 

between the miners’ church and Mount Hope and the total damage 

amounted to “a few broken rafters, windows and doors pulled loose.” On 

a hill the other side of Mount Hope were three or four frame dwellings. 

Most of these suffered window, door, and plaster damage but one in a 

very exposed position required new roof supports and coverings.83

The village of Beach Glen, a group of frame houses and barns 3.75 

miles from the depot, suffered only knocked down plaster and broken 

glass. The village of Hibernia was a half-mile closer to the blasts than 

Beach Glen and consisted of mostly cheap frame structures with a few 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

136

better built residences and a frame church. Here was more plaster and 

glass damage plus pulling out of doors and windows. Several residents 

received cuts from flying glass while one child suffered an injury from the 

bricks of a collapsing chimney. Authorities evacuated Hibernia.84

Houses on the road between Hibernia and Lake Denmark, including 

two two-story frame homes in sight of the depot’s water tower, suffered 

the expected damage to plaster, windows, and doors damage, and a 

ramshackle frame barn had its sides pulled loose. By the lake itself, about 

two miles from the blasts, were four or five houses. The apparently good 

construction of a comparatively new two-story frame structure did not 

prevent it sharing the window, plaster, and door damage of the others. 

Scattered on the crest of a hill across the valley to the northeast 2.25 miles 

from the blasts were a group of houses, most of them frame bungalows. 

Almost all of these had minor damage, but a two-story frame cottage 

suffered severe wrenching with its sides separated from the floors along 

with cracked rafters and loosened doors and windows. The two people 

in the house received “a few slight scratches” from flying glass, and there 

were reports of others in this area similarly injured. One of the bungalows 

shifted on its foundation.85

Damage in Rockaway Borough included the breaking of all the plate 

glass in the main business district, the area of the telephone exchange, 

and of many windows in residences. Two or three churches, in addition 

to First Methodist, had broken windows and pulled out frames. “There 

was a row of cheap frame houses in the lower end of town, probably 4 

miles away from the explosion, which had the roofs slightly damaged and 

some chimneys knocked down.”86

Many lived because 10 July 1926, was a Saturday, and the blast 

occurred in the afternoon. At the time, government employees usually 

worked Saturday mornings. In addition, about half the 80 Sailors and 

Marines at the Navy depot were off the base. They had received their pay 

in the morning and those without duty were off spending their money.87 

On a normal work day, the body count would have reached the hundreds.

The dead numbered nineteen, sixteen of them Sailors and Marines 

who went to fight the fires and, so, ran into the explosions. The one 

Picatinny fatality was Second Lieutenant George W. Bott, Jr., an officer 

caught in the collapsing beater house. There were two civilian deaths. 

One was Ida Wadhams, the wife of the chief clerk. The family lived in 

a two-story stucco house about 300 feet from storehouses 8 and 9. Mrs. 

Wadhams seemingly survived the first explosion and sought shelter in the 

basement. The second explosion destroyed the building, and workers dug 

her body out on 13 July.88
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1926

The other civilian death was Mrs. Francis Feeney, a Brooklyn woman 

who chose the wrong time to visit her sister, the wife of Chief Gunner 

Joseph Mathias Gately. She and her family were fleeing on foot when an 

automobile with four men heading from the depot to Picatinny picked up 

her and her baby. The second explosion threw everyone from the vehicle. 

The baby survived with only scalp lacerations, but Mrs. Feeney died in 

the hospital of injuries from falling debris. Chief Gunner Gately died in 

the blasts while Mrs. Gately and Mrs. Feeney’s husband and her other 

child suffered serious injuries. A ring on his finger identified Gately.89

Early reports predicted the body of Jack Sexton, foreman of 

Picatinny’s stables, his wife, and their five children would be under the 

rubble. At the first blast, Sexton sent his wife and two teenage children 

ahead while he collected the three younger children. All made their way 

through the woods to Rockaway, shredding skin and clothing along the 

way. They hitched a ride to Sexton’s sister’s home in Morristown and were 

out of touch with arsenal authorities from Saturday evening until they 

returned on Monday to see what they could salvage. It was not much.90

The dead included Gately, Mrs. Clarke’s son, and Mrs. Brown’s and 

Mrs. Schrader’s husbands. Along with Private Hardaker, Marines and 

Sailors killed in the line of duty were Pharmacist Mate Harry C. Brown, 

Corporal Frederick J. Rachford, Trumpeter Mason D. Eidson, and 

Privates Ralph V. P. Graham, John W. Monroe, Frank G. Weber, Virgle 

C. Barker, Henry D. Mackert, Jr., Orlando M. Alfson, Ernest Powell, and 

John M. Little.91

Lake Denmark civilian and military personnel injured totaled 51, 

including Captain Dowling, Private Kensick, Chief Clerk Wadhams, 

and the Feeney family. Dowling had eye injuries which required multiple 

surgeries in the following years. One piece of good news was a doctor’s 

prediction of restored eyesight for young John Peterson.92

Picatinny’s Captain John P. Harris received one of the less life 

threatening injuries. He had just reached his quarters after the thunder 

had cut short his round of golf with Commander Brown and was taking 

a shower when one of the blasts sent a two-inch piece of glass into his 

buttocks. Harris did not discover the sliver until he drove an officer’s wife 

to the hospital in Dover Hospital. A blast had knocked her unconscious. 

The wound did not prevent Harris from joining railroad engineer Jim 

Stryker in a reconnaissance of the installation the next day. Although 

they concluded stopping the fires was hopeless, the search for bodies 

started the same afternoon.93

 All sixteen Navy and Marine dead received the Navy Cross, as did 

Quartermaster Sergeant Granger, Corporal Lewis, and Privates Kensick 

and George J. G. Bush. Captain Dowling received the Distinguished 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

138

Service Medal. The Navy Board of Inquiry recommended a citation 

for Wadhams. At Picatinny, Soldier’s Medals went to Colonel Ramsey, 

Major Zornig, Captain Harris, Captain Joel G. Holmes of the Explosives 

Department, Staff Sergeant Arlie L. Downey, Technical Sergeant 

Christian J. Vogt, and Doctor Baker. The War Department notified the 

men of the honor in 1927, but Holmes, Harris, Baker, and Vogt did not 

receive the actual medals until April 1931. On 6 March 1928, the Chief of 

Ordnance issued citations for bravery to Assistant Chief of Production E. 

Williams and Assistant Fire Chiefs Isidor Yamin and Thomas E. James.94

The Navy board’s report listed neither the Petersons nor other offinstallation casualties. The head of Red Cross activities in Dover, T. R. 

Buchanan, put the number of civilians hurt either financially or physically 

between 1,000 and 3,000 and the number requiring medical treatment 

at 86. By the 29 July, a separate board under Rear Admiral Francis N. 

Harris received over 3,000 claims for personal or property injury against 

the Navy and a second board worked well into August adjudicating 

them. A member of the board found many “of a trivial nature, and a 

few somewhat ridiculous.” The bill authorizing payment for the claims 

passed Congress four years later. The allowed $4,381.00 for civilian 

property damage claims against requests for $5,542.62, $321.00 for 

military personal property damage, and $18,031.38 against a requested 

$51,702.00 in personal injury claims. Mrs. Gately received $10,612.00 for 

several wounds and permanent disability to her right hand and deafness 

to her right ear. Her brother-in-law, Amato E. Feeney, received $1,127.50 

for property damage, medical care, and his wife’s funeral expenses. He 

had requested $2,010.50. The largest claim denied was for $200,000.00 

from a woman whose husband died from heart disease 10 months after 

the blast.95

The explosions scared many citizens, and their representatives 

were vocal. First in press was United States Senator Walter Edge. He 

denounced the storage of high explosives in populated areas on the day 

after the blast. Edge could claim his record on the issue predated the 

explosion. Two years earlier, he had pushed for an appropriation to move 

munitions to a new depot in Utah, but the proposal never made it out 

of committee. The Navy’s subsequent transfer of some Lake Denmark 

munitions to an isolated storehouse in Utah was a response to rising 

tensions with Japan, not to Edge’s motion. The senator attacked the War 

Department’s argument of the need to have ammunition stores available 

at various points around the nation by saying peacetime was different 

and claiming the government could quickly make new arrangements 

when war began. He feared a similar event at Raritan Arsenal, a place he 

thought stored more munitions than Lake Denmark.96
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1926

Others quickly boarded the bandwagon. On Monday, New Jersey 

Governor A. Harry Moore announced his plan to appeal to the legislature 

to remove all munitions stores from his state and advised State Senator 

Frank Abell of Morris County of his intention. United States Senator 

Edward I. Edwards trumpeted, “For the Government to locate the army 

arsenal at Picatinny, within shell and powder range of a naval ammunition 

depot, may be excusable on economy grounds, but such a policy is to 

be deplored and roundly condemned on moral and safety grounds.” 

Edwards thought “the Lake Denmark tragedy can be a lesson with a 

reward if steps are taken to protect similar communities from a like fate.” 

He planned to introduce a bill forbidding the erection of arsenals and 

depots within 50 miles of places with 500 residents but did not explain 

how such a place would provide a workforce equal to Picatinny and Lake 

Denmark’s total. On Tuesday, Navy officials defended location near a 

major port as a strategic necessity.97

On the same day as Edward’s statement, Lewis E. Walters, chairman 

of the Morris County Board of Freeholds, announced his intention to have 

the board call a meeting of all county mayors to make a united protest 

against rebuilding the Navy depot along with a plea to close Picatinny. 

His idea was to store the munitions in a more isolated and less populated 

area of the state, such as Cape May, and he expected no opposition. 

Walters thought the Federal land might swell the acreage of the county 

park system, but there is no evidence this idea would have fared any 

better than most swords-into-ploughshares plans. At least one editorialist 

saw the removal of the Federal installations as an opportunity for the type 

of private development which poured tax money into municipal coffers.98

The Dover Board of Aldermen held its regular meeting the evening 

of 12 July. The major issues were municipal purchase of two push carts 

and a permit for a parade the next month. The mayor did commend the 

town’s seven-man police force of its direction of traffic during the crisis.99

The Dover Rotary sent identical scolding telegrams to Walters 

and Edge.

The citizens of this entire section have the greatest confidence 

of the United States Government to cope with the present 

situation at Lake Denmark and Picatinny Arsenal, and we 

in this neighborhood are cooperating in every way to help the 

government in its misfortune. Therefore, if you are correctly 

quoted in this morning’s press, we would respectfully suggest that 

you consult the representative citizens of this vicinity to get the 

facts before issuing any off-hand observations.100

The chairman of a committee appointed by Dover’s mayor reported 

“representative businessmen think it would be a commercial calamity to 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

140

move the industries represented by the arsenal. Substantial businessmen 

know that arsenal must be near tidewater to be of service, and they are 

patriotic enough to endure the risks.”101

The meeting of the Morris County Freeholders on 14 July was not 

the rubber stamping session Chairman Walters expected. Leading the 

opposition were Freeholders William J. Bassett of Mine Hill, Fletcher 

L. Fritts of Dover, and William C. Spargo of Succasunna. A newspaper 

identified most of the employees as coming from “Dover, Rockaway, 

Mt. Hope, Hibernia, Wharton, and other nearby towns, although a few 

are from Morristown.” The three-to-one vote against Walters’s motion 

reflected this. Chairman Walters came from Madison, a town in southern 

Morris County whose main industry was roses, not munitions.102

Anti-rebuilding forces fared no better in the New Jersey legislature. 

Both houses approved State Senator Abell’s resolution extending sympathy 

to blast victims and urging the Federal government to compensate them 

but did not approve an amendment asking to relocate the bases out of 

state. Democratic leaders in each house did fault the resolution for not 

criticizing the storage of munitions near large population centers and 

tried to add anti-rebuilding provisions. These leaders were from Jersey 

City, and they merged present concerns over the city’s reservoir bordering 

the eastern edge of the blast zone with memories of the 1916 Black 

Tom explosion.103

Immediately after the blast, Mayor Thomas O. Bassett of Dover had 

favored removal of explosive works from Morris County but the political 

winds turned him 1800. He joined Mayors John Gill of Rockaway and 

E. W. Rosevear of Wharton and a delegation of eight local businessmen 

representing a committee of 50, to plead before the Army board of 

inquiry to keep both installations where they were. According to a possibly 

apocryphal story, Governor Moore and Mayor Bassett had an encounter 

while making public relations appearances near the blast area. Moore 

reportedly promised to make the bases move, and Bassett rejoined, “The 

hell you will. I can smell a $5 million payroll as well as you.”104

The only nearby community to go on record in favor of moving the 

bases was Mount Arlington. This reaction may have served as a spur to 

Atlas Powder Company’s move out of the area a few years later, although 

the upscale area had no love for its explosive works well before 1926.105

Admiral Plunkett announced plans for a full investigation on 12 July, 

and a court of inquiry under Rear Admiral Robert E. Coontz began 

taking testimony on 16 July. It held its first sessions at Lake Denmark 

but moved to the Brooklyn Navy Yard on 21 July. Captain Dowling, 

Mr. Skews, and Mrs. Schrader were star witnesses, and Mrs. Schrader’s 
141

1926

testimony established the link between the lightning strike and the 

first fire.106

Acting Secretary of the Navy T. Douglass Robinson approved the 

final report on 3 August 1926. The report found a lightning strike to 

storehouse No. 8, “either by direct stroke or by induced currents,” at 

the root of the disaster. This happened despite the structure having 

“lightning protection in accordance with the best practice of the day.” 

Abetting the spread of the fire was the use of wood in both buildings and 

ammunition containers.107

The court found “the location of the Depot, the type, number, 

location and protection of magazines, and the manner of storage of 

explosives therein, were all in accordance with approved practices for 

government depots.” It further found “no instance shown of any fault, 

negligence or inefficiency on the part of any officer, enlisted man or 

civilian employee, either before, during, or after the recent disaster.” It 

went on to praise highly the conduct of most of the military dead and of 

Dowling, Kensick, and Wadhams among the living.108

The court acknowledged the role of overconcentration of munitions 

in enlarging the amount and area of the damage, but only obliquely and 

with emphasis on extenuating circumstances.

That as a result of the sudden close of the war greater stocks 

of ammunition than anticipated were left on hand thus making 

necessary certain congested conditions of storage. These 

conditions were being remedied by restorage, expenditures, and 

actual dumping at sea of materiel which it was hazardous to keep; 

and at the time of the disaster, such progress had been made that 

the depot was considered by all responsible officers to be safe, 

having due regard to the inherent and unavoidable danger which 

always attends storage of large quantities of explosives.

It considered this assertion proved by the “Thirty-five years experience 

at this depot without an explosion,” as if the recent events had not 

rendered such experience irrelevant and obsolete.109

The report drew the scorn and anger of H. C. Parmelee, editor of 

the journal Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering. He insisted the chemical 

engineering profession could not “accept an ‘act-of-god’ explanation 

as the last word in a situation that apparently involved many human 

violations of recognized engineering practices in the storage and handling 

of high explosives.”110

Parmelee conceded depot conditions met Bureau of Ordnance 

standards but argued these were insufficient for the large concentrations 

at Lake Denmark. He rounded up the court of inquiry’s figures to place 

over 1 million pounds of cast explosives in No. 8 and another 2 million in 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

142

No. 9, but even the court’s figures exceeded what local law permitted. New 

Jersey law, “which is accepted by the explosives industry as a reasonable 

and safe precaution based on actual experience,” prescribed limits of 

30,000 pounds of loose or 250,000 pounds of packed high explosive per 

magazine. The law required 800 feet between a magazine with 250,000 

pounds of high and explosive and any other explosives. Storehouses 8 

and 9 had 50 feet between them. The legal concept of extraterritoriality 

exempted Lake Denmark and other government installations from state 

requirements. “‘Extra-territoriality’ is the legal loophole which permitted 

the United State Navy to indulge in practices that would have landed a 

private manufacturer in jail.”111

The board as much as conceded Parmelee’s main point when it said 

“in light of present knowledge the area of the Lake Denmark depot is 

too small and its situation too near inhabited land for the safe storage 

of more than small amounts of high explosives.” Parmelee seized on 

this statement to buttress his case but derided the claim of no previous 

knowledge. “There is no apparent recognition of the fact that for 15 years 

the explosives industry, the railroads and the industrial users of explosives 

have accumulated a vast fund of experience that has been summarized in 

the American Table of Distances....” This table required magazines with 

a million pounds of explosives be 3,455 feet from inhabited buildings, 

not the 100 yards between the exploding storehouses and the quarters of 

the Schraders, the Gatelys, and others. Parmelee also attacked the lack 

of barricades.112

The board as much as yielded Parmelee’s case in muted tones, 

when it recommended “making distances between magazines 

adequate in future construction” and “preparing a table of distances to 

serve as a future guide, having in mind possible use of barricades or 

sub-surface storage.”113

The Navy was on the defensive, not only for the past at Lake 

Denmark, but for the future of all its storage depots. Within two days 

of the explosion, it was taking pains to assure the public its other depots, 

especially Iona Island near Peekskill, were safe.114

The decision to keep both sites active came quickly. The press 

carried the Army’s announcement to rebuild Picatinny on 29 July 1926, 

and the Navy was planning new storehouses by 12 August 1926. On 24 

August, the Navy announced it would begin accepting bids to reconstruct 

30 storehouses on 1 September. Senator Edwards endorsed the 

rebuilding, attributing his change of mind to briefings by officials of the 

War and Navy departments and the testimony in favor of rebuilding by 

Hudson Maxim.115
143

1926

The Army decision followed the recommendation of a board chaired 

by Colonel William Henry Tschappat. Picatinny’s former assistant officer, 

was on the scene immediately after the explosion. Other members of 

the board were the chief of operations, Major Miles, whose term of 

command at Picatinny had witnessed the 1919 blast, and the chief of 

Loading, Captain Harris, plus the recently arrived Major A. J. Stuart.116

The disaster quickly became the local disaster touchstone. Reports 

on a blow at the New York Fireworks Plant in New Durham, New Jersey, 

exactly one month later judged it in terms of the Lake Denmark blast.117

Even while the investigations were in progress, sightseers converged 

on the bases. After several days of turning away motorists, Captain Roe 

R. Adams, Dowling’s replacement, and Major Ramsey, arranged a rail 

tour with seven crowded coaches on 18 July. Each coach had Marine 

guards to prevent anyone picking up explosive souvenirs. On 25 July 

1926, the Wharton and Northern Railroad ran another excursion train 

to the site. More evidence of the unchanging nature of the human animal 

appeared on Sunday, August 1, when the services allowed the pubic to 

drive through the blast area and an estimated 25,000 made the trip. The 

show was so successful, it repeated the next Sunday.118

Picatinny now faced the task of turning itself from a tourist attraction 

back into a functioning manufacturing and development site.

Explosion Tour Train Advertisement

(Wharton NJ Historical Society)
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

144

NOTES

1 Lake Denmark, New Jersey Explosion – 10 July, 1928: Proceedings of 

Court of Inquiry, pp. 140 (hereafter cited as Report of Court). “The Lake 

Denmark Naval Ammunition Depot Disaster: Report of Naval Court of 

Inquiry,” Army Ordnance, vol. VII, no. 38 (September-October 1926), 126-

130, carries the report’s conclusions verbatim.

2 Report of Court, pp. 13, 140-141.

3 “Widow Describes Fire Preceding Explosion,” Dover Advance, 26 July 1926. 

See “Tells of Flight from Naval Blasts,” New York Times, 13 July 1926, for a 

slightly different version of Mrs. Schrader’s ordeal with a few more details.

4 “Man Who Sounded Alarm Tells Story,” Dover Advance, 19 July 1926.

5 “Man Who Sounded Alarm Tells Story,” Dover Advance, 19 July 1926.

 6 “Private Hardaker Died While On Sentry Duty,” Dover Advance, 15 July 

1926.

7 “Fights Arsenal Blaze, Then Sees Pals Blown Up,” Newark Sunday Call, 

11 July 1926.

8 “Woman of Sorrows Flees For Safety to Watershed,” Newark Evening News, 

12 July 1926, has “Clark” in the text and “Clarke” in the photo caption. 

Report of Court, p. 142, uses “Clarke,” as does the monument to the 1926 

dead now at Picatinny.

9 “Marine in Brig Freed By Blast,” Newark Star-Eagle, 12 July 1926. Mrs. 

Brown thought only one person was in the brig, but “Tragedy and Humor 

Rub Elbows in Blast,” Newark Evening News, 12 July 1926, states the blow 

released two prisoners, Privates Ralph Hall and James C. Radford, who 

fought fires along with their guard, Corporal Axel Ferguson.

10 “Tragedy and Humor Rub Elbows in Blast,” Newark Evening News, 12 July 

1926, and “Sleepy Mountain Hamlets Awaken To Hospitable Duty of 

Sheltering Homeless Army Fleeing From Peril Zone,” Newark Star-Eagle, 

12 July 1926. The latter has Hunter having to dig his car out from under a 

collapsed garage.

11 Report of Court, pp. 59-60, and “Inquiry Board Goes to Brooklyn,” Dover

Advance, 22 July 1926. The quote comes from the newspaper article, but 

Dowling’s board testimony to the court was more detailed. Cf. “Eyes 

Bandaged, Tells of Blast Heroes Deeds,” Newark Star-Eagle, 22 July 1926.

12 Report of Court, pp. 75-77, and “Inquiry Board Goes to Brooklyn,” and 

“Body of Mrs. Wadhams Recovered From Ruins,” Dover Advance, 15, 

22 July 1926.

13 Report of Court, pp. 62, 76-77, and “Inquiry Board Goes to Brooklyn,” 

Dover Advance, 22 July 1926.

14 “Arsenal Commander’s Wife Describes Her Flight From Mountains of 

Flame,” New York Evening Post, 12 July 1926, and “Blast Victims’ Escape 

Barred By Locks On Gates, Is Charge,” Newark Star-Eagle, 12 July 
145

1926

1926. Bush’s deed comes from his Navy Cross citation at http://www.

homeofheroes.com/valor/1_Citations/02_interim_nc/nc_04interim_1.

html.

15 “Inquiry Board Goes to Brooklyn,” Dover Advance, 22 July 1926.

16 Lloyd Acuff, “Marine Survivors Sketch Harrowing Blast Pictures,” Daily 

News, 12 July 1926. See Jack Wallace, “Wounded Marine Swims Mile-Wide 

Lake to Safety” in the same paper on the same date for the experiences 

of Sergeant John P. Nicholson crossing Lake Denmark. The account of 

Corporal Lewis’s exploit comes from his Navy Cross citation at http://www.

homeofheroes.com/valor/1_Citations/02_interim_nc/nc_04interim_1.

html.

17 Louis Fehr, “Danger Over At Arsenal, Tour Proves,” New York American, 

14 July 1926; “Miss Lenora Van Sickles Plans Summer Retirement,” The 

Picatinny News, 19 April 1962; “Baby Born in Roar Of Shell Fire,” New York 

Daily News, 13 July 13 1926; “Boy Born as Blast Shook Countryside,” New 

York Times, 13 July 1926, and “Baby Boy Born At Height Of Disaster,” 

Newark Star-Eagle, 12 July 1926. The 1962 piece has the Van Sickles 

walking to Wharton, but quotes from her brother in the 1926 American article 

describe digging his car out of the rubble and driving them both Wharton.

18 “All in Family of 5 Hurt As Blast Tumbles Home,” New York Daily News, 

12 July 1926. A photo of young John appears on the front page of the New 

York Journal, 12 July 1926. For another Mount Hope family during the 

emergency, see “Family Hurled Ten Feet in Air,” The Jerseyman (Morristown 

NJ), 13 July 1926.

19 “Sisters Ran To Woods As First Blast Came,” New York Times, 13 July 1926, 

and “Three Spinster Sisters, Fleeing Blasts, Are Found After Hours Of 

Struggle Through Dark Woodland In The Rain,” Newark Star-Eagle, 

12 July 1926.

20 Living History: Wilfred Hosking and Picatinny Arsenal, Interview, January 

1995, in Wilfred Hosking Collection, ARDEC Historical Office files.

21 “Fled from Home and Family,” New York Times, 13 July 1926.

22 Penelope Summerwell, “Blast Is Timed On Church Dial,” Newark StarEagle, 12 July 1926, and “Six Rockaway Girls Brave Shellfire,” New York 

Times, 

13 July 1926. See also “Hello Girls Stick As Blasts Break Windows,” Newark 

Sunday Call, 11 July 1926, “Naval Depot At Denmark Completely Wiped 

Out,” Rockaway Record, 15 July 1926, and The Spirit of Service: An Advertisement 

of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, undated flyer in ARDEC 

Historical Office, Lake Denmark Explosion File. Carolyn Moran supplied 

the ARDEC Historical Office’s copy of the ATT flyer. Carolyn Moran, 

Lead Civil Engineer, Chugach Industries, Inc., to Patrick J. Owens, e-mail: 

ATT ad re July 1926 event, 14 June 2007, filed with the ad. Operators in 

Dover were out of shell range but also earned credit for sticking to their 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

146

switchboards. See “Ten Phone Girls Remain At Posts 24 Hours At Dover,” 

New York Evening World, 12 July 1926.

23 “Thousands Flee As Rain of Shrapnel Falls On District,” Newark Sunday 

Call, 11 July 1926; “Where Jersey Powder Blast Took Its Toll,” map in New 

York Evening Graphic, 12 July 1926; W. Dennis Stires to [Public Affairs Office, 

Picatinny Arsenal, n.d. but postmarked 28 Feb 2007, in ARDEC Historical 

Office Files: Lake Denmark Explosion Folder; “Fire Keeps Death Toll 

Hidden In Arsenal Blaze,” New York Times, 12 July 1926; “Shock Caused by 

Rock Strata,” Newark Star-Eagle, 12 July 1926, and “New Brunswick House 

Falls with Explosion,” Newark Evening News, 12 July 1926.

24 “Guardsmen Aid Refugees,” New York Times, 13 July 1926.

25 “Guardsmen Aid Refugees,” New York Times, 13 July 1926.

26 “On Guard,” photo and caption, New York Daily Mirror, July 12, 1926; 

“Marines to Dover,” New York Daily News, 12 July 1926; “Ghostly Towns 

Put Under Martial Law: Special to The New York Times,’ and “Records Of 

Dead Brought By Plane,” New York Times, 13 July 1926; “Navy Warned of 

Fire Danger, Plans Inquiry,” New York Herald Tribune, 12 July 1926; “Wilbur 

Talks With Survivors Of Blast,” New York Times, 13 July 1926, and “Scenes 

in Danger Zone at Jersey Arsenal Blast,” Newark Ledger, 12 July 1926.

27 “50 Families Made Homeless By Blast,” New York Times, 13 July, 1926; 

“Emergency Relief Work Outstanding,” “Red Cross Survey In Devastated 

Section,” “Red Cross Relief Work Continues,” and “Red Cross Sends 

Checks for Purchases,” Dover Advance, 19, 26,29 July 1926; “Red Cross 

Put Over Aid Work,” Newark Star-Eagle, 12 July 1926; “Refugees Are 

Returning to Their Homes,” “Community Club Assists Refugees,” and 

“Mrs. Geraldine R. Dodge Starts Disaster Relief Fund with $1,000 Check,” 

The Jerseyman, 13 July 1926. Also see Alexander Gardiner, “In the Hour of 

Need,” The American Legion Monthly, September 1926, pp. 46-49.

28 “Wilbur Talks With Survivors Of Blast,” New York Times, 13 July 1926, and 

“She Runs the Navy While Boss Is Out,” Ohio State Journal (Columbus), 15 

July 1926. “Doc” Bayne found latter article in the National Archives during 

his researches on Iona Depot.

29 “Arsenal Fires Cool,” Newark Evening News, 13 July 1926: “More Blast Dead 

Sought; Arsenal Transfer Urged,” Newark Star-Eagle, 13 July 1926, and 

“Rain Quenches Jersey Blast Fires,” New York American, 14 July 1926, and 

Jack Rielley, “Popping Shells Halt Rescuers In Blast Zone,” New York Daily 

News, 15 July 1926.

30 Newark Sunday Call, 11 July 1926. Newspaper accounts frequently used 

the word “arsenal” to describe the Navy depot. Neither reporters, local 

residents, nor public officials adhered to precise military terminology and 

often treated the two installations as interchangeable or identical.

31 See the front pages of the 12 July 1926, editions of the New York Herald 

Tribune, American, Evening World, Evening Graphic, and Journal and the Newark 

Star-Eagle.
147

1926

32 “Only Photograph of First Explosion,” New York Times, 12 July 1926. The 

headline is mistaken since Clark was in Caldwell at the time of the first 

explosion.

33 Lewis W. Fehr, “N. Y. American Man First In Shock Zone,” New York 

American, 12 July 1926.

34 “Secretary Of War Inspects The Ruins,” New York Times, 12 July 1926.

35 Jack Rielley, “News Men Explore Ruins For 5 Hours,” New York Daily News, 

12 July 1926.

36 “Thieves Get in Their Work in Ruined Area,” Newark Star-Eagle, 12 July 

1926.

37 “Broadway Sees Newsreel Of Explosion,” New York Evening Journal, 12 July 

1926, and “Movies Give Officers Data as Basis for Rescue Plans,” New York 

American, 14 July 1926.

38 Louis Fehr, “Tremors Equal to Earthquakes Wrecked Homes,” New York 

American, 13 July 1926.

39 Louis Fehr, “Tremors Equal to Earthquakes Wrecked Homes,” New York 

American, 13 July 1926, and Grace Robinson, “Bewildered Beasts Found 

Guarding Ruins Of Homes,” New York Daily News, 13 July 1926.

40 “Ghost Towns Put Under Martial Law,” New York Times, 13 July 1926.

41 Living History: Wilfred Hosking and Picatinny Arsenal, Interview, January 

1995, in Wilfred Hosking Collection, ARDEC Historical Office files.

42 Louis Fehr, “Danger Over At Arsenal, Tour Proves,” New York American, 14 

July 1926, and “Refugees Are Returning to Their Homes,” The Jerseyman, 13 

July 1926. See also Grace Robinson, “Bewildered Beast Found Guarding 

Ruins of Homes,” New York Daily News, 13 July 1926. A decade later, The 

WPA Guide to 1930s New Jersey (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 

1989, reprint of a work copyrighted in 1939), p.479, described the miners as 

mostly Hungarian.

43 Fehr, “Danger Over.”

44 [Rogers, Captain J. A., Jr., comp.], The History of Picatinny Arsenal (Picatinny 

Arsenal, 1931), ch. IX (hereafter cited as 1931...History) is basically a reprint 

of this report. 

45 1931...History, pp. 72-74.

46 1931...History, p. 74.

47 1931...History, p. 74, says 10 magazines. Report of Court, p. 142, says 18. 

See also “15-18 Magazines Intact, Navy Told,” New York World, 12 July 

1926.

48 1931...History, p. 75.

49 1931...History, pp. 75,76, and Revised Draft Report: Evaluation of Structures 

Built Prior to 1946 at Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey, (Prepared for the New York 

District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers by WCH Industries, Inc., Waltham 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

148

MA, in association with Boston Affiliates, Inc., Boston MA, December 30, 

1994), 

pp. E-380, E-382.

50 1931...History, p. 75.

51 1931...History, p. 76.

52 1931...History, pp. 75, 76.

53 1931...History, p. 76.

54 1931...History, p. 76; Col. W. H. Tschappat, “The Lake Denmark 

Explosion—Its Effect on Picatinny Arsenal,” Army Ordnance, Vol. VII, No. 

38 (September-October 1926), pp. 133-134 (hereafter cited as Tschappat, 

“Lake Denmark—Picatinny”); “Army’s Arsenal Saved By Wind,” Newark 

Star-Eagle, 12 July 1926, and “Shift In Wind Turns Fires Away From Army 

Plant,” New York American, 12 July 1926.

55 1931...History, p. 77.

56 1931...History, pp. 77-78, and Jack Rielley, “News Men Explore Ruins For 

5 Hours,” New York Daily News, 12 July 1926.

57 1931...History, p. 78.

58 1931...History, p. 78.

59 1931...History, p. 78.

60 1931...History, p. 78.

61 1931...History,, pp. 77-78

62 1931...History, p. 79.

63 1931...History, p., 80.

64 1931...History,, p. 80, and photo, Building 119 (formerly 49) in ARDEC 

Historical Office files.

65 1931...History, p. 80.

66 1931...History, p.81.

67 1931...History, p. 81.

67 1931...History, p. 81-82.

68 1931...History, p. 82.

69 1931...History, pp. 82-83.

71 1931...History, p. 83.

72 1931...History, pp. 83-84.

73 1931...History,, p. 84. This puts the nitrocellulose dry house, building 133, at 

2,100 feet from the blast buts lists it with buildings 3,000 to 4,000 feet away. 

Comparison with Map of Picatinny Arsenal, Jan. 20, 1922, Revision 8, July 

15, 1924, insert in Plant Design (hereafter cited as Map 1922), indicates 

2,100 is a misprint for 3,100.
149

1926

74 1931...History, p. 84, “Fire Rages, Shells Shriek, New York Time, 12 July 

1926, and Dr. Norman F. Ramsey, “Atomic Clocks,” lecture at Picatinny, 

25 April1997, video tape in ARDEC Historical Office Files. Dr. Ramsey, 

a Nobel Prize physicist and the son of Major Ramsey, lived on the arsenal 

from 1922 to 1926. The Times article reports the explosions knocked the 

Ramseys’ front door off its hinges.

75 “Tragedy and Humor Rub Elbows in Blast,” Newark Evening News, 

12 July 1926.

76 1931...History, p. 85, and Map1922.

77 1931...History, p. 85.

78 1931...History, p. 85.

78 1931...History, p. 85.

80 1931...History, p. 86,

81 1931...History, p. 86, and “Oppose Move Of Arsenals,” Newark Evening 

News, 13 July 1926. The little girl was Rose Poppel, and she told the 

ARDEC historian about the Wharton exodus in 1996.

82 1931...History, pp. 86-87. On the history of the miners’ church, see History 

of Morris County, New Jersey, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Prominent 

Citizens and Pioneers (New York: W. W. Munsell & Co., 1882), p. 346, and Bill 

Swayze, “Morris still has faith in the future of church with a historic past,” 

Sunday Star-Ledger, 10 December 2006.

83 1931...History, p. 87.

84 1931...History, p. 87.

85 1931...History, p. 88.

86 1931...History, p. 87.

87 “Few Marines Around, They’d Been Paid Off,” Newark Evening News, 12 

July 1926; “Pay Day Saves Many Marines,” Newark Star-Eagle, 12 July 1926; 

“Hopes Pay Day Saves Fifty Marines,” and “600 Employees Off for the 

Weekend,” Newark Ledger, 12 July 1926. Picatinny records put the 1926 

employment figure at 530. 1931...History, p.71.

88 1931...History, p. 88-89; “Blast Drowns Taps At Officer’s Rites,” New York 

Daily News, 13 July 1926; “Military Funeral For Picatinny Officer,” and 

“Body of Mrs. Wadhams Recovered From Ruins,” Dover Advance, 15 July 

1926. “First Funeral Rite Of Blast”, Newark Star-Eagle, 13 July 1926, gives 

Bott’s name as “Botts” and his middle initial as “C” and has Mrs. Wadhams 

as “Modhams.”

89 1931...History, p. 88; “Tragedy Stalks At Reunion; Kills Brooklyn Mother,” 

New York Evening Graphic, 12 July 1926; “Brooklyn Woman Killed In Blast; 

Husband Injured,” New York Daily News, 12 July 1926; “Fire Keeps Death 

Toll Hidden In Arsenal Blast,” Newark Evening News, 12 July 1926; “Fourteen 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

150

Dead From Navy Ruins,” Dover Advance, 12 July 1926, and “Ring Identifies 

Victim,” Dover Advance, 15 July 1926.

90 “Sexton Family Turns Up Safe,” Newark Star-Eagle, 12 July 1926, and “Jack 

Sexton And Family Turn Up Safe,” Dover Advance, 15 July 1926. Fehr, 

“Danger Over,” mistakenly describes Sexton as Picatinny’s chief civilian 

clerk but tells essentially the same story.

91 “Report of Court,” pp. 142-143.

92 “Report of Court,” p. 143-144, “Former Denmark Commander Dies,” The 

Picatinny News, 19 April 1946, and “Two-Faced Fate Smiles and Then Grimly 

Frowns,” Newark News, 15 August 1926.

93 John Pierce, “50 years ago, Picatinny Exploded,” The Daily Advance, 

9 July 1976.

94 Report of Court, p. 146; 1931...History, p. 91, “Heroes of Picatinny Disaster 

Honored,” Army Ordnance, vol. VIII, no. 45 (November-December 1927), 

148; “Members of Picatinny Arsenal Civilian Staff Honored for Bravery,” 

Army Ordnance., vol. VIII, no., 48, 383, and “Award of Medals for Bravery,” 

Picatinny Arsenal Barrage, vol. 2, no. 9 (1 May 1931), pp. 1, 3. Navy Cross 

citations are at http://www.homeofheroes.com/valor/1_Citations/02_

interim_nc/nc_04interim_1.html.

95 “Toll of Twenty in Naval Catastrophe,” and “Picatinny Plant to be Rebuilt,” 

Dover Advance, 15, 29 July 1926; “Receive 3000 Claims At Lake Denmark,” 

Netcong Record, 29 July 1926, “Printed Copies Of Arsenal Bill On Claims 

Sent,” Daily Record (Morristown, N.J.), 24 March 1930, and “Lake Denmark 

Disaster Claims” Rockaway Record, 27 March 1930. The last article lists all 

monies paid and to whom.

96 “Edge Demands Isolation Of Arsenals,” New York Evening Journal, 12 July 

1926; “Pans Storing of Explosives,” Newark Evening News, 12 July 1926; 

“Storing Shells Outrage--Edge,” Newark Star-Eagle, 12 July 1926, and “Edge 

Clarifies His Statement On Explosion,” Dover Advance, 15 July, 1926. On 

earlier munitions shifts to Utah, see “Lake Denmark Disaster May Solve 

Hard Problem,” Newark Evening News, 13 July 1926.

97 “Will Seek Removal Of All Munitions,” New York Times,” 13 July 1926; 

“‘Wipe Out Peril of U.S. Arsenals!’ Jersey Demand,” New York American, July 

13, 1926; “Moore to Urge U.S. to Remove Arsenals,” and “Move Arsenals 

Now,” New York Daily News, July 13, 1926; “Edwards Flays Arsenals Here,” 

and “Officials Want Moving, Trade Group Opposed,” Newark Star-Eagle, 

12, 13 July 1926; “No Place For Arsenals,” New York World, 13 July 1926, 

and “Defend Site Of Navy Plant As Strategic,” Newark Evening News, 13 July 

1926.

98 “Freeholders to Demand Removal,” New York Times, 13 July 1926, and 

“Myopic Morris County,” Newark Star-Eagle, 20 July 1926.

99 “Boy Was Born as Blast Shook Countryside; Dover Aldermen Can Only 

Buy Push Carts,” New York Times, 16 July 1926.
151

1926

100 Both “Opposed to Removal,” New York Times, 13 July 1926, and “Oppose 

Move Of Arsenals,” Newark Evening News, 13 July 1926, carry the Rotary 

Club’s statement. Cf. “Dover Wishes To Retain Arsenal,” Netcong Record, 

15 July 1926; “Dover Is Against Removal Of Arsenal,” The Jerseyman, 13 July 

1926, and “Town Wishes to Keep Arsenal,” Dover Advance, 15 July 1926.

101 “Dover Would Keep Arsenal,” New York American, 13 July 1926.

102 “Take No Action About Arsenal,” Newark News, 15 July 1926; “Fights 

Removal of Depot,” Dover Advance, 15 July 1926, and “Blast Towns Wish 

To Keep Navy Arsenal,” Netcong Record, 15 July 1926. Any kinship of 

Freeholder Spargo and Thomas and Marion Spargo, the brother and sister 

working at Picatinny, is unknown. It was a common name in the Dover area. 

George Laurie, Dover Historical Society, to ARDEC Historian, e-mail: 

FW: Mayor Roach, 22 August 2007, with enclosed message from Stan 

Schoonmaker, Dover Historical Society, to Laurie, e-mail: Mayor Roach, 

22 August 2007, in ARDEC Historical Office files.

103 “Arsenals Debated By Legislature,” Dover Advance, 19 July, 1926, and 

“Legislature Refuses to Ask Removal of Arsenals Here,” Daily Record, 

14 July 1926.

104 “Jersey To Insist Plants Removed Into Open Spaces,” New York World, 

12 July 1926; “Board Of Inquiry Continues Work,” and “Army Board 

Replies to Committee of Fifty,” Dover Advance, 19 July 1926, and John 

Pierce, “50 years ago, Picatinny Exploded,” The Daily Advance, 9 July 1976.

105 “MT. Arlington Against Rebuilding Arsenal,” uncertain date and paper 

but on scrapbook page with articles from Dover Advance, 26 July 1926, 

and Arthur Pine VanGelder and Hugo Schlatter, History of the Explosives 

Industry in America (New York: Columbia University Press, 1927), pp. 461-

462.

106 “Navy Rushing Probe Of Explosion Cause,” New York Evening Post, 12 

July 1926; “Navy Begins Probe In Arsenal Blast,” Newark Star-Eagle, 16 July 

1926; “Inquiry Board Goes to Brooklyn,” “Man Who Sounded Alarm Tells 

Story,” and “Widow Describes Fire Preceding Explosion,” Dover Advance, 

19, 22, 26 July 1926. The court had nothing to say about two Marines 

initially among the missing who turned up in Toledo, Ohio. “Two Missing 

Marines Found In Toledo, O,” Dover Advance, 9 August 1926.

107 Report of Court, pp. 145.

108 Report of Court, p. 147.

109 Report of Court, p. 145.

110 [H. C. Parmelee], “Insurance Against Another Lake Denmark Explosion,” 

Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, vol. 33, no. 8 (August 1926), 458. 

“Criticizes Findings on Denmark Disaster,” Dover Advance, 19 August 1926, 

quotes key portions of this article.

111 Parmelee, “Insurance,” 458.
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

152

112 Cf. Report of Court, pp. 145, and Parmelee, “Insurance,” 458. See also 

“Only Small Stores Advised at Lake Denmark by Court,” Daily Record, 

4 August 1926.

113 Report of l Court, p. 129.

114 “Iona Island Is Safe, Head Says,” Newark Star-Eagle, 12 July 1926. See also 

“Munitions Depots Are Well Guarded,” Dover Advance, 26 July 1926.

115 “Army Board Replies to Committee of Fifty,” “Picatinny Plant to be 

Rebuilt,” “Clearing Away Debris at Naval Depot Ruins,” “Laborers Wanted 

at Naval Depot,” “Salvage Work At Navy Begun,” and “Plans Ready 

For New Naval Storehouses,” Dover Advance, 19, 29 July, 2, 12 August 

1926, and “Navy Depot to be Rebuilt Before Winter,” The Daily Record, 

24 August 1926. See also “Denmark Arsenal Gets $35,000,” Rockaway 

Record, 29 May 1930.

116 “Board Of Inquiry Continues Work,” Dover Advance, 19 July 1926.

117 “Feared Arsenal Disaster When Fireworks Shoot,” Daily Record, 

10 August 1926.

118 “Sightseers Storm Ruined Navy Depot,” New York Times, 19 July 19, 1926; 

“25,000 Motorists View Ruins At Naval Depot” and “Naval Depot Again 

Open to Motorists,” Dover Advance, 2, 5 August 1926, and Photo of Sign 

Under Railroad Bridge in Wharton, (n.d. but announces trip on July 25th, 

1926), in ARDEC Historical Office files: Lake Denmark Explosion Folder. 

Photo courtesy of the Wharton Historical Society.
Chapter 5

Phoenix

Beginning at 4.8 m. the woods on both sides of the road are fenced 

off with barbed wire, and trees are placarded “U.S. Government 

Reservation.” This is Picatinny Arsenal, 5.8 m. (open only by special 

permit), a 1,400-acre reservation for the manufacture and storage 

of munitions for the Middle Atlantic Corps of the U. S. Army. 

Two brick and limestone three-story buildings and a number 

of smaller wooden structures set in a landscaped park give the 

atmosphere of a peaceful educational institution.1

The Works Progress Administration’s (WPA) Guide to New Jersey was 

not 100 percent accurate. Late 1930s Picatinny covered 1,800 acres, 

not 1,400, and it did research as well as manufacturing. Moreover, it 

manufactured items for the entire United States Army, not just a single 

corps area, the correct name of which was II Corps, not Middle Atlantic 

Corps. Still, the passage caught the main point. Just over a decade after 

the Lake Denmark blow, Picatinny was on its feet although still showing 

scars and unfilled craters “large enough to bury a building.”2

The Army board of inquiry recommended appropriating $287,000.00 

for emergency repairs to restart all operations except pyrotechnic 

manufacture and estimated the complete replacement cost of buildings 

and equipment at $1.265 million. Lieutenant Colonel Jesse K. Crain 

took command of Picatinny and responsibility for the Rehabilitation 

Project on 29 July 1926. The preliminary phase of broad planning and 

preparing cost estimates occupied the autumn of 1926. In December 

1927, Congress approved a $2.3 million rehabilitation appropriation.3

Some tasks could not wait for an appropriation. “Bricky” Hosking 

remembered most employees returned to work within week and a 

153
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

154

half. Immediately after the explosion, men were busy picking up 

stray projectiles, clearing away debris, and shoring up the crumbling 

administration building to permit removal of surviving records. Workers 

toiled in structures only partly repaired, and hauling materials strained 

the arsenal transportation system. “Everything available from mules 

to locomotives was used for transportation. Strange rigs were thrown 

together to serve as wagons. Everything that rolled on wheels was pressed 

into service.” The locomotives were especially useful in tearing down 

unsafe buildings.4

A new arrangement divided the installation into three main geographic 

areas for explosives manufacture, propellant and high explosives storage, 

and manufacturing activities not involving hazardous materials. The last 

was also the site for administrative, engineering, and research activities.5

Storage continued in the same upper and lower areas as before, but 

the upper area expanded with acquisition of part of the North Tract. 

The search for owners begun during World War I proved fruitless, so 

Picatinny fenced in the land in 1926. There were no protests, and the 

arsenal added another 226.8 acres by seizure in 1929. This brought the 

total to 1,842.34 acres. Picatinny had hopes of acquiring the full North 

Tract, which included much of Lake Denmark, but local sentiment feared 

inhibiting residential development and use of the lake as a reservoir.

The replacement cost of buildings as of September 1930 was 

$3,347,133.45. Five temporary buildings, including a golf club house 

valued at $50.50, added $9,286.12 to the total. The replacement value 

of machinery and equipment was $2,849,369.66. The value of railroad 

trackage was $510,000.00, of roads and grounds $762,000.00, of sewer 

and water systems $701,000.00, and of heat, light, and power systems, 

$350,000.00. The railroad had 20.4 miles of standard gauge and one 

mile of narrow. In addition, 3.5 miles of Wharton and Northern track 

ran through the arsenal. The arsenal had 4.1 miles of concrete and 10.9 

miles of unimproved roads, all government owned. Another 1.8 miles 

of improved dirt and 0.42 miles of concrete roads owned by Rockaway 

Township crossed the installation.6

By October 1929, Picatinny had revived enough to flaunt its 

accomplishments before the cameras of Fox Movie News. In 1930, 

Picatinny employed 1,550 civilians, a new high, along with 14 officers 

and four enlisted men. Three of the enlisted assisted Doctor Baker in the 

infirmary. The employee figure went to 5,029 in 1931 and back down to 

1,780 in mid-1932. Despite the drop, Picatinny could and did boast of 

making a real contribution to the local economy at the nadir of the Great 

Depression and, so, justified the politicians who had fought to keep it.7
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PHOENIX

New structures included a melt-loading plant on the west shore of 

Lake Picatinny, a propellant-charge loading plant on the south shore, and 

a small tetryl plant on the east hill line. Another change was concentration 

of the ranges at a new Testing Station on a plateau west of and about 150 

feet above the lake.8

The existing explosive D plant was able to continue operations 

because its position on the west side of the arsenal had limited damage 

from the explosion and its loading processes changed little between world 

wars. Construction of the melt-loading facility ran from November 

1930 to March 1931. It replaced one which had housed all operations 

in one building. It had six operating buildings, service magazines, an 

ammonium nitrate processing building, a TNT screening building, and 

two change houses with bombproof basements. Ramps and enclosed 

runways connected buildings separated by the distances prescribed by 

New Jersey law. The plant could load any type of shell or bomb except 

those using explosive D. The first operating building received inert parts 

while pouring of bursting charges took place in the second, drilling and 

boostering in the third, assembly and fuzing in the fourth, and packing 

and shipping in the fifth. The sixth building, an annex to the second, 

handled melting, mixing, and preparation of explosives. Orders remained 

Melt-Loading Plant
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

156

low, and Picatinny could not purchase much new equipment for it until 

it received an order to load 1,000 600-pound bombs in 1937 and 1938.9

The new propellant-charge loading plant made operable between 

May and November 1930 meant Picatinny, for the first time, could 

conduct cartridge bag manufacture and filling operations in buildings 

specifically designed for these tasks. The plant included a building for 

cutting and sewing, a building for loading black powder in cores and 

igniter pads, and two bag-loading buildings, one for howitzer rounds and 

the other for gun rounds.10

The bag-loading buildings had high towers with elevators to bring 

powder up to hoppers for dropping through large steel pipes into filling 

booths. This arrangement worked efficiently but fell into disfavor because 

it concentrated the powder at one point, a point connected to all the 

booths via the steel pipes. Proponents of the design had argued this was 

not a fire hazard because a blaze would go up and away from the main 

portion of the building, including the concentration point. A smokeless 

powder fire at the Hercules plant in Kenvil proved them wrong.11

The new tetryl plant conducted laboratory experiments on a smallscale production level and developed and evaluated new processes and 

equipment. It originally contained a three-story crystallizing building, 

a combination office and change house, service buildings, and four dry 

Bag Loading Line
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PHOENIX

houses, two for crude tetryl and two for the refined product. Changes 

to arrangements were frequent, but the plant always concentrated on 

research and semi-scale production. Picatinny did not need to rebuild or 

reconfigure the Pyrotechnic Plant but did add new buildings to increase 

capacity.12

Concentration of testing activities at one station on Picatinny 

Peak removed all but storage activities from the extreme north of the 

installation, ended hazardous firings across the lake into the mountain, and 

allowed free road passage to the north end on both sides of the lake. The 

main operation at the station was a firing range with gun emplacements, 

velocity screen, and recovery butt. The range tested pilot lots of powder 

for velocity and pressure and conducted other experiments previously 

done at Aberdeen Proving Ground. There was also an in-door range 

for small arms ammunition testing, facilities for conducting explosions 

to determine bursting charge efficiency, a tower for drop testing, and a 

friction pendulum for sensitivity testing.13

 Nonhazardous manufacture, administration, and research facilities 

joined the original housing area in an east-to-west belt along the southern 

portion of the installation. Nonhazardous manufacturing meant 

production of items other than explosives, especially metal components. 

Testing Station
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

158

This work had previously been in the magazine area. The key facility was 

building 31, a precision machine shop completed in 1930. It consisted of 

a long headhouse for stockrooms, tool cribs, and offices plus four wings 

with open courts between them. The wings allowed flexibility in grouping 

types of work and provided extra walls of industrial glass to allow more 

daylight. The building had a large skylight for the same purpose, but this 

increased heat in summer and decreased it in winter. Picatinny changed 

to a metal roof and abandoned the skylight idea in future buildings. The 

initial cost was $185,065.40.14

Three former magazines west of the headquarters building now 

housed millwright, machine, pipe, electrical, and tinsmith shops. The 

Millwright Shop had previously been in the Metal Components area.15

The two buildings which caught the WPA writer’s eye symbolized 

the rebirth. One was the new Administration Building, first occupied in 

February 1930 and costing $171,297.06. To its east across Green Pond 

Brook was the Chemistry Laboratory, completed the same year at a cost 

$106,561.06. This was part of a complex of four new laboratory buildings 

supplemented by surveillance chambers, magazines, and sample houses 

all active by February 1931.16

The architectural style for the Administration Building, now number 

151, was Colonial Revival, ostensibly chosen “to symbolize the early 

historical background of the Arsenal.” There was nothing unusual in 

choosing this style for government buildings, and it was an easy fit with 

the nearby quarters for the commander and the next ranking officer. 

Colonial Revival features still visible on the building include “Flemish 

Administration Building (B-151), c. 1932
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PHOENIX

bond patterning in the brickwork, limestone quoining at the corners, 

a formal plan with a symmetrical composition, central pavilion at the 

front entrance, front portico, Colonial Revival lanterns (front and back), 

‘PICATINNY ARSENAL’ sign in Roman block letters, ornamented 

Classical pediment in the front pavilion, hipped roof, six-over-six 

windows.” The original building was in a “T” shape to allow for additions. 

When Picatinny made one in 1941, it took unusual care to see the new 

north wing fit stylistically with the original structure.17

The Chemistry Laboratory, the present building 162, complemented 

its neighbor with a related Georgian Revival style, many features of which 

it lost in a 1980 remodeling. Still, the building retains its original brick 

walls with brick quoins and cast stone entrance surround, stringcourses, 

cornices and pediment.18

Coming in order after the main research building were a chemistry 

laboratory, a stability laboratory, two testing buildings, and a high 

explosives preparation and test laboratory, all built in 1930 and all with 

Colonial and Georgian features. Next in line was a one-story concrete 

and hollow clay-tile ammunition and explosives magazine, also built in 

1930 but non-Georgian. Building 43, an expansion of magazine no. 2, 

housed Technical Group headquarters and a chemical laboratory behind 

its new Colonial facade.19

The arsenal carried on its rehabilitation amid the usual hazards. 

A detonator which exploded during placing of bomb fuzes in a tin 

container on 21 June 1927 destroyed a Mark III bomb fuze and injured 

three women. An incident on 24 October 1928 involved a detonator 

Chemistry Laboratory (Building 162)
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

160

charging machine. The more popular of two theories contended an 

operator struck the empty hard-rubber cap block and charge holder 

he was placing in the machine against some portion of the machine. 

An alternate theory suggested holes in the rubber charging block had 

bridged over with mercury and the operator was trying to clear it when 

the explosion occurred. Investigators could not ask operator, the late 

Reuben Date. Damage to the building ran to $200.00 while repairs to the 

detonator charging machine cost approximately $600.00.20

On 31 July 1928, a fire destroyed J. C. Nicholls’s cannon blender 

buildings. It started on the conveyor belt between the two cannon powder 

blending buildings and had two possible sources of ignition, either static 

discharge or heat of friction produced by powder grains jammed in the 

revolving guard rolls supporting the conveyor or powder dust collected 

in the rolls. The fire also destroyed the small-arms blender plus a pump 

house and a paint shed. The total value of lost buildings was $50,500.00. 

Other losses were a 100,000-pound lot of 14-inch gun powder worth 

$70,579.48 and $22,941.50 worth of motors, cans, screens, rolling stock, 

scales, and other building contents. Eleven employees suffered burns 

or bruises from flying rocks and gravel. Picatinny rebuilt both blenders 

farther north where Proving Ground No. 1 had been.21

An experiment on recovering solvent from smokeless powder started 

a fire on 29 November 1928. It killed gang boss Warren Whitmore and 

destroyed a thousand pounds of powder valued at $1,137.25.22

The suspected cause of the explosion on 11 March 1929 in a 

detonator loading building was misalignment of one or more detonator 

casings in a holder with the pins of the press. This would have meant one 

or more pins did not enter its casing properly and so crushed a detonator 

or detonators. The result was $800.00 worth of damage to the building 

and a lost eye for an operator.23

On Friday, 21 March 1930, powder in a pressing machine blew at the 

start of a smokeless powder experiment and sent the top of the machine 

through the roof. Fragments from the machine killed Captain John B. 

Fidlar and two civilian chemists, Stephen D. Deevy and Frank Stevens, 

Jr. All three were married, and the two civilians were fathers. Nine other 

employees suffered injuries, but only one required an overnight hospital 

stay. Arsenal rules limiting the number of people in a building during 

testing prevented more deaths and injuries. Nine chemists involved in 

preparatory work had just left the building. The head chemist, Howard 

B. Deck, and an Army officer were just entering the room as the blast 

occurred. The force of the blast knocked down Captain J. A. Rogers, 

who was near the building. The captain suffered no injury and survived 

to compile and publish a collection of documents essential to the history 
161

PHOENIX

of Picatinny’s first 50 years. The building also survived, thanks to the 

removal of explosives not needed for the experiment. All other buildings 

were at least 200 feet away, thanks to New Jersey law and lessons learned 

from the 1926 blast, and their brick and corrugated steel structures 

withstood the shock. Workers quickly extinguished the “few wisps of 

flame” in one building. The emphasis put on these safety features in the 

press reports showed the arsenal anxious to allay public fears of a 1926 

repeat. Damage to buildings ran to $800.00, to equipment $1.2 million.24

An explosion on 29 August 1930 killed millwright William Black, and 

one on 15 March 1932 killed explosive worker Otto Will. Electrocution 

killed electrician John Laverty when he was installing a transformer on 

15 July 1936.25

The rebuilding effort ended in 1935, but facilities expansion 

continued as the arsenal benefited from New Deal attempts to relieve the 

nationwide depression with work programs. New Deal agencies directed 

almost 80 percent of project funds to labor, and this created a problem 

for an installation whose construction projects normally apportioned 

costs 50-50 between labor and materials. Picatinny reduced materials 

costs by bulk purchasing items usable in many diverse projects, obtaining 

materials from other arsenals as it had from Sandy Hook in the first days 

of the powder factory, and salvaging materials from buildings wrecked in 

1926.26

The Emergency Relief Administration catalogued records and did a 

boundary line survey while the Civilian Works Administration drained, 

built, and improved roads, dredged and dammed brooks, cut bush, and 

repaired buildings. One project, an earth embankment dam at the top of 

Green Pond Mountain, stopped drainage of a basin holding thousands 

of gallons of water and gave the locality a gravity-flow water system it 

had desired for years. This effort used 1,071 days of labor from men off 

the Dover and Wharton relief rolls. At the same time, the Department of 

Agriculture was cutting arsenal trees to stop an outbreak of Dutch elm 

disease.27

Most active was the WPA. From 1935 to 1939, it assigned over 1,000 

employees per year, topping 1,900 at one point, and spent over $2.1 

million to:28

rehabilitate 65 magazines and 102 small buildings, 10 sets 

of quarters, an experimental fuze plant, 4 tennis courts. The 

experimental fuze plant was an addition to building 43, still 

Technical Division headquarters but renumbered to 171. This 

remodeling started the structure on the road to the Colonial 

Revival look it still has as the present Picatinny headquarters 

building.
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

162

construct an experimental powder factory, 44,551 feet of concrete 

road, a plating plant, a locomotive shelter, a sand blasting and shell 

cleaning plant, 2 tile central storage buildings of 27,800 square 

feet each, 4 tile lumber and projectile storage buildings of 90,000 

square feet each, a 8,900-square foot tile pyrotechnic factory, 23 

permanent garages for residents, an officers’ club, an employees’ 

athletic club, a fireless locomotive shelter, a 4,300 square-foot 

tile green house, a 2,700-square foot tile sand blasting and shell 

cleaning building, a 500-square foot tile chip spinning and oil 

recovery building, barricades in the high explosive magazines 

area, pier for outdoor railroad equipment storage, 41,525 feel 

of climb-proof fence, 44,551 feet of concrete road, a master 

sampling building, and an experimental powder factory.

reconstruct a sewage disposal plant and install 2,700 feet of sewer, 

7 brick warehouses of 32,500 square feet each, officers’ quarters, 

the coal trestle at the power plant, plus a recreation room, and 

transients’ quarters out of old brick buildings.

reconstruct and enlarge the artillery primer shop.

reconstruct and add a story to the 50x200-foot experimental fuze 

plant and technical building.

construct and equip a plating plant with a main building 50x150 

feet and made of tile.

double the size of the main garage and add an automotive shop 

and housing for fire apparatus and gas-electric locomotives to 

produce a building with an area of 17,000 square feet.

install a gasoline service station, a rock crushing plant with a 200 

yard per day capacity, and a railway equipment repair shop.

construct and install 20 hose houses;

overhaul railway and truck scales.

repair and winter proof 191 pieces of handheld fire fighting 

apparatus.

fabricate and install 650 luminous signs to indicate degree of 

hazard in explosives and inflammable materials storage buildings.

paint and mark with stainless steel signs 550 fire hydrants and 

service and drinking water valves.

provide drinking fountains around the installation.

lay 11,400 feet of 6 and 8-inch water main pipe and 14,310 feet 

of other pipe;

install a new deep well pump and house; 24 railroad crossings; 

2,400 lineal feet of concrete curbing; and new roofs covering a 

total of 28,600 square feet.
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PHOENIX

lay new concrete floors totaling 19,840 square feet.

fabricate 1,802 each steel posts and banjo hangers for recovered 

steam lines support.

perform approximately 400 other carpentry, plumbing, and 

electrical repair jobs.

WPA activities were under the chief of Picatinny’s Operating 

Department, and one of his subchiefs picked foremen, subforemen, and 

gang bosses. Until July 1938, all WPA funding was Federal and came to 

the arsenal’s Cost Section for allocation to specific jobs. The same section 

monitored WPA workers time and prepared their checks for issuance by 

the Finance Section. Picatinny had to add 24 percent to what money came 

from Washington, but its expenditures for equipment, transportation, 

material, and its own skilled laborers frequently ran higher. After July 

1938, the states took over management of both state and Federal WPA 

funds and the workers received their checks from an office in Newark, 

New Jersey.

Many charged WPA workers with drawing pay for leaning on shovels, 

but those at Picatinny were not idle. Most are anonymous, but one 

foreman was William Vanderbilt, the feller of chestnut trees at Picatinny 

two decades earlier.

Picatinny used the rebuilding period to rationalize its building 

numbering and to name several streets after former commanders. 

Structures south of Farley Avenue, formerly Mount Hope Road, now 

carried numbers under 100 while those on Farley and north to Ninth 

Avenue had numbers in the 100s, as did the research buildings behind 

the Chemistry Laboratory. Behind the 100s in the central area up to Lake 

Picatinny, were the 300s. The 200s were north of the 300s. The Powder 

Factory buildings carried 400 numbers. The 500s ran on the east side of 

Lake Picatinny until the 900s took over halfway up the lake. The 600s, 

700s, and 800s were west of the lake with the 800s near the shore and 

the 600s and 700s hugging Green Pond Mountain. Picatinny would add 

areas as it expanded, but it did not change the numbering arrangement 

of existing ones.29

Although installation engineers conducted sanitation, water supply, 

and storage studies to confirm “the sound basis on which the Arsenal 

had been laid out and constructed,” there were problems in all three 

areas. The engineers estimated the sanitary system, which included 

sewer lines, ejector stations, a main sedimentation and digestion tank, 

sprinkling filters, settling lagoons, and a chlorinating discharger, would 

prove adequate for up to 7,000 personnel, but they were not so happy 

with the location, predicting any major expansion in the southern part of 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

164

the installation would require relocation and complete rebuilding of the 

treatment plant.30

WPA WORK

Technical Division Headquarters Before and After Renovation
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PHOENIX

Working on the Railroad
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

166
167

PHOENIX

B-117 as Family Quarters

B-117 as Stable
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

168

Flooding

Greenhouse
169

PHOENIX

New Flood Control Culverts

Officer’s Club
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

170

The engineers considered either driving enough wells to supply all 

water needs or abandoning existing wells and treating lake water to make 

it potable but ended up opting for the existing mixed system. They did 

suggest looping some water lines to have more water available during 

explosions and fires and installing valves to shut off broken lines.31

Storage for both explosives and inert materials was definitely 

inadequate. Proposed and quickly rejected was a suggestion to purchase a 

tract to the east as a site for magazines. It would have put explosives storage 

facilities too close to the area allotted to nonhazardous work. Instead, 

using WPA funds and labor, the arsenal constructed protective barricades 

which increased allowable explosive capacities in the northern area. It also 

constructed 8 large magazines for inert storage, 6 centrally located and 

2 in the southwest area near the carpenter and metal components shops. 

The lower storage area received 10 new smokeless powder magazines. 

The National Youth Administration had 40 boys start work under a 

Picatinny supervisor on 27 October 1939. Although only present until 26 

April 1940, the workers reroofed and repaired 10 magazines in the lower 

storage area. Company 3222 from Civilian Conservation Corps Camp 

AF-4 in Butler, New Jersey, appeared in the fall of 1940 and worked on 

reconnaissance roads and fire breaks until 11 July 1942.32

Arriving at Picatinny’s gate at 7:30pm on 11 July 1926 to begin a 

month studying ordnance work, Major A. J. Stuart learned there was no 

place for him to report. The situation had improved when Lieutenant 

Colonel Stuart returned to occupy the commander’s quarters in 1933, 

Building115 During Conversion to Quarters
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PHOENIX

but he still faced a serious, if nonexplosive, threat in the guise of a 

proposal to disperse Army ammunition manufacturing among several 

Ordnance Department Field Service installations. Manufacturing did not 

greatly add to Picatinny’s overhead costs, but it brought in a good deal 

of money to defray such costs. “A given reduction in manufacturing work 

is accompanied by only a relatively small reduction in these overhead 

expenses. The result is that as the manufacturing work is reduced, the 

Arsenal overhead burden on these other functions becomes greater and 

greater until a point is reached where the total cost of these functions 

becomes economically prohibitive.”33

The relationship between manufacturing and research and 

development was not one way. “Difficulties more or less traceable to 

design defects are constantly arising in connection with manufacturing 

work....The technical personnel are of great value in eliminating these 

difficulties, and, on the other hand, such personnel receive valuable 

experience as to design features which give trouble in manufacture and 

should be avoided in future designs.”

As an example of how the relationship worked in practice, Stuart 

cited tool making. An ample amount of manufacturing work meant 

allowed hiring large numbers of toolmakers who were available for 

experimental projects when manufacturing was slack. Development 

work would continue to require the same number of toolmakers, but, 

without manufacturing, there would be long stretches when these 

Lieutenant Colonel A. J. Stuart
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

172

workers would be idle. Reducing the number of workers would mean 

delaying the manufacture of experimental ammunition lots. Research 

and development also kept manufacturing equipment active during slack 

periods.34

Preparers of manufacturing drawings and specifications were the same 

for both experimental and standard items. Picatinny would have to do 

this work even if other installations did the manufacturing. Determining 

gaging percentages and dimensions and designing and testing gages for 

all types of ammunition required cooperation of technical, inspection, 

and manufacturing personnel. “Satisfactory results in this work can only 

be obtained when the article in question is actually under manufacture at 

this Arsenal.”35

Manufacturing on site kept Picatinny familiar with tool, machine, 

equipment, and process improvements and, so, helped it prepare accurate 

descriptions of manufacture to send out to industry when production had 

to increase. The same applied to inspection manuals. “On the outbreak 

of War, a heavy burden will be thrown on this Arsenal in connection with 

the training of ammunition inspectors to be stationed at war plants....

The experience gained in the inspection of material under manufacture 

at this Arsenal is valuable, if not absolutely necessary, in connection with 

the preparation of these documents.”36

Manufacturing orders also provided money for work on explosives 

already produced. Picatinny was still responsible for surveying explosives, 

both in storage and with the troops, and used the same equipment on the 

explosives it manufactured. The work not only used development facilities 

but frequently turned up problems requiring the technical expertise of 

research and development personnel.37

Stuart’s final argument was educational. “Ordnance officers in 

completing a normal tour of duty at this Arsenal become an invaluable 

asset, competent to handle practically any wartime assignments in 

connection with ammunition appropriate to their grade.” Picatinny ran a 

six-week course in ammunition open to Army reserve and Navy officers 

as well as key civilians who would be at wartime ammo plants. “The 

actual witnessing of ammunition manufacturing operations is in all cases 

a valuable part of the instruction.”38

Picatinny manufactured the same items after 1926 as before. 

Rebuilding the powder factory continued well into 1931, but most of it 

was running from temporary quarters by January 1927. Difficulties from 

deficient equipment were usually minor, but the arsenal had to procure 

pyro powder and guncotton by contract because the cotton purification 

and nitration units were the last ones replaced. These problems did not 

prevent the factory from switching its lines from pyro powder to DuPont 
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PHOENIX

flashless nonhydroscopic (FNH) powder in 1928. The first lot consisted of 

46,000 pound of powder for 155mm shells. One reason for the relative 

lack of problems was “the fact that our personnel including foremen, 

gang bosses and operators are of above average intelligence, have been 

employed continuously in the manufacture of powder for from twelve 

to twenty years and have unusual interest in their work and loyalty to 

their organization.” The 1930s witnessed continuing studies to improve 

processing, especially to reduce the cycle time for manufacturing the 

FHN base and to improve the efficiency of solvent recovery.39

In 1933, the Loading Department welcomed First Lieutenant Leslie 

Earl Simon, a West Point and Massachusetts Institute of Technology 

(MIT) alumnus with a strong interest in applying statistical sampling to 

quality control. The Picatinny assignment allowed him to work closely with 

Dr. Walter A. Shewhart, a resident of nearby Mountain Lakes who had 

pioneered this field at Bell Laboratories. Shewhart became a consultant 

to the arsenal, and the two conducted the Ordnance Department’s first 

forays into this area. The need to make thousands of rounds as near to 

identical as possible made ammunition production a natural field for such 

studies, and Simon directed the arsenal’s drawing up and publication of a 

shop manual on “Control of Quality through Percentage Inspection.” In 

1937, Simon transferred to Aberdeen Proving Ground, but he continued 

his interest in the statistical methods. His work at Picatinny supported 

the stockpile reliability system the Army implemented just before World 

War II.40

Captain Leslie E. Simon
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

174

On the research end, Picatinny personnel turned out 1,136 technical 

reports between the end of 1930 and bombing of Pearl Harbor. Report 

number 1, dated 6 January 1931, was a “Study of the Influence of 

Humidity on the Production of Static Electricity in the Processing of 

Smokeless Powder.” FNH propellants continued to be a major Picatinny 

concern and one of its major success stories. “The peacetime development 

of single-based and double-based non-hygroscopic powders, flashless 

in many weapons, was one of the more useful accomplishments of the 

Ordnance Department before 1940.” DuPont, the other key player 

in this work, and Picatinny pursued separate and successful lines of 

investigation.41

Some work was remarkably low tech, as in the search for a cotton 

fiber usable as cartridge bag cloth. World War I had forced British and 

Americans to face the need to limit their exclusive dependence on silk 

for this purpose. Picatinny began studying cotton as a feasible alternative 

in the 1920s, but it had a high ash content and left embers in the gun 

barrel. A solution materialized after an arsenal scientist took a variety 

of cloths from his wife’s rag bag and burned them on his cellar floor. 

He persuaded the bargain basement of a Dover department store to 

provide small swatches of every type of cloth in stock which resembled 

the best performer from the rag bag and conducted testing in Picatinny 

laboratories and at cotton mills throughout New England and the South 

until he had a replacement.42

Another raw material headache was toluene, a substance comprising 

nearly half of every pound of TNT. During World War I, the difficulties 

of deriving toluene from coal as a byproduct of coke ovens or extracting 

it from illuminating lamps had frequently threatened high explosive 

production and Picatinny had been searching for substitutes before the 

explosion. In 1927, Standard Oil of New Jersey obtained rights to a 

German process for producing it from petroleum. In the 1930s, Picatinny 

performed the testing which led to a June 1940 contract between the 

Ordnance Department and Standard Oil for production at several 

refineries. This work was why “during World War II, high-explosives 

production was never seriously hampered by lack of toluene.”43

Picatinny did not pay much attention to Dr. George Hale’s process for 

cyclonite manufacture, but the British thought the explosive’s advantages 

made tackling the processing difficulties worthwhile and developed a 

process incorporating Hale’s work at the Woolwich Research Center. 

From this time on, cyclonite took the designation RDX for research 

department explosive.44
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PHOENIX

In 1935, Doctor Hale, now the arsenal’s chief chemist, received a 

patent for ethylenedinitramine (EDNA), a less sensitive material than 

RDX and one pressable into small shells.45

Picatinny did not choose the ammunition it would develop, but 

responded to orders from the Department of the Army relayed through 

the Ordnance Department. During the 1930s, the Army was still pursuing 

efforts launched immediately after World War I in response to the 

problems encountered in the war. For example, the Westervelt or Caliber 

Board of 1919 had recommended a 75mm gun for tank armament 

but the Ordnance Department did not begin work on one until 1937. 

Earlier work focused on a 37mm antitank gun to accompany infantry, 

and Picatinny worked on a projectile able to penetrate one-inch class B 

armor plate at 500 yards and at an angle 200 from horizontal. It could 

not achieve the goal at the originally specified weight of 1.25 pounds and 

had to go to 1.45 pounds and use nickel alloy steel.46

The same board had recommended development of an antitank gun 

with a bore about 2.5 inches in diameter and firing an armor-piercing 

projectile weighing approximately 10 pounds. Nothing came of this 

because developers preferred to concentrate on improving the existing 

2.24-inch or 57mm antitank gun. Requirements for its projectile were a 

weight of six pounds, a muzzle velocity of 1,392 feet per second, and the 

ability to penetrate one inch of class B armor plate at 1,000 yards and 

George C. Hale
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

176

a 200 angle. Picatinny met the requirement with little difficulty, but the 

Ordnance Department decided the 75mm field gun with armor-piercing 

ammunition made a 57mm antitank gun unnecessary and dropped the 

program. The effort lay dormant until 1942.47

The 37mm ammunition program continued to demand and receive 

considerable attention throughout the 1930s even though the “Ordnance 

Department was well aware that the 37mm gun was totally inadequate as 

an antitank gun.”48

The initial attempt to increase the penetrating power of the 37mm 

M39 shot involved raising its weight to 1.85 pounds on the understanding 

such a shot would be able to pierce 1.5-inch armor plate at 1,000 yards 

and 200. The chrome nickel WD-3450 steel of the M39 did not test 

satisfactorily, so researchers used a special heat treatment to produce 

a round with the same hardness pattern of the original shot but using 

WD-4150 steel. This shot penetrated the plate on direct impact but not 

at the 200 deviation. The solution was to add a cap. The T7 still used 

WD-4150 steel, but its 1.85-pound weight included a .18-pound cap. 

The round could penetrate the plate at 200 if it had sufficient velocity, 

but its comparatively blunt ogive decreased velocity at 1,000 yards. The 

addition of a windshield over the cap increased the ogive radius and the 

velocity to the point where the T7 met the requirement and became the 

standard M51 round.

Just at this time, the firm of Henry Disston and Sons Company 

developed a face-hardened armor plate the M51 could not penetrate. 

Shifting to WD-74100 steel with .23 vanadium added to both body and 

cap produced a round which did penetrate the new plate. Further study 

showed it was necessary to use the new steel only in the cap. This change 

allowed the shot to reach a terminal velocity of 2,050 feet per second 

instead of the required 1,950.49 The 37mm gun may not have deserved 

all this effort, but working on it helped Picatinny develop a reservoir of 

ammunition expertise valuable to many weapons systems.

“Perhaps the single most significant achievement was the development 

of a complete system of artillery fuzes interchangeable in practically 

all artillery projectiles.” The Ordnance Department’s response to the 

Caliber Board’s suggestion to reduce the types of fuzes was to develop 

combination fuzes. This work began immediately after World War I but 

gained momentum after 1934. Major Herman H. Zornig, former chief of 

Picatinny’s Technical Division, had become the Ordnance Department’s 

director of fuze development.50

The first combination fuze had a thread diameter of 1.5 inches 

because it had to fit left over World War I shells with openings threaded 
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PHOENIX

for French adapter boosters. The fuze did not adapt easily to 155mm 

and larger calibers, and the small opening made loading difficult. These 

problems prompted development of a fuze with a 2-inch thread opening, 

the M39 combination superquick and delay fuze.51

This fuze had a problem with the firing pin protruding further from 

the fuze point when set for delay than when set for superquick. This 

meant the range of 75mm rounds varied noticeably depending on the 

setting and increased the danger of premature functioning. The solution 

awaited the availability of a new superquick element developed for the 

M46 point detonating fuze.52

Much of Picatinny’s time went into showing what would not work. 

One effort to improve artillery ammunition involved modifying the 

155mm Mk III shell to pass through one-inch class B armor plate by 

covering its Mk IV point detonating fuze with a cap. Tests showed this 

merely transferred impact stresses to shell areas too fragile to withstand 

impact. This meant the cap did not improve penetration of a round 

already able to cut through one-inch structural plate.53

Shrapnel had been relatively ineffective against personnel in the 

trench warfare of World War I, and many wished to abandon it in favor of 

high explosive shells with superquick fuzes. Those wanting to keep it saw 

possibilities in a material designated semi-steel but really gray cast iron of 

high physical properties which France and Germany had used during the 

war. It promised many production advantages, especially regarding costs, 

so Picatinny worked with Rock Island Arsenal in Illinois to procure and 

test shells of high-test, molybdenum-bearing, and malleable cast iron. 

Results showed all three materials unsuitable for high explosive loading 

because the shells broke into fragments too small for effective shrapnel 

and too porous for chemical shells because. Developers put a positive spin 

on the failure by saying it allowed them to abandon shrapnel efforts and 

concentrate on high explosive shells.54 This would have been fine if the 

next world war had replicated the trench warfare of the first.

Work with the Chemical Warfare Service determined nose loading 

was the only practical method for filling chemical shells. Researchers also 

found inserting booster charges into bursting charges after filling and 

sealing the shell reduced accidents while consolidating of bursting charges 

in metal tubes eliminated the vacancies between these charges and fuze 

booster charges which had caused low order explosions or failures to 

burst. A further improvement came with the use of cast bursting charges 

in metal tubes.55

By 1937, Picatinny felt secure enough in its recovery to turn out a 

yearbook, the only time it would do this, and its snapshots delineate the 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

178

mid-1930s arsenal. A chart early in the book showed a chain of command 

topped by the Chief of Ordnance. Holding this post in 1937 was Major 

General William H. Tschappat, now 25 years removed from his tour 

as assistant officer at Picatinny. Under him came Brigadier General 

Herman Walter Schull, Chief of the Manufacturing Service. On a 

level with Schull was the Chief of the Field Service, Brigadier General 

Edward Marsh Shinkle. He had commanded Picatinny from 1920 to 

1921 and would again command it from 1940 to 1941. Under Schull 

and over the Picatinny commander was Colonel L. D. Booth, Chief of 

the Ammunition Division. Commanding Picatinny was Colonel Lucian 

Barclay Moody, a 1904 West Point graduate and a decorated World War 

I veteran.56

The three main organizations were the Administrative, Technical, 

and Manufacturing groups. Major Ralph S. Chavin, a 1931 Harvard 

MBA, headed the Administrative Group while Major Mark M. Serrem, a 

University of Minnesota graduate, was Finance Officer. Captain Randall 

J. Hogan, a 1918 graduate of the MIT, doubled as assistant to Chavin 

and as Athletic Officer.57

The Administrative Group’s duties ranged from clerical work to 

running a railroad. Its Accounting Division had more parts “than you will 

find a prize jig saw puzzle,” the main ones being the allotment, cost, and 

time sections. These three sections had female chiefs while the division 

chief was male. Marion Spargo headed the Allotment Section. There 

were also Accounting, Personnel, and Mail and Record sections. The 

photo of the employees of all six divisions combined shows 4 men and 

19 women.58

Another photo combined the Reproduction Division with the Finance 

and Purchase sections. Reproduction chief Frank A. Waters and five of 

the nine men in his unit missed the photo. The total workforce of these 

units, whose chiefs were all male, split nine men and six women. Thomas 

Spargo headed the Purchase Section. David Walsh was in charge of 

the Finance Section although Major Serrem had to sign all the checks. 

Finance employed three of the six women.59

In addition to his group chief duties, Major Chavin directed the 

Stores Department with the aid of a civilian chief, R. L. Clothier. Major 

subunits were the General Stores, Ammunition Stores, Ammunition and 

Auxiliary, and Property Accounting divisions. The department had 56 

employees, 6 of them women.60

Transportation Department photos show one woman in its 

Administrative Section. Its 40 men divided into External Traffic, Garage 

Operation, Garage Maintenance, and Railroad Operation sections. 

There was no Stables Section since the arsenal had stopped using horses 
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PHOENIX

in 1936. WPA workers had turned the stables into quarters for two officers’ 

families.61 It still stands as building 117 but now houses administrative 

offices.

In 1937, the Picatinny Arsenal Railroad had 25 miles of track, 

5 steam locomotives, 2 gas-electric locomotives, 43 freight cars, 12 

gondolas, 17 flat cars, 4 giant steam cranes, and a snow plow. The gaselectric locomotives were especially eye catching, resembling “something 

like a cross between a tractor, a cheesebox on wheels, and a Buck Rodgers 

plaything.”62

Lucian Barclay Moody

Railroad Workers and Gas-Electric Locomotives
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

180

Lieutenant Colonel John Kay Clement, chief of the Technical Group, 

had a background more technological than military. His 1904 PhD from 

the University of Goettingen was in physics. The assistant chief, Captain 

Waldo Eugene Laidlaw, was a 1926 graduate of West Point who had 

gone on to earn a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering from 

MIT in 1932. Both wore business suits instead of uniforms for their semiofficial photos in the yearbook, a common practice during the interwar 

years for officers not with troops.63

The group’s major subunits were the Mechanical and Chemical 

departments. Mechanical Department sections were Complete Round 

and Packing, Projectile and Cartridge Case, Artillery Fuze and Primer, 

Bomb and Grenade, Pyrotechnic, Ammunition Drafting, and Drawing 

and Specification File. The last section had a female supervisor in charge 

of two females and one male. The 17 employees in the Ammunition 

Drafting Section were all male. The yearbook did not carry photos of the 

other sections, nor did it show the size of their workforces.64

The Chemical Department was under Dr. Hale and had two sections 

and the Chemical Laboratories. The Propellant Section included the 

Experimental Propellant Plant while the High Explosive and Loading 

Section had charge of the Experimental High Explosive and the 

Experimental Shell and Booster plants. These plants had small crews. 

The photo of the combined workforces of the Propellant and High 

Explosive plants shows seven men.65

The photo of the Chemistry Laboratories workforce shows 31 people, 

two female clerks and 29 men. The chief chemist was Mr. William H, 

Rinkenbach, a veteran of the days when the chemical laboratory was 

a mere adjunct of the powder factory. Chemical analysis and physical 

testing in support of the factory now fell to the laboratory’s Analytical 

Section headed by Granville E. Webster. He and the section’s other ten 

men developed specifications for new chemical materials, revised existing 

ones, and tested maintenance materials for the Ordnance Department 

Field Service. The section also had charge of the Metals Testing 

Laboratory. Experimental work was the responsibility of the ten men in 

the Research Section. The Stability Section kept and periodically tested 

samples of all smokeless powder lots in service. Two janitors handled 

maintenance in all laboratories.66

In addition, the Chemical Laboratories had charge of two units 

serving the entire arsenal. Its two female employees were in the Technical 

Library. Heading the Photographic Studio was one of many jobs Peter A. 

Moglia held during his 52 years and 10 months at Picatinny. As a sideline, 

he had edited the yearbook.67
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PHOENIX

Also under the Technical Group were two sections plus the Testing 

Station and the Experimental Fuze Plant. The same man, Leroy R. 

Carl, was in charge of the plant’s seven men and the station’s five. The 

Specification and Standard Practice Section employed two women, 

one the supervisor, and one man. The Clerical Section’s supervisor 

and ten employees were all female. It provided clerical support to the 

entire Technical Group, except the Chemical Laboratories, and the 

Ammunition School.68

Eight reserve officers were studying at the Ammunition School in 

1937. The arsenal commander was both school commandant and school 

board president while the chief of the Manufacturing Group served as 

assistant commandant and recorder and had actual charge of instruction. 

These two and the chief of the Technical Group were the school board. 

The chiefs of each department chose the instructors for courses covering 

their mission areas.69

The major suborganizations of the Manufacturing Group were 

the Metal Components, Loading, Explosives, Service, and Engineering 

departments and the Planning Division. Commanding the group was 

Colonel Everett Strait Hughes, 1908 West Point graduate and veteran of 

the Mexican Punitive Expedition and World War I. All five departments 

were under military officers.70

The Engineering Department had 35 civilian employees in addition to 

its military chief and assistant chief. It had reached a peak of 53 employees 

in 1929 and averaged around 40 since then. Because it was responsible for 

construction work around the arsenal as well as in manufacturing plants, 

it supervised workers from the Federal relief agencies. In addition to its 

professional accomplishments, the department’s “shindigs produce no 

end of hilarity and fun, and their square dances are known all around.”71

The Explosives Department’s main subunits were the High Explosives 

and Propellant divisions and the Planning Section. There were two lines 

with 22 men each turning out smokeless powder while the Tetryl Plant 

had 14. The Planning Section had four men.72

Lieutenant Colonel James B. Gillespie, a 1913 West Point graduate, 

was Chief of the Loading Department. His chief assistants and division 

heads, except for the civilian chief, were military.73

The General Loading Division had three sections. Photos show 30 

people in the Point Detonating and Percussion Fuze Section, 11 in the 

Booster Section. Only two in the Booster Section were women while 15, 

exactly half, of the fuze workers were female. Small hands and fingers 

were valuable assets in fuze assembly. The Fuze Primer and Primer 

Detonator Section had 33 employees, 6 of them women. In the Bag 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

182

Sewing Section, 30 of 38 employees were women, including Lenora Van 

Sickles. The Propellent Loading Section photo shows 19 women in the 

group of 29 employees.74

The Complete Rounds Division had three sections. A photo of the 

Melt Loading and Press Loading sections shows a combined total of 35 

workers, all male, while the Complete Round Assembling and Packing 

Section photo shows 6 women among the 42 employees.75

The Time Fuze Division had Time Fuze Loading and Artillery 

Primer sections. Photos show 23 employees, 3 of them female, in the 

former and 22, 13 female, in the latter. The Pyrotechnic Division had 

18 employees, including 4 females. There were 4 women among the 18 

employees in the Loading Department Office.76

Captain William V. Randall headed the Metal Components 

Department. He was a World War I veteran and a graduate of Cornell 

with advanced work at William and Mary and MIT. The department’s 

main subunits were the Machine, Tool and Experiment, and Plating 

divisions plus the Planning Section. The occupational breakdown 

showed a general foreman, 2 assistant foremen, 3 foremen machinist, 2 

assistant foremen, 1 shop checker, 2 metal platers, 2 production assistants, 

2 laborers, 1 storekeeper helper, 1 tool-hardener, 2 toolkeepers, 1 janitor, 

2 metal plater helpers, 9 set-up men, 22 toolmakers, 12 subinspectors, 4 

machinist apprentices, 29 classified laborers, and 123 machine operators. 

Except for one office worker, it was all-male.77

Captain Lewis Morrell Van Gieson was chief of the Service 

Department. Educated in business and engineering, he had entered 

military life through the New York National Guard during World War I. 

His department’s main subunits were the Millwright, Electrical, Plumbing, 

Carpenter, Sheet Metal, Tin, and Paint shops, the Power House, and the 

Planning, Labor, and Maintenance sections.78

The Planning Section had 21 people, and its 5 women formed the 

only female concentration in the department. There were 12 people in the 

Labor Section. The list also mentioned a Track Section of 8 employees, 

but it was under railroad foreman Harold “Hap” Alexander. It members 

did not rate a photo under either of the departments claiming them. The 

shops were all male in 1937. There were 5 men in the Paint Shop, 21 in 

the Pipe Shop, 9 in the Electric Shop, 18 in the Tin Shop, and 25 in the 

Power House.79

The largest organization in the department was the Millwright Shop, 

responsible for repairs and welding. The yearbook needed three photos 

to cover its 84 workers. These men had “eardrums of Bessemer Steel, 

muscles of Chrome-Molybdenum hinged with rubber and bronze, and 

tempers of plate glass” and their workplace in building 302 was an area 
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PHOENIX

of “dirt, din, dust, smalls sparks, splinters.”80 Building 302 was the result 

of WPA combining three shop buildings into one.

The 12 men and 4 women of Planning Division were under “Bricky” 

Hosking. Although he had taken college courses in mathematics and 

chemistry, he had no degree and most of his education was on the job. 

Around 1937, the division changed the names of its Method Planning 

and Product Planning segments to Method Engineering and Product 

Engineering in an effort to appeal to young engineers.81

Captain Arthur D. Elliot, a 1910 Yale graduate, headed the Inspection 

Department and the Safety Division. The department was independent 

of any group and reported to the Picatinny commander. Its 24 members 

checked and commented on all specifications and drawings, made 

preliminary checks prior to quantity production of any and all items, 

did the arsenal inventory, and ran the Gage Laboratory. In addition to 

checking all gages, it inspected all tools, jigs, fixtures, and measuring 

instruments.82

The Safety Board consisted of the chief of the Safety Division, 

the Safety Engineer, and a representative of the commander. In 1937, 

the last was Dr. Hale. The Safety Division consisted of the Guard and 

Fire Fighting forces under a noncommissioned officer of the Ordnance 

Department. The two forces totaled 30 men in 1937 and were under 

Sergeant C. H. Farmer. Almost all members of both forces were armed 

forces veterans.83

The guards regularly carried .45-caliber Colt automatic pistols and 

had access to Browning automatic rifles, Springfield rifles, and 12-guage 

Fire Department, 1937 (C. H. Farmer, Jr., on top)
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

184

shotguns. Firefighting equipment included a six-cylinder American 

LaFrance fire truck, a 750-gallon pumper, a four-cylinder American 

LaFrance hose and chemical truck, a Ford ambulance with inhalator, 2 

oxygen masks, 2 all-service masks, and a first aid kit.84

The second noncommissioned officer assigned to Picatinny in 1937 

served in the Post Hospital as second in charge to the Post Surgeon, still 

Dr. Baker. There were also three attendants able to “set a fracture, treat 

you for snake bite with methods much more effective if not as agreeable 

as the olden days remedy, or cure a morning after headache.” These were 

Army medics who had replaced the largely female nursing contingent 

of earlier years. The area in the basement of building 151 was more 

clinic and pharmacy than hospital, but the yearbook praised its “modern 

apparatus, skillful attendants, well stocked supply room and scrupulous 

cleanliness.”85

The Horticultural Section’s six members were responsible for “59 

acres of well kept lawn, a large part of which forms the most inviting golf 

course in this section of the state.” Other green areas were lawns around 

quarters, landscaped plots around the Administration Building and the 

Chemical Laboratory, and 3.5 acres of apple orchard. The section had 

to spray, prune, and otherwise care for approximately 2,000 ornamental 

and shade trees, uncounted flower beds, 2 glass-enclosed conservatories, 

and a large greenhouse. To do this, it had “3 motorized lawn mowers, 

power sprayer, one garden tractor, and a fistful of hand power mowers, 

Post Hospital 1937
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PHOENIX

pruners, etc.” The greenhouse was a remodeled barn on the west side of 

the arsenal abutting Green Pond Mountain.86

Last, but far from least important, was the organization charged with 

nourishing the inner Picatinnyan. According to the yearbook, the Post 

Restaurant had recently seen rapid and extreme changes, for

whereas you find an ice refrigerator, coffee urns and a six burner 

electric stove one week, the following Monday you will see an 

hotel-sized electric dish-washer installed, together with a gadget 

that squirts hot water, milk, sugar and coffee with say a dash of 

Ovaltine on the side, and all for a nickel (Or nickel and one or two 

cents tax depending on how Saturday’s Golf Tournament made 

out). There will be a new ten-unit electric range all streamlined 

with chromium to dazzle your eye, and the biggest assortment of 

pies, cakes, candy and concentrated stomach ache you never saw.

The yearbook was especially rapturous over the pies of Tekla 

“Ma” Danielson, one of three women and two men who dispensed the 

delicacies. Danielson had been in charge since Picatinny first opened a 

cafeteria in 1926.87

Civilian employees were under the Civil Service System as 

administered by a local board chaired by the head of the Administrative 

Group. If there was a need for an urgent special skill, the arsenal could 

put a person to work while the board went through its procedures. 

Normally, workers served as six-month temporary appointees before 

attaining permanent status.88

Joining the National Federation of Federal Employees in protecting 

workers’ interests was Picatinny Lodge No. 225, American Federation 

of Government Employees (AFGE). This was a new factor in arsenal 

life, having received its temporary charter on 14 November 1935. Its 29 

members paid an initiation fee of $1.00 and dues of 50 cents per month. 

The lodge described itself as “a constructive, conservative organization 

affiliated with the American Federation of Labor.” This put it on the 

right wing of late 1930s union activity. While supporting the national 

organization’s efforts to protect and extend employees benefits, especially 

the recently won five-day week, the local unit aimed “to promote a fine 

spirit of understanding and cooperation.” It held several small events 

plus an annual banquet in February and an all-day picnic at Bertrand’s 

Island Amusement Park on Lake Hopatcong.89

The yearbook did not discuss one important contribution the 

union wrought because the Picatinny Credit Union, later the Picatinny 

Federal Credit Union, did not come into being until June 1939. The 

AFGE was its sponsor, and Alfred Carson, AFGE president, was the 

vice president. Dr. Hale was the first president. Chartered under the 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

186

Farm Credit Administration, the initial value of a full share was $5.00 

and the maximum number of shares allowed one individual was 20 or 

$100.00 worth. Maximum loan amounts were $25.00 unsecured and 

$50.00 secured. The loan interest rate was one percent per month on the 

outstanding balance.90

AFGE events were not the only ones on Picatinny’s social calendar. 

The Officer’s Club held monthly dances hosted by the different officers 

in turn while several divisions and departments held annual events, either 

a banquet, dinner dance, and picnic. Many of the athletic organizations 

on post did the same. One social organization expanded beyond arsenal 

borders when a gathering of installation engineers grew into the Morris 

County Engineers Club.91

Foremost among the athletic organizations was the Golf Club. It 

had 200 members in 1936, about 50 from Picatinny and the rest from 

local communities. This openness was beneficial in terms of both greens 

fees and community relations. Members came from as far as Newark. In 

addition to tournaments open to all members, Picatinnyans in the club 

played in monthly matches between Red and Blue teams with the losers 

buying dinner. The Administration Building was now where a green had 

been when the course opened in 1921, but the original four holes course 

had grown to “one of the best nine hole courses in this vicinity.” There 

was a pro in attendance, and tournament fees help defray costs at the Post 

Restaurant. The club had acquired a clubhouse, now the northern third 

of building 121, in 1936.92

The parent of the tennis club was a team formed in 1927 to 

participate in the Morris County Tennis League. The Technical Division 

sent participants to doubles tournaments in Dover the next year, and, 

in 1930, 28 people formed the Picatinny Arsenal Tennis Club with 

Colonel Crain as president. The club immediately set up two courts 

by the Administration Building and added a third in 1933. It opened 

membership to non-Picatinnyans in 1936.93

In 1922, Picatinny employees formed six bowling teams representing 

Engineering, Metal Components, the Main Office, the Laboratory, the 

Storehouse, and the 59th Ordnance Company, a organization briefly 

stationed at Picatinny. The Picatinny Arsenal Bowling League began 

in 1926 with the sanction of the American Bowling Congress and held 

tournaments in various Dover bowling alleys. In 1937, there were 14 

teams with 6 to 9 members each. Some departments fielded A and B 

teams.94

Picatinny did not ignore the national pastime. The Arsenal Twilight 

Baseball League began in Spring 1931 with six teams and Major Joel G. 

Holmes as president. The games had stopped in 1936, but the league 
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PHOENIX

planned to restart in 1938 with four teams. Its officers included “Bricky” 

Hosking, who had supplemented his Picatinny salary in the 1920s 

by playing semipro ball against such barnstormers as Babe Ruth, Joe 

“Ducky” Medwick, and a Columbia University student who protected 

his amateur status by calling himself Lou Long instead of Lou Gehrig. 

The teams played on Mount Pleasant field in Rockaway Township in 

1931 and, then, on Repogle Field in Wharton.95

Chronicling professional and social activities was The Barrage. In 

1937, an editorial staff of five turned out monthly issues in addition to 

their normal work. The editor was Photographic Studio head Moglia, 

and 12 regular correspondents reported from around the base. Funding 

was from advertising. The paper had grown from a three-page pamphlet 

in September 1929 to a 16-page magazine. A typical issue was long on the 

comings and goings of arsenal personnel interspersed with official news 

and employee literary compositions. Among the latter were humorous 

pieces which, read today, prove humor is a perishable commodity.96

The 1926 explosion sent arsenal wildlife traveling, but it returned. 

In 1937, Picatinny boasted 30 species of birds with duck, pheasant, 

and heron predominating. Three varieties of duck inhabited the lower 

portion of the arsenal. Six mallards hatched in 1935 used traditional 

methods to increase to 30 by 1936, then the state game commission 

doubled this number by stocking. Big and little blue heron and ruffled 

grouse called the marshes below the parade ground home, but the grouse 

were becoming rare in the late thirties. Ring neck and black pheasants, 

birds more comfortable around humans, took their place. Arsenalites 

who scattered crack grain during food shortages and built winter shelters 

helped the bird population survive and grow.

The occasional rainbow trout was a relic of stocking in the distant 

past. Dominant in the waters above Lake Picatinny were native brook 

trout. Below the lake were pickerel and the smaller fish who formed their 

diet while sunfish and black bass were in the lake itself. Muskrats, minks, 

and weasels stuck to the area along the lower stream, but skunks roamed 

the entire installation. Cottontail rabbits frequently raided resident’s 

gardens, but woodchucks and red and grey squirrels stayed in forest 

areas. Around 1936, felled birches and poplars damming the waters of 

Green Pond Brook above building 162 announced the return of beavers. 

Standing tall among Picatinny fauna were the red deer who traveled in 

herds as large as seven and thrived despite the occasional wildcat.97

While not in the yearbook, one former Picatinnyan was then engaged 

in a project with serious implications for the arsenal’s future. In 1937, the 

Ordnance Department established a suboffice at Wilmington, Delaware, 

to plans ways to expand munitions production when war broke out. The 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

188

chief was Colonel John P. Harris, and he looked to his former duty station 

to teach the private sector how to deliver large caliber munitions.98

Picatinny, at the same time, established a War Plans Division to 

prepare plans for expanding production when war came. New equipment 

received in 1937 and 1938 included screening machines, an ammonia ice 

manufacturing unit, centrifugal dryers, poaching tubs, hydraulic presses, 

tanks, a steam jacketed mixer, solvent recovery cars, nitrocellulose 

transfer cars, and air dry cars. The tense international situation mover 

the Federal government to place added security at war production 

facilities, including Picatinny. The government announced this the day 

before Germany invaded Poland. The actual outbreak of war in Europe 

accelerated the arsenal’s pace, and, when the Germans overran France 

and the Low Countries in May 1940, Picatinny converted all pilot plants 

to full production. By October 1940, normal daily outputs reached 

15,000 pounds per day for smokeless powder and 5,000 pound per day 

for tetryl. Further increases became possible when vapor recovery and 

ether and alcohol recertification buildings authorized in 1938 and a 

cotton nitration line authorized in 1938 began operating in 1941. The 

recertification plants could recover 5,000 pounds of ether and 1,000 of 

alcohol in 24 hours.99

Starting in July 1941, the Machine and Tool Design Section increased 

activity to 500 percent of its previous workload. Machines developed to 

increase productivity included a beam dial press adopted by new loading 

plants for consolidating and crimping work. A heavier, larger capacity 

press developed by a commercial firm kept key features of Picatinny’s 

original design.100

Picatinny Deer 1937
189

PHOENIX

In March 1938, the Ordnance Department began a program to 

spend $3 million to purchase powder and loading plant equipment as a 

war reserve. The equipment included nitric acid and ether manufacturing 

plants, heavy hydraulic presses for smokeless powder manufacture, 

ammonium nitrate screening machines, and continuous TNT melt 

units.101

John Henry Beeman, a 1939 graduate of Columbia University, 

came to Picatinny as a classified laborer in June 1940 at $4.16 a day. 

With overtime, he could make $27.00 per week, a decent sum for a man 

living with his parents in nearby Berkshire Valley. His first assignment 

was breaking down World War I fuzes, “hardly a fun job.” He next 

went to the Inspection Department where he “walked around with a 

micrometer measuring detonators and explosive pellets.” Then, thanks 

to the opportunities offered by rapid expansion, he was in charge of the 

Clerical Section of Plant Engineering after only three months at Picatinny. 

While responding to requests for technical drawings, he noticed a new 

plant would first ask for one drawing and shortly after request several 

more. “It occurred to me that these were drawings taken off the original I 

had given them, so I got a couple of guys to take all the drawing numbers 

off the basic prints and order them from the print shop. Anyway, I ended 

up with a roll of prints almost a foot thick, so when the plant technicians 

came in, I handed them the big roll. That was my contribution to the 

oncoming war effort.”102

Another local man who joined the arsenal workforce about the same 

time was Melvyn Van Sickles, a nephew of Lenora Van Sickles and an 

example of the continuing role family connections played in recruiting 

the workforce. On the other side of his family, he was the nephew of 

Raymond Spicer, a foreman in Picatinny’s garage. Van Sickles started 

as classified laborer at $4.16 per day. He worked in powder and tetryl 

facilities before moving to a more congenial spot in a machine shop and 

training as a toolmaker.103

Van Sickles’s family kept telling him what a fine workplace was 

Picatinny. The family of Frank “Doc” D’Auria was not so sure. They 

were not old Picatinny hands and judged it only by the 1926 explosion. 

D’Auria’s first visit to the post had been as a Dover High School student 

taking an officer’s daughter to a prom. The guards had unnerved him, 

but he calmed down and began his career in 1938, first as a machine 

operator and then as a materials coorindator.104

Picatinny suffered casualties before the nation entered World War 

II. On 19 October 1939, 32-year old George Thorsen was repairing a 

loading machine when it exploded. He died later the same day at Dover 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

190

General Hospital. Others avoided injury due to the compartmentalized 

arrangement of the workplace.105

On 27 February 1940, James Williams went to the Dover General 

Hospital after he took a blast in the face when materials he was carrying 

between buildings exploded. Two days later, Duncan Smith went to the 

same hospital when he received serious burns from an explosion in a 

small room where he was working alone on primers The explosion of 

five pounds of tetryl on 22 March 1940, hurt 19 people, but only two, 

Edgar Burrows and Ann Moltane, had injuries severe enough to require 

hospitalization. The other 13 had their cuts and bruises treated at the 

Post Clinic.106

An explosion at 7:59am on 23 September 1940 killed two workers. 

Flying debris injured 11 others, including 3 women. The workers were 

disassembling and removing mercury fulminate from World War I fuzes. 

The dead were John E. Goodwin and Elias Lawrence. The building 

suffered little damage, and most employees thought the blast came from 

the proving ground.

J. Parnell Thomas, a New Jersey Congressman serving on the House 

Committee on Un-American Activities, showed the overreaction typical 

of his committee when he immediately laid the blame on either sabotage 

or carelessness, “one is as bad as the other.” If it was carelessness, Thomas 

blamed it on the need to hire many new, untrained workers as production 

accelerated for the demands of a war Thomas and others had no desire 

to enter. The New Jersey State Police quickly ruled out sabotage, and 

Picatinny pointed out its work was inherently dangerous.107

One Picatinny contribution to preparedness was involuntary. In 

1940, the Chief of Ordnance took $3,000.00 which would have gone to 

Picatinny for explosives research and directed it to studying atomic fission. 

This was the Army’s first investment in what became the Manhattan 

Project.108

The late 1930s were a time of war scare upon war scare. Picatinny 

tried to respond with increased readiness, not increased fear. The work 

the arsenal had done throughout the decade had made the nation more 

ready than it would have been.
191

PHOENIX

NOTES

1 The WPA Guide to 1930s New Jersey (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 

1989, reprint of work copyrighted in 1939), p. 480 (hereafter cited as NJ 

WPA).

2 NJ WPA, p. 480.

3 Col. W. H. Tschappat, “The Lake Denmark Explosion—Its Effect on 

Picatinny Arsenal,” Army Ordnance, vol. VIII, no. 38 (September-October 

1926), 134, [Plant Engineering Group], Plant Design, typescript, c. 1942, pp. 

11-12, in ARDEC Historical Office files (hereafter cited as Plant Design), and 

[Rogers, Captain J. A., Jr., comp.], The History of Picatinny Arsenal (Picatinny 

Arsenal, 1931), p. 93 (hereafter cited as 1931...History). See also “Picatinny 

Plant to be Rebuilt” and “Workmen Busy at Wrecked Arsenal,” Dover Advance, 

July 29, August 9, 1926, and J. K. Crain, “The New Picatinny: Rebuilding 

the Army’s Ammunition Arsenal, Army Ordnance, vol. IX, no. 52 (January –

February 1929), 228-229.

4 “The History of Picatinny,” The Picatinny News, September 18, 1942, and 

Living History: Wilfred Hosking and Picatinny Arsenal, Interview, January 

1995, in Wilfred Hosking Collection, ARDEC Historical Office files (hereafter 

cited as Hosking, Living History).

5 Plant Design, p. 12.

6 1931...History, pp. 36-39, 70-71, and “To Take Testimony in Lake Denmark 

Case,” Rockaway Record, 12 July 1934.

7 1931...History, p. 71; Management Review and Analysis Division, 

Comptroller, Picatinny Arsenal, Long Term Trends, 30 June 1976, p. 66; “Fox 

Movie News to Tell World of Arsenal Comeback,” and “Picatinny A Help 

During Depression,” Picatinny Arsenal Barrage, 1 November, 1 June 1931, and 

“Picatinny Lay-Offs Felt Here,” Rockaway Record, 2 August 1934.

8 Plant Design, p. 12.

9 Plant Design, pp. 6, 13, and “The History of Picatinny Arsenal, Part IV,” The 

Picatinny News, 14 November 1947.

10 Plant Design, pp. 13-14. Cf. 1931...History, p. 93.

11 Plant Design, p. 14.

12 Plant Design, pp. 14-15.

13 Plant Design, p. 15.

14 Plant Design, p. 17, and Clerical Record of Ordnance Buildings at Picatinny 

Arsenal at Picatinny Arsenal, N.J.: Machine Shops (New), 31, sheet #2, bound 

in Dead Sheets On Bldg. #1 to 204 Inc. (hereafter cited as Clerical Record 

Picatinny Buildings).

15 Plant Design, p. 17.

16 “The History of Picatinny,” The Picatinny News, September 25, 1942, Clerical 

Record Picatinny Buildings, T-900 Administration Building, 151, sheet 3, 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

192

and (Old T-881) Chemical Laboratory, 162, sheet 2. See also “The New 

Chemistry Laboratories of Picatinny Arsenal,” Army Ordnance, volume XI, no. 

66 (May-June 1931), 469-470.

17 Revised Draft Report: Evaluation of Structures Built Prior to 1946 at Picatinny Arsenal, 

New Jersey, (Prepared for the New York District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 

by WCH Industries, Inc., Waltham MA, in association with Boston Affiliates, 

Inc., Boston MA, December 30, 1994), p. E-78 (hereafter cited as Evaluation of 

Structures 1994), and Plant Design, p. 16.

18 Evaluation of Structures 1994, p. E-82.

19 Evaluation of Structures 1994, pp. E-84, E85, E-88 to E-91. Evaluation of Structures 

1994 did not cover 43, now building 1, due to a long held, erroneous belief 

which dated the building from the middle to late 1940s. 1931...History, pp. 

63, 73, Picatinny Arsenal, Telephone Directory, Revised to Dec. 9, 1937, and 

Clerical Record Picatinny Buildings: Building 171, make clear the line from 

Magazine No. 2 to building 43 to building 171 to the present building 1.

20 1931...History, Appendix-7, and Ordnance Bomb, 1937 (Dover, New Jersey: 

Picatinny Arsenal, 1937), p. 105 (hereafter cited as Bomb 1937)

21 1931...History, Appendix 7.

22 1931...History, Appendix 7, and Bomb 1937, p.105.

23 1931...History, Appendix 7.

24 “Three Dead in Arsenal Blow-Up,” The Daily Record (Morristown, N.J.), 22 

March 1930, and 1931...History, Appendix 9. Cf. “Blast Kills Three at Jersey 

Arsenal,” New York Times, March 22, 1930.

24a Bomb 1937, p. 105: “Worker Dies in Arsenal Blast,” New York Times, 16 

March 1932, and “John Laverty Electrocuted at Picatinny,” Morristown Daily 

Record, 15 July 1936.

25 Plant Design, p. 19, mistakenly refers to this as the Increased Facilities instead 

of the Rehabilitation Project. For an overview of the connection between the 

military and the New Deal relief agencies, see Nick Taylor, American-Made: The 

Enduring Legacy of the WPA: When FDR Put the Nation to Work (New York: Bantam 

Books, 2008), especially pp. 449-460.

26 Report of Work Accomplished by Agencies Assigned to Work with Picatinny 

Arsenal, typescript in ARDEC Historical Office files [n.d., but c.1942], p. 

1 (hereafter cited as New Deal Agencies), and “New Reservoir at Picatinny 

Arsenal Engineering Feat,” undated news clipping in ARDEC History Office 

files.

27 NewDeal Agencies, p. 2. Picatinny Arsenal, W.P.A., Sept. 19, 1935 – June 

30, 1938, bound typescript and photos in ARDEC Historical Office files 

(hereafter cited as Picatinny Arsenal, WPA), lists the projects. For WPA work 

at another installation, see A History of Army Communications and Electronics 

at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, 1917-2007 (Fort Monmouth NJ: Office of the 

Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans, U.S. Army CECOM Life 

Cycle Management Command, 2008), pp. 16-17. Wendy A. Rejan, Historian, 
193

PHOENIX

CECOM, to Patrick J. Owens, Historian, ARDEC, e-mail: RE: WPA and 

Army Bases, 7 July 2008, indicates the work was even more extensive and 

includes a list of buildings and an annotated write-up on “WPA at Fort 

Monmouth” which support his view. She also included a copy of Michael 

Eberhardt, Historical Account of Radar Testing and Development from 1933 

to 1942 at Fort Hancock, Sandy Hook New Jersey (Sandy Hook NJ:: Gateway 

National Recreation Area for the National Park Service, 2008), which 

discussed WPA work there on p. 7. To e-mails to New Jersey History Network 

on Query: WPA in New Jersey, both dated 11 February 2012, from Joel Silby, 

Assistant Curator, New Jersey National Guard and Militia Museum and Beth 

Wooley, indicate significant WPA work at armories around the state and at 

Fort Hancock.

28 New Deal Agencies, p. 3, and “Woodsman Who Cut Arsenal Ties Now 

Helping Cut Plant Accidents.” The News-Barrage, 25 February, 1944.

29 Map in Picatinny Arsenal, WPA. Picatinny Arsenal, Telephone Directory, 

Revised to Dec. 9, 1937, used the new building numbers.

30 Plant Design, p. 19.

31 Plant Design, pp. 19-20.

32 Plant Design, pp. 20-21, and New Deal Agencies, pp. 1-2.

33 “Goes to Report to Arsenal, Finds It Mass of Wreckage,” New York Times, 

12 July, 1926, and A. J. Stuart, Lt. Col., Ordnance, Commanding, Picatinny 

Arsenal, to Chief of Ordnance, War Department, Washington, D.C.: Basic 

Ammunition Policy, April 7, 1934, copy of letter in Wilfred Hosking file, 

ARDEC Historical Office files.

34 Stuart, Basic Ammunition Policy, p. 3.

35 Stuart, Basic Ammunition Policy, pp. 3-4.

36 Stuart, Basic Ammunition Policy, p. 4.

37 Stuart, Basic Ammunition Policy, p. 5.

38 Stuart, Basic Ammunition Policy, p. 5.

39 Capt. Harry N. Rising, “Plant Difficulties Encountered in the Manufacture 

of Smokeless Powder,” lecture, July 6, 1929, typescript in ARDEC History 

Office files, p. 1 (bound in loose-leaf folder marked Ammo Engineering 

Design, History of Powder and Propellants), and “The History of Picatinny 

Arsenal, Part IV,” The Picatinny News, 14 November 1947. For the basics 

operations of the factory in the 1930s, see TM 9-2900: Technical Manual: 

Military Explosives, War Department, August 29, 1940, pp. 4-36. See also Fred 

Olsen, “Nitrocellulose and Smokeless Powder: The Modern Trend in Their 

Manufacture,” and G. C. Tibbits, “Propellant Powders: The Trend of Present 

Day Development,” Army Ordnance, vol. IX, no. 52 (January-February 1929), 

248-252, 273.

40 Bomb 1937, p. 67; Biography of Leslie Earl Simon (1900-), typescript in Leslie 

Earl Simon Folder, ARDEC Historical Office Files; Harry C. Thomson and 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

194

Lida Mayo, United States Army in World War II: The Technical Services: The Ordnance 

Department: Procurement and Supply (Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of 

Military History, 1960), 327, and Leslie E. Simon, “The Stimulus of S. S. 

Wilks to Army Statistics,” typescript of lecture in Leslie Earl Simon Folder, 

ARDEC History Office Files, p. 3. Mr. David M. Dreifus, Quality Engineering 

and System Assurance Directorate, ARDEC, supplied the writer with a copy 

of the last item.

41 Picatinny Arsenal Technical Reports No’s 1-2236: Titles and Abstracts, (Washington, 

D.C.: Documentation Incorporated, December, 1955), and Constance 

McLaughlin Green, Harry C. Thomson, and Peter C. Roots, United States Army 

in World War II: The Technical Services: The Ordnance Department: Planning Munitions 

for War (Washington, D. C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, 1955), p. 

173. 

42 “The History of Picatinny Arsenal, Part Two,” The Picatinny News, 3 

October1947.

43 Thomson and Mayo, Procurement and Supply, p. 135.

44 Marvin Carmack, “George Clyde Hale, Hoosier Chemist and Pioneer in 

Ordnance Research and the Early Chemistry of the Explosive, RDX,” revised 

draft of paper delivered to Annual Meeting of the Indiana Academy of Science

at Manchester College, November 2, 1990, p. 2 (hereafter cited as Carmack, 

“Hale”.

45 Carmack, “Hale,” p. 4.

46 Green et al, Planning Munitions, pp.182-183, and Mechanical Department, 

Technical Group, [Picatinny Arsenal], “Early History and Evolution of 

Artillery Ammunition and Bombs and Allied Materiel From World War I to 

June 30, 1939, typescript, ARDEC Historical Office files, p. 1 (hereafter cited 

as “History of Artillery Ammunition”). See also G. C, Hale, “Ammunition 

Research: Its Aims and Objectives as Conducted at Picatinny Arsenal,” W. K. 

Lukens, “Projectile Design: A Discussion of Tendencies in Modern Practice,” 

and H. M. Brayton, “Complete Rounds of Ammunition: A Discussion of 

Improvements to Meet Tactical Demands,” Army Ordnance, vol. IX, no. 52, 

(January-February 1929), 235-238, 263-266.

47 “History of Artillery Ammunition,” p. 10, and Green et al., Planning Munitions, 

pp. 185, 316.

48 Green et al., Planning Munitions, p. 184.

49 “History of Artillery Projectiles,” pp. 11-12.

50 Green et al, Planning Munitions, p. 173, and “History of Artillery Projectiles,” p. 

18-19.

51 “History of Artillery Ammunition,” p. 18.

52 “History of Artillery Ammunition,” pp. 18-19.

53 “History of Artillery Ammunition,”, p. 8.

54 “History of Artillery Ammunition,” p. 9.
195

PHOENIX

55 “History of Artillery Ammunition,” pp. 9-10.

56 Bomb 1937, pp. 4, 11-15.

57 Bomb 1937, pp. 23-24.

58 Bomb 1937, pp. 24-26.

59 Bomb 1937, pp. 26-27.

60 Bomb 1937, pp. 28-29.

61 Bomb 1937, pp. 30-31; John H. Gunther, untitled and undated memoir 

in ARDEC Historical Office files: Miscellaneous Biographies folder, and 

Evaluation of Structures 1994, pp. E-69-E-70.

62 Bomb 1937, p. 32.

63 Bomb 1937, pp. 36-37.

64 Bomb 1937, pp. 39-41.

65 Bomb 1937, pp. 42-43.

66 Bomb 1937, p. 44.

67 Bomb 1937, p. 44, and “‘Pete’ Moglia: 50 Year Man!,” “Moglia Here 51 Years 

for Employment Record,” and “Peter Moglia Ends Career,” Picatinny News, 

17 June 1968, 21 July 1969 and 19 April 1971.

68 Bomb 1937, p. 44.

69 Bomb 1937,p. 50.

70 Bomb 1937, pp. 54-55.

71 Bomb 1937, p. 59.

72 Bomb 1937, pp. 62-63.

73 Bomb 1937, pp. 66-68.

74 Bomb 1937, pp. 68-71. P. 71 confusingly makes it appear the Propellent 

Loading Section was under the Complete Rounds Division, but this is a fault 

in the layout. This is another case of Picatinny using the archaic spelling 

“propellent” in an organization title.

75 Bomb 1937, pp. 71-72.

76 Bomb 1937, pp. 68, 73-75.

77 Bomb 1937, pp. 76-79.

78 Bomb 1937, pp. 86-88. P. 87 refers to the shops and Power House as 

“Divisions,” but all subsequent pages refer to shops. The yearbook also lists a 

Track Section, but appears to have shifted but ran no photo of its personnel. 

The head of the section was foreman of the railroad and also listed under the 

Railroad Operations Section.

79 Bomb 1937, pp. 32, 87-88.

80 Bomb 1937, pp. 88-90.
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

196

81 Bomb 1937,, pp. 56-57, and Hosking, Living History.

82 Bomb 1937, pp. 97-98.

83 Bomb 1937, pp. 100-101.,

84 Bomb 1937, p. 101.

85 Bomb 1937, p. 102, and Picatinny Arsenal, Telephone Directory, Revised to 

Dec. 9, 1937.

86 Bomb 1937, p. 33, and Picatinny Arsenal, Telephone Directory, Revised to 

Dec. 9, 1937.

87 Bomb 1937, p. 103, and “History of Plant Cafeterias Told,” The News-Barrage, 

9 June 1944.

88 Bomb 1937, p. 104.

89 Bomb 1937, p. 127.

90 “How’s Your Credit?,” The Picatinny Arsenal Barrage, vol. 11, no. 1 (September 

1939), 3.

91 Bomb 1937, pp. 143-145.

92 Bomb 1937, pp. 103, 135, and Evaluation of Structures 1994, p. E-74.

93 Bomb 1937, p. 137.

94 “Bowling Goes Back 43 Years,” Picatinny News, November 15, 1965, and Bomb 

1937, p. 140.

95 Bomb 1937, p. 139; “COL. Rose Selected To Toss First Ball,” Picatinny 

Arsenal Barrage, vol. 2, no. 9 (May 1, 1931), and Living History: Hosking. The 

yearbook wrongly gives the date of the league’s founding as 1932.

96 Bomb 1937, p. 117.

97 Bomb 1937, pp. 110-114.

98 Thomson and Mayo, Procurement and Supply, p. 108.

99 “The History of Picatinny Arsenal, Part IV,” The Picatinny News, November 

14, 1947, and “Report More Guards Assigned to Duty at Picatinny Arsenal,” 

Rockaway Record, 30 August 1939. Latter article courtesy of John Dunaldo, 

Rockaway Township Historical Society.

100 “The History of Picatinny Arsenal, Part IV,” The Picatinny News, 

14 November 1947.

101 “The History of Picatinny Arsenal, Chapter V,” The Picatinny News, 

5 December 1947.

102 “The Life and Times of John Henry Beeman, Part II,” The Voice, 18 July 1997.

103 Melvyn Van Syckle, “Reflections on 50 years’ service,” The Voice, 

21 March 1991.

104 “‘Doc’ Put command’s best foot forward,” ARRADCOM Voice, 

18 January 1982.
197

PHOENIX

105 “Explosion Kills Arsenal Worker” and “Probe Dearth at Arsenal,” 

Morristown Daily Record, 1, 20 October 1940, and “Elias Lawrence, Rockaway, 

Killed in Picatinny Blast,” Rockaway Record, 26 September 1940.

106 “Two Hurt in Blasts at Picatinny,” and “19 Hurt in Blast at Picatinny 

Arsenal,” Dover Advance, 29 February, 25 March 1940, and “Another Picatinny 

Employee Burned “and “Picatinny Blast Injures Score” Morristown Daily 

Record, 29 February, 22 March 1940.

107 “2 Killed, 10 Injured,” and “Start Probe of Arsenal’s Recent Blast,” 

Morristown Daily Record, 23, 24 February 1940; “2 Killed, 11 Hurt in 

Picatinny Blast,” New York Times, 24 September 1940; and “2 Dead, 11 

Injured in Arsenal Explosion,” Dover Advance, 23 September 1940.

108 Vincent C. Jones, The United States Army in World War II: Special Studies: 

Manhattan: The Army and the Atomic Bomb (Washington, D.C.: Center of Military 

History, 1985), p. 23.
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

198

Chapter 6

Ways of War II

Somehow word spread around Picatinny to expect a bomb explosion at 

2:00pm on 28 November 1941. The source was, supposedly, an article 

in an area newspaper, but no one seemed able to find the story after 

the day passed without a blast. The explosion at the Hercules plant in 

nearby Kenvil on 12 September 1940 had raised suspicions of sabotage 

which linger to the present and fertilized the ground for rumor growth. 

It took more than a rumor to shake Picatinnyans. Absenteeism on the 28 

November was no worse than any other Friday.1

The bombs dropped on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 were no 

rumors, and they blew the workforce into overdrive. Picatinny quickly 

cancelled leave for officers and closed roads to casual traffic. Arsenal 

departments reported productivity increases of 10 to 15 percent for the 

week following the attack. The reward for this spurt of effort was the 

chance to do more work. Picatinny cancelled all leave on New Year’s Day, 

and, on 11 January 1942, it put the Complete Rounds and Pyrotechnics 

divisions on ten-hour shifts, seven days a week. Construction contractor 

employees had been working similar hours before Pearl Harbor. 

Production would reach highs of 30,000 pounds of smokeless powder 

and 8,000 pounds of tetryl per day. These amounts were “insignificant 

when compared with than manufactured by other plants, but they were a 

factor in the early requirements of the war.”2

Grueling work schedules were a necessity because Picatinny was the 

government’s only major loader of artillery ammunition and aircraft 

bombs until well into 1942. The military-industrial complex was pitifully 

small at the end of the 1930s. Between July 1939 and September 1942, 

the arsenal turned out more than 7.5 million bomb fuzes, 20 million 

198
199

WAYS OF WAR II

boosters, 44 million artillery primers, 39 million artillery fuzes, and 

countless millions of other items.3

In 1939, Picatinny’s booster production for an eight-hour shift was 

2,000. This rose to 4,000 in 1940 then jumped to 72,000 per 24-hour day 

in 1942. The one-day artillery fuze production figure rose from 600 in 

1939 to 1,500 in 1940 to 173,000 in 1942 while primers went for 10,000 

to 20,000 to 90,000. The daily production rate for propellant charges in 

1942 was 23,000, for percussion elements 100,000. In one day in 1942, 

Picatinny loaded 40,000 37mm, 30,000 60mm, 7,500 81mm, and 12,000 

75mm complete rounds. Summer 1942 was its production high point.4

Staff Sergeant Harry L. Anderson, who had forsaken Picatinny’s 

Inspection Department for the 4th Armored Division, was in northern 

Europe when he broke open a crate of rounds and found an inspection 

slip showing people in Picatinny building 820 had packed the crate in 

January 1945. Anderson mailed the slip to a brother-in-law at Picatinny 

on 18 March 1945, so Picatinny products were reaching troops within 

two months despite Atlantic voyages involving considerable zigzagging to 

avoid submarines and more travel on Europe’s bomb-ravaged roads and 

railroads.5

The increased workload and a massive increase in personnel meant 

changes in organizational structure. The Inspection Department 

became the Inspection Group while the transfer of construction and 

real estate responsibilities from the Quartermaster Corps to the Corps 

of Engineers on 16 December 1941 replaced the post quartermaster 

with a post engineer and created a Post Engineer Group. They joined 

the Administrative, Manufacturing, and Technical groups as the major 

units of the installations. The head of the Manufacturing Group, Colonel 

William E. Larned, became arsenal commander on 1 December 1941 

and held the post throughout the war.6

Headquarters and most activities of the Inspection Group, including 

the Gage Design Laboratory, moved from building 31 to 34. Pilot lot 

inspection took place in building 30 while three sections of loading 

inspectors were in 257. Inspection of incoming metal parts took place in 

34 and 65.

After 1942, the Post Engineer made his headquarters in brand 

new building 172 and ran a group with Engineering and Maintenance 

departments. The latter had taken over many duties of the Service 

Department, including the Tin, Machine, and Millwright Shops. 

Responsibility for grounds maintenance and the greenhouse was with the 

Stores Department of the Administrative Group.

The Manufacturing Group kept its Explosives, Loading, and Metal 

Components departments and upgraded Planning from a division to a 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

200

department. Despite the designation change, the new department still 

did most of its work in 151 although Inventory Control was in 62. It 

had offices charged with planning for every item Picatinny made and 

took on many duties of the former War Plans Division. The group 

added a Container Division early in the war. It had created a Production 

Engineering organization in July 1941 to eliminate difficulties and 

determine causes for rejections in the Loading Department. This became 

a separate division in 1942.

The Technical Group created an Auxiliary Department which, 

in addition to handling the group’s clerical and administrative tasks, 

had charge of the Testing Station, the Special Propellants Range, the 

Technical Library, and the Photographic Studio. The new department 

joined the existing Chemical and Mechanical departments. A sign of the 

times was the 1943 creation of a Plastics Laboratory in the Chemical 

Department. The Administrative Group had Industrial Relations, 

Procurement, Accounting, Stores, and Transportation departments.7

Employees Pledge General Larned Support for the War Effort
201

WAYS OF WAR II

Private industry was in a position to take over the bulk of war 

production by the middle of 1942, and Picatinny announced a halt on 

new hires and its intention to concentrate on experimental work in July. 

Still, its lines remained active throughout the war. In one three month 

period in 1944, the Loading Department poured explosives into 3,192 

bombs, 602,877 booster charges for mines, and 114,432 burster charges 

and turned out 826,439 rounds in calibers from 20mm antiaircraft 

cartridges to 4.2-inch mortar shells. During the last 12 months of the 

war, the Manufacturing Division averaged 80 different orders a day or 

400 a month.8

The Inspection Group checked an estimated 3,167 pilot and 

supplemental lots of boosters, bombs, fuzes, rockets, mines, grenades, 

and flare parachutes over the course of the war while the division’s 

Gage Design Section designed and checked approximately 62,960 

gages used in loading and metal parts producing operations. In 1940, 

the Ordnance Department began ordering ammunition components 

manufacturers to ship 2,000 of each item to Picatinny for inspection. 

The contractors’ lack of experience meant many rejections and the need 

to make corrections and submit new lots. This was time consuming, so 

Picatinny recommended and obtained a change to a pilot-lot program 

where a much smaller sample came to Picatinny. When war production 

World’s Longest Fuze Line 1942 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

202

reached the point where manufactures could ship components directly 

to assembly plants, contracts had a pilot-lot clause requiring shipment of 

the first 100 items to Picatinny for inspection.9

In October 1942, the group began preparing materials to assist 

Ordnance inspectors around the country and to help the Ordnance 

Department’s Inspection Section in Washington, D.C., implement a 

new standard sampling inspection plan which was, in turn, part of an 

effort to apply to contractor plants nationwide sampling techniques 

Captain Simon had pioneered at Picatinny a decade earlier. Many of 

the new plants contracted to machine ammunition parts in 1942 had no 

experience, and Picatinny had to send its inspectors to establish inspection 

requirements and processes. From 1942 to 1945, these inspectors visited 

over 325 plants.10

Private industry was able to take over the production mission because 

Picatinny had shown it how. Thanks to the prewar work of Colonel 

John P. Harris’s office in Wilmington and the War Plans Division at 

Picatinny, “Practically every fuze manufacturer received drawings from 

Picatinny of Frankford or the required tools, jigs, and fixtures.” In 

addition, an estimated 20,000 persons involved in munitions production 

visited Picatinny over the course of the war. In the months immediately 

following Pearl Harbor, 4,000 personnel, including inspectors, foremen, 

gang bosses and key operators, from 12 Ordnance districts, 29 loading 

plants, and 20 operating contractors as well as workers from Australia 

and Canada trained on Picatinny production lines. The arsenal gave 

instruction to over 530 engineers, chemists, and executives from privately 

run loading plants, trained about 300 Army Reserve officers for special 

assignments with the Ordnance Department, and supplied members for 

committees coordinating the activities of munitions manufactures around 

the nation. Manufacturing Group personnel ran typical operating lines 

to detect and correct trouble spots and then transferred their findings to 

other plants, and Picatinny employees served on ammunition production 

committees, visited and advised other plants, and prepared and distributed 

descriptions of manufacture for ammunition and pyrotechnic items along 

with associated inspection manuals to the plants.11

Picatinny assistance to new plants included furnishing plans and 

layouts of a typical line plus equipment specifications and drawings to 

contractors and often buying the equipment as it did for 11 plants in 

December 1941 and for 22 in March 1942. During the war, it procured 

over 10,000 machine items plus such accessories as tools, fixtures, and 

spare parts at a total cost of $18,654,207.00. Help was not always one 

way. On trips to private plants later in the war, Picatinny visitors were 

alert to ideas they could adapt back at the arsenal.12
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One example of Picatinny’s ability to respond to emergency production 

requirements was when bombs for high altitude or dive bombing proved 

inadequate for low level bombing necessary in the Aleutians campaign. A 

Ordnance officer and veteran of this campaign flew to Picatinny, designed 

a new fuze, supervised its production and brought it back to the Aleutians 

to train bombardiers there. Another was in 1944 when the Navy needed 

special bomb fuzes fast. Over the weekend, Picatinny obtained the parts 

from a firm in Milwaukee, assembled and loaded 200 fuzes, and delivered 

them to a plane standing by to fly them to the aircraft carrier Saratoga, then 

in the Atlantic on its way to Murmansk. The previous year, Picatinny had 

assisted the Navy when developers of the variable time (VT) fuze needed 

8-inch shells with explosive charges especially bored for larger fuzes.13

Listing its accomplishment at war’s end, the Mechanical Department 

bragged of nine actions:

a. Development of a series of tail bomb fuzes with special primer 

detonators giving delays of four to five or eight to eleven seconds, 

increased sensitivity for water impact, and short arming times, all 

of which made possible skip bombing against either land or water 

targets.

b. Design and development of a series of long-delay tail bomb 

fuzes (individual fuzes designed for 10 minutes, one, two, six, 12, 

24, 36, 72, and 144 hour’s delay), and fitted with an antiwithdrawal 

device, for use in denying territory and other special type of 

bombing.

c. Development of ammunition for recoilless rifles, including high 

explosives, high explosive antitank, smoke, and canister rounds, 

and two new point fuzes. A unique feature of this development is 

the point-initiated, shaped charge projectile for the 57-mm rifle.

d. Development of a combination time and superquick mortar 

fuze so that either ground or air burst can be obtained.

e. Development of a 500,000-candlepower photoflash bomb for 

night aerial photography, having a mechanical time fuze and the 

size of a 100-lb. Bomb.

f. Development of illuminating shell for both 60-mm and 81-mm 

mortars and special time fuzes for these shells for defense against 

land and sea night attacks.

g. Design and development of a series of base-detonating fuzes for 

armor-piercing artillery projectiles, including three fuzes for use 

in 57-mm, 75-mm, 3-inch, and 90-mm armor piercing projectiles 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

204

and one fuze for 75-mm and 105-mm high explosive, antitank 

projectiles.

h. Development of canister ammunition for 37-mm to 105-mm., 

inclusive weapons.

i. Design and development of packing and packaging for artillery, 

aircraft, and rocket ammunition, including radically new designs 

such as steel containers for artillery complete rounds.

The grounds for the Chemical Department’s claim for a share in the 

Axis defeat were:

a. Development of the process for manufacture of Haleite and the 

origin of entirely new processes for the manufacture of the raw 

materials of Haleite. 

b. Development of a new composition of gasless fuze powder and 

the process of manufacture of it. This project originated and was 

developed at Picatinny Arsenal. This powder makes possible the 

use of delay detonators in bombs.

c. Development of substitutes for silk cartridge cloth. This was a 

project that the Arsenal had been working on for some years before 

the war, and by 1940 had developed substitutes for 74 percent of 

the uses of silk in powder bags. Substitutes for the remaining 26 

percent were developed by V-J Day. It is estimated that the savings 

resulting from the uses of these substitutes have been so great as 

to be several times the amount of funds allotted by the Ordnance 

Department for all research and development on explosives in the 

20 years between the wars.

d. Development of special pressure gages and instruments for 

testing of rockets and high explosives. These gages measure 

flash intensity, rate of detonation, pressure of propellants, and 

other properties of high explosives. These gages were invented 

and manufactured in shops at Picatinny Arsenal, and are the 

inspiration for similar gages used elsewhere in the country.

e. Development of flashless ammunition for .50 caliber rifle, 

involving the development of a new ignition system and new type 

of primer.

f. Development of a process for the manufacture of tetryl from 

dimethylamine and dinitrochlorbenzene. This doubled the output 

of the tetryl plant at the Arsenal merely by changing the process.

g. Development of [flashless nonhygrosccopic (FNH) powders for 

anti-aircraft guns and their use with new types of primers.
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h. Development of so-called “ternary explosives,” such as 

combinations of three explosives, TNT, RDX, and PETN. These 

explosives have greater brissance.

i. Development from the laboratory through the pilot-plant stage 

of the continuous process for the manufacture of tetryl.

j. Development of new pyrotechnic compositions and a method 

for measure color value of pyrotechnic signals. In the case of the 

photoflash bomb, for instance, this resulted in the use of cheaper 

materials in the manufacture of bombs, without loss in desirable 

characteristics.14

Picatinny justified its wartime existence, not with any one product, 

but with the number and variety of its products. It justified its peacetime 

existence by the number of items which had grown out of its prewar 

work. A research and development organization which does not do its 

work before the fighting starts has not done its work.

In 1944, the Analytical Laboratory Subsection of the Chemical 

Laboratory issued 2,998 reports on acids, dyes, ferrous and nonferrous 

metals, inorganic salts, paints, packaging materials, petroleum and 

petroleum related products, organic solvents, and textiles.

In addition, the unit turned out 44 investigative reports covering, 

among other topics, a method for determining the contents of mixed 

solvents, methods for determining average particle diameter and size 

distribution for finely divided materials in the sub-sieve range, micro-scale 

methods for determining the viscosity of sulfuric acid mixtures at low 

temperatures, methods for determining trace impurities in pyrotechnic 

ingredients, and methods for analysis for inclusion in the specifications 

for barium chromate, noncorrosive flux, and magnesium aluminum 

alloys. As the war in Europe drew to a close, Picatinny chemist William 

R. Tomlinson, Jr., went to occupied Germany to study explosives plants 

there.15

The Army Air Force frequently called on Picatinny researchers and 

developers for help with unique needs, including the bombs which blew 

up Rumania’s Ploesi oil fields in 1943 or the ones which destroyed dams 

along Russia’s Dnieper River and immobilized 600,000 German troops. 

When the air arm began skip bombing, the tactic of dropping bombs 

from a low altitude to make them bounce and explode above the surface 

in 1943, it used a Picatinny long-delay fuze to give the bomber crews 

eight to ten seconds worth of distance between themselves and the blast.16

Bombers flying into England’s foggy airfields landed by the light of 

flares Picatinny pyrotechnics engineers had developed in a 60-day crash 

program. Each flare equaled 800,000 candles, produced little or no smoke, 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

206

and was easily ignitable under the most adverse weather conditions. They 

and the engineers who devised them prevented the crash of more than 

100 bombers during the Battle of the Bulge. They could not have done 

this if the Manufacturing Division had not produced the flares 60 days 

earlier than anyone thought possible. Another effort by the pyrotechnics 

people improved photoflash bombs used in night photography and target 

marking, tripling the light produced by these items at the start of the war. 

This work continued postwar.17

Other important work involved the identify-friend-or-foe system 

planes used to evaluate threats from approaching aircraft. The Army Air 

Force had an excellent system it was reluctant to use for fear it would 

fall into enemy hands. So, it required a self-destruct mechanism which 

would function when a plane crashed. Picatinny’s Technical Group 

worked behind sealed doors to develop a short, serrated metal tube with 

just enough explosive to blow the device to splinters when the plane 

received any jar greater than what occurred in a normal landing. One 

Saturday late in the development cycle, the arsenal received a request 

for 150 devices within three days. By Tuesday evening, it had 200 on a 

plane at Newark Airport. Other Picatinny self-destruct devices went with 

such confidential items as radar equipment, infrared telescopes, and the 

Norden bombsight.18

For the ground forces, Picatinny developed the propellant powder 

and ignition system for 2.36-inch bazooka rockets.19

Picatinny’s experience with fuzes and detonators made it the hub of 

the Army’s mine development work. The standard antitank mine at the 

start of the war, the M1, was a Picatinny product. It was a round mine 

approximately 7.25 inches in diameter and weighing about 10 pounds 

with a cover plate over the entire mine to allow detonation if a vehicle 

ran over any part of it. This meant the mine could function with only one 

fuze instead of the two in earlier antitank mines. The arsenal continued 

modifying the M1 throughout the war to meet the challenge of heavier 

armor, especially on the German Mark VI tank.20

Picatinny developed a promising antipersonnel mine which compared 

favorably with the German “silent soldier” or “S” mine. This was 

unsurprising as it was an adaptation of the German item. The tactical 

situation once United States forces committed to the offensive reduced 

the need for its services. The M1 and M2 demolition blocks, which used 

the new explosives tetrytol and pentolite, were Picatinny products, as was 

the fuze for Reddy Fox, an initiation unit for sinking and exploding the 

line charges used to destroy beach defenses during amphibious assaults.21

In September 1940, a scientific mission from the United Kingdom to 

the United States brought the details of RDX manufacture back to the 
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United States and this nation agreed to build a RDX manufacturing plant 

for Britain under the Lend Lease Act of 1941. The Wabash River Plant 

in Indiana, not far from George Hale’s boyhood home, began production 

in October 1942. It and the Holston Ordnance Plant in Tennessee, which 

used a newer and cheaper process, met all this country’s RDX needs 

throughout the war.22

Ethylenedinitramine (EDNA), now known as Haleite after its inventor, 

received more study during the war, and DuPont built a plant to make it. 

Haleite never made it to the battlefield, but it and a derivative, ednatol, 

were important to the efforts of Picatinny chemists to decrease the 

sensitivity of high explosives in antitank rounds so the round would not 

burst until it pierced the armor plate. One of several avenues of approach 

involved substituting either ednatol or Dupont’s composition B for the 

highly sensitive pentolite. Studies of foreign explosives at Picatinny in 

1943 revealed the potential of castable ternary explosives such as RDXTetryl-TNT and Haleite-pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN)-RDX in 

both armor piercing and fragmentary munitions. The most promising 

was Picatinny ternary explosive (PTX)-2, a composite of 28 percent 

PETN, 43.2 percent RDX, and 28.8 percent TNT.23

Midway in the IFF destructor project, Picatinny encountered a 

problem faced by plants around the nation, keeping essential employees 

when the projects to which the men were essential were too sensitive to 

discuss with local draft boards. Essential to the radio set destructor were 

precision-machined plastic molds. When Selective Service called up the 

precision machiners, Picatinny had to arrange discharges and return 

them to the work they had been doing 24 hours earlier.24

In 1944, Picatinny had to defend itself before the local Selective 

Service Appeal Board on charges of labor hoarding. Investigators found 

the arsenal had released all its 18 to 21-year old males to the draft pool 

and, contrary to local rumors, discovered a real labor shortage in the 

area. The area especially lacked nurses. Many former ones were on the 

Picatinny payroll, and the installation compiled a list of those willing to 

serve in their old profession and as first-aid workers during emergencies 

at Picatinny and in its vicinity.25

Even cold weather, hardly unanticipated, threatened the labor supply. 

Government coal allotments ignored the increased industrialization 

and consequent increased population of the area, and many employees 

threatened to leave if they could not heat their homes. Picatinny pushed 

state and Federal authorities to speed up deliveries, and some of its 

employees found part-time work as local coal companies hired extra 

help.26
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

208

One way the arsenal had of retaining employees was to let the draft 

have them and then arrange their assignment to the Picatinny Ordnance 

Detachment, officially the 9355th Technical Service Unit. A War 

Department order of 12 April 1944 allowed installation commanders to 

request assignment of vitally needed employees under age 26 back to their 

installations immediately after induction. This covered approximately 

100 arsenal employees. First, the north portion and, then, all of building 

120 served as enlisted quarters. The military activities of the men were 

limited. Troops journeyed to the golf course twice a week for one hour 

of close order drill on Wednesdays and two hours of physical training on 

Fridays. The latter included softball, calisthenics, and swimming in Lake 

Denmark. Every Monday, the soldiers attended lectures from Picatinny 

officers on such military subjects as safeguarding information, care of 

clothing and equipment, and the structure of the Ordnance Department. 

The combination for basic pay and quarters allotments provided 

compensation of $141.50 per month for single men, $169.50 for married 

ones, and $199.50 for married with children. A captain, depending on 

his years of service, might receive $220.00 to $230.00 per month plus a 

subsistence allowance of $43.40 per month. The unit lasted until the end 

of the fighting, which Picatinny marked on 17 August 1945 by presenting 

Processing Enlisted Men into Civilians 1945
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WAYS OF WAR II

it with the War Department Meritorious Unit Plaque. The effective end 

of the unit followed in mid-September when the decline in work caused 

the transfer of 85 of its 97 enlisted men to Aberdeen Proving Ground. 

The other 12 remained at the arsenal only long enough to train civilians 

in their duties. A photo from these last days shows one African-American 

soldier among the whites. While hardly a major advance in social justice, 

even one would have made the 9355 more integrated than most other 

United States military units of the time.27

A Picatinny connection did not guarantee a safe tour. After the war, 

arsenal employees raised a monument on Route 15 to honor 90 former 

colleagues who had died in uniform during the war.

Early in 1944, draft demands for graduates of the arsenal’s Toolmaker 

Apprentice School created a craftsman shortage in Metal Components 

severe enough for the Detroit Ordnance District to send 10 toolmakers 

from the Ford plant in Dearborn, Michigan, to New Jersey on emergency 

duty. Eight stayed for about two months, the other two longer. The 

problem continued throughout 1944 but improved by mid-1945. In 

January 1945, the Army furloughed approximately 200 soldiers to work 

at the arsenal for 90 days. This group included chemists, engineers, and 

draftsmen as well as toolmakers.

Toolmaker Apprentice School January 1945
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

210

 One source of employees was the pool of those who would, in normal 

times, have been retirees. The Civil Service Commission had responded to 

the demands of war production in 1941 by raising the maximum age for 

taking the continuously open examinations for trade and artisan positions 

to 65. One who stayed beyond retirement age was Charles Anderson. 

The turn-of-the-century hostler was now a janitor. The average age of 

Picatinnyans during the war is unknown, but the oldest worker was John 

Henry Williams. He came to Picatinny on 2 February 1942 and was 

working in Hygiene Maintenance when he turned 80 on 6 May 1944. 

William Vanderbilt, former Picatinny lumberjack and later a foreman 

of arsenal WPA projects, returned to work in the Safety Division despite 

being in his seventies. When Katherine Martin retired on 30 April 1941, 

her colleagues in building 455 threw her a surprise party. After almost a 

quarter of a century doing almost every task the Propellant Division had 

to offer, she thought she deserved a rest. The War Department thought 

otherwise and urged her to stay for the duration. She was back on the job 

the day after she retired.29

As did most industries, Picatinny greatly increased the number of its 

female employees and the variety of jobs available to them. When the 

arsenal reached its all-time employment high of 17,900 workers in 1942, 

10,000 were female. This was 55 percent of the workforce. In some units, 

the figure was much higher. The Loading Department found women well 

suited to detailed inspection work, so 1944 found its Process Inspection 

Branch, exclusive of supervisors, 60 percent female. On 7 September 

1945, Picatinny employed 4,042 women, 48 percent of its workforce.30 All 

females working at Picatinny during the war were civilians. There were 

no members of the Women’s Army Corps (WAC).

The Metal Components Department, employer of one woman in 

1937, was 14 percent female six months before Pearl Harbor and 21 

percent female on 7 December 1941. In March 1942, 577 of its 1,659 

workers, almost 35 percent, were women. In the grinding room, the 

percentage was well over 50.31

Tasks which women ordnance workers, or WOWs, surprised their 

contemporaries by handling adequately or better included truck driving, 

motor vehicle repair, blacksmithing, handling heavy items in storerooms, 

and serving on fire brigades. On 29 August 1942, 12 Picatinny women 

graduated from a special engineering-aide course Rutgers instructors gave 

at Dover High School to post workers who were college graduates and 

math majors. The students received 240 hours of classes in elementary 

engineering and another 240 in drafting. They started their new 

assignments on 31 August. By the next year, Rutgers was giving courses 

on campus as Picatinny began directly recruiting high school graduates 
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WAYS OF WAR II

and housewives for inspection work. It brought them on base immediately 

for three weeks classroom instruction and five weeks practical training.32

Dorothy Gaffney, later Kuizenga, learned of an opening from her 

father, a Stores Department employee, and came to Picatinny just after 

graduating high school in 1943. She competed the 84 hours in the 

Mathematics for Junior Draftsmen (Inservice) course on 2 January 1944. 

Her certificate it called “an intensive training course.” A Dover resident, 

she came to Picatinny with a car pool. She recalled the women always 

dressed well despite the arsenal’s failure to provide an apron or any other 

covering for their clothes. One woman’s white blouse was black with ink 

at the end of the day.33

The arsenal made special arrangements to train women as toolmakers 

and gage designers. Its Gage Design courses gave students three hours of 

instruction in the basics of drafting and mechanical drawing daily for two 

to three months in Building 30 and then sent them to building 34 to apply 

their lessons. By September 1944, the school had given 11 courses to 102 

employees, 92 of them females.34

Fork Lift Driver 1943
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

212

Mail Truck Unloading

Breaking Up Nitrocellulose Block
213

WAYS OF WAR II

World War II brought the first female physician to the health clinic, 

the first female photographer to the base newspaper, and the first 

female welder. The photographer was Bert Stewart. She had formerly 

worked with her husband at a commercial photo studio in Dover. The 

welder was Verlie Ann Hearshman, who had been doing other work at 

Picatinny since 1935. An occupational survey by the Personnel Division 

revealed previous training and experience as a welder, and she moved to 

the Operating Department in October 1942. Some women advanced 

to management positions, including a former grocery store cashier 

who began as a line operator in May 1941 and eleven months later 

was bossing a gang loading tetryl and TNT pellets. Veteran employees 

with key positions included Marian Spargo, still chief of the Allotments 

Section, and process inspection leader Lenora Van Sickles. Annie D. 

Taylor, who had started sewing bags the same year as Van Sickles, was 

foreman of cloth cutters in the Loading Branch while Julia M. Burns, 

another member of the Class of 1907, was chief of the Administrative 

Division in the Technical Group’s Auxiliary Department.35

Doctor Mary E. McMenamy spent a good portion of her time 

examining new women employees while heading the hygiene clinic for 

female personnel the arsenal opened in building 378 in mid-1942. Doctor 

McMenamy had done her medical training at New York and Columbia 

universities and at Bellevue Hospital Medical College and had come to 

Fuze Inspection
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

214

Picatinny from private practice in New York City. Later, the arsenal gave 

her the assistance of Dr. Evelyn P. Ivey, a psychiatrist and psychologist 

with degrees from Duke and Johns Hopkins, as the installation’s mental 

hygienist. The nursing staff was no longer male. Head nurse Catherine 

Binder headed a staff of graduate nurses described as “highly skilled in 

the principles of general nursing: and experience with industrial illness 

and public health.”36

Women had been at Picatinny before the war. African-Americans 

had not. As the arsenal’s own summary of its activities noted, prior to 

the war Picatinny had had “few if any” black employees. The 1937 

yearbook showed exactly two black faces, both painted on white men 

for a variety show. At the time of Pearl Harbor, the arsenal had “only 

a handful of Negroes.” This handful increased until, at one point 

late in the war, African-Americans were approximately one-quarter 

of the workforce. This was due, in part, to a special recruiting session 

Picatinny had conducted at the Apollo Theater in Harlem on the night 

of 10 January 1945. Picatinny was desperate enough to cooperate with 

Harlem community groups in establishing a day care center near 125th 

Street to join others formed by the New York City Mayor’s Committee 

for Wartime Care of Children. The city and the state paid two-thirds 

of the cost, the parents the other third. Fees varied with ability to pay, 

but the minimum for six days was $1.50 for preschoolers and $0.70 for 

school age.37

The major concentrations of African-Americans were in the largest 

departments, Stores, Loading, and the Guard Force. Most were classified 

laborers, but some went higher. In August 1942, Marion Tanner and 

Genevieve Jones broke racial and sexual barriers when they became 

laboratory assistants in the Explosives Department. Tanner had received 

her bachelor-of-science degree from Wilberforce University in Ohio the 

previous year and had done further study at the University of Pittsburg. 

Jones had a degree in pharmaceutical chemistry and experience as a 

hospital analyst at Detroit’s Fairview Sanitarium. A few months later, 

Tanner and two other African Americans became the first Picatinny 

women to work in ether manufacture and in ether and alcohol rectification. 

Laura B. McMillan had a bachelor’s degree in science while Amanda 

McKee had a master’s degree from Cornell. Three African-American 

women became gang bosses in Loading, showing how war could change 

career paths. Prior to coming to Picatinny, Connie Staton was a caterer, 

Yancy Parker a nurse, and Katherine Williams a presser in a dry cleaning 

plant.38

The last organization to accept women was Tetryl Hill, and its first 

three women were African-American. Virginia Venable, Maggie Fields 
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WAYS OF WAR II

and Mary Morris went there from the Powder Factory at the end of 

October 1944. The openings only existed because the section had 

added another shift. Unlike earlier newspaper stories, the one reporting 

this change did not make a point of the women’s race although an 

accompanying photograph made it evident.39

One black scientist was Dr. Birtill Lloyd, who joined the Technical 

Division in 1943. A native of Jamaica with a bachelor-of-science degree 

and a doctorate from University of Illinois and a master’s from University 

of Toronto, Dr. Lloyd had the added duty of liaison to Jamaicans recruited 

under an agreement between the United States War Department and the 

Crown Colony of Jamaica.40

The Jamaicans could not work long in anyone place due to union 

fears of job losses and public fears of illegal immigration, so they formed 

a migrant labor pool living apart from the larger population. Picatinny 

received 247 on 10 December 1944 and another 284 on 8 February 

1945. Most had been farmers, a few sailors. The first group lived at a 

former Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp in Hackettstown, 

New Jersey, and commuted 20 miles in special buses. A retired minister 

in Hackettstown provided religious services, the Dover United Services 

Organization (USO) arranged movies and dances, and Picatinny placed 

a branch of its post exchange there. The second group went to another 

former CCC camp in Whippany. Perhaps from lack of alternatives, the 

Jamaicans had noticeably low absentee rate. Working for an Army plant 

instead of a civilian one meant they received the full wage stipulated for 

the work performed. The program at Picatinny was successful enough for 

the government to cite it when trying to sell the idea to reluctant labor 

Jamaicans Camp, Hackettstown
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

216

and industry figures. In March 1945, Picatinny extended the original 90-

day contract of the first group.41

In March 1945, the Hackettstown Jamaicans set up a recreation 

board and one of its first acts to lay out a cricket field at the camp. This 

led to the only death of a Jamaican during the Picatinny tour of duty. 

Sadiman Miller became overheated during a game on Sunday, 17 June. 

He received treatment from two local physicians and went to Dover 

General Hospital three days later on orders from Picatinny. Miller died 

in the hospital on Thursday, 21 June. So, the body of a native of Saint 

Catherine, Jamaica, British West Indies, went to a Morristown funeral 

home and then to Heavenly Rest Cemetery in Hanover, New Jersey.42

The Loading Branch declared 240 of its Jamaicans surplus at war’s 

end while Metal Components let its contingent go a little earlier. Loss of 

half the group closed the Hackettstown camp, but the Whippany one 

stayed open until all had left.43

After the war, Picatinny patted itself on the shoulder for its great 

success at integration and boasted “there was no difficulty based upon 

charges of discrimination or segregation.” Picatinny did avoid the racial 

flare-ups which occurred elsewhere when defense plants hired black 

workers, and the director of the War Manpower Commission, Mrs. Anna 

Rosenberg, and several community leaders did say nice words about 

Picatinny at a meeting with Harlem community leaders on 28 January 

1945.44

Still, the arsenal seems to have approached workplace integration 

with caution. The Picatinny News began publication on 5 December 1941 

and carried it first photograph of a black employee on 23 January 1942. 

Jamaican Cricketers
217

WAYS OF WAR II

The first photos of blacks and whites working together on an even level, 

as opposed to whites supervising or instructing blacks, did not appear 

until 6 November 1942. When white and black faces appear together in 

production line photos, racial clustering is obvious. Photos of athletic and 

other recreational activities almost always showed racially homogenous 

groups. The first year of publication saw the word “colored” frequently 

used to describe attendees at social and recreational activities and the 

events themselves.

In 1942, the paper reported circulation of a rumor which had 

Picatinny discharging all African-Americans to replace them with whites. 

It gave the lie to this and proclaimed, “There has never been, and there 

never will be any discrimination of race, color or creed at Picatinny.” 

This was an overstatement, but the rumor was false. The paper tried to 

blame it on Axis propaganda, but the history of national race relations 

lent it a degree of plausiblity.45

In April 1942, the Special Service Officer appointed an AfricanAmerican woman to his staff to handle duties described as “personnel 

and employee welfare work.” Mrs. Georgianna King would now do for 

all departments what, up to then, she had been doing for the Loading 

Department. It is hard to escape the idea she was to concentrate on 

African-American personnel problems, especially since the article 

Jamaicans Assembling M123 Bomb Fuzes
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

218

announcing her appointment stressed the Delehanty Institute graduate’s 

membership in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored 

People and the Union County Negro Progressive League.46

Jamaica and Harlem were not the only places Picatinny searched 

for employees. In early 1944, Hercules closed a plant in Belvedere, New 

Jersey, and the arsenal sent out a raiding party which returned with several 

workers. At the same time, it began hiring part-time workers for weekend 

shifts, a boon to area students and their teachers, and sought part-time 

workers for the cafeterias during the week. The food service employees 

received free meals and transportation between Dover and the arsenal 

plus $12.00 a week for working six days from 10:30am to 2:00pm.47

In March 1944, there were 183 high school students employed at the 

arsenal. They had to work a minimum of 16 hours a week but could not 

work more than 28. Their main shift options were from 6am to 10am 

every day or all day Saturday and Sunday. Boys over 16 who passed a 

physical loaded and unloaded materials. Most of the girls worked in 

Personnel. Picatinny planned to offer them part-time work when they 

graduated. There were 47 girls taking commercial courses in school to 

whom the arsenal promised full-time jobs when they graduated in June 

1944.48

Edith Varga worked Saturdays as a clerk-typist while attending 

Wharton High School and found she made more money than her friends 

who worked several evenings and weekends in Dover stores. She trained 

as draftswoman when she started full time work. Her mother worked at 

Picatinny, and they enjoyed the advantage of having the bus go by their 

door.49

The workforce numbered 5,536 on 31 December 1940, 12,322 on 31 

December 1941, the peak figure of 17,936 on 31 July 1942, 16,400 on 31 

December 1942, 9,678 on 31 December 1943, 8,991 on 31 December 

1944, and 8,483 on 7 September 1945. These figures omitted employees 

of construction contractors and military. The latter reached a high of 

222.50

A breakdown of the workforce in May 1942, found 65 percent, or 

9,203 out of 14,500, residing in Morris County. The largest Morris 

contingent, 3,075, lived in Dover, then came Wharton with 1,480. Essex 

County was home to 1,251 Picatinny workers, Sussex County 1,225. The 

chief source of employees in Essex was Newark with 490. In Sussex, it 

was Newton with 294.

New York City sent 1,092 people to the arsenal on a daily basis. 

This included 476 from Manhattan, 441 from Brooklyn, and 175 from 

the Bronx. The rest of New York State contributed 78 people while 

Pennsylvania supplied 113.51
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These figures were somewhat misleading since they did not note 

lengths of residence in the county. Many moved into the area for the 

defense work, and the northern part of the county resembled those 

college and military base towns where anyone with space to spare rented 

it to a student or a soldier or, in this case, a war worker. Picatinny helped 

by keeping a register of available rooms.52

The housing shortage was a serious problem. At the end of 1941, the 

arsenal was hiring 1,000 people a month while losing 400. More than 

half of those leaving cited inadequate housing as the reason. In early 

1942, Picatinny approached owners of cottages on Lake Swannanoa, 

Cozy Lake, and Longwood Lake, all in nearby Jefferson Township, and 

offered them Federal Housing Authority (FHA) assistance to convert 

summer residences to year-round dwellings if the owners would then 

rent to defense workers at the suggested rate of $30.00 per month. This 

matched the normal rent for a six-room bungalow on Longwood Lake. 

An ad in The Picatinny News showed a five-room house on Lake Hopatcong 

going for $35.00-$40.00 per month. About 50 owners signed up for the 

plan. Rustic Mount Freedom boasted it could house 700 workers at room 

rents beginning at $4.00 per week, and a local bus line started a special 

route. Employees who lived at the Alamac Hotel on Lake Hopatcong 

had a fairly good deal since the paid a dollar a day for rooms which had 

formerly gone for $10.00 to $15.00 per day, had access to an auditorium 

showing free movies three days a week, and traveled on a special bus to 

the arsenal.53

The need to house families of war workers pouring into the area led 

the FHA to erect a housing complex in the portion of Randolph Township 

bordering Dover. There were 104 one-family houses and 98 two-family 

structures in the complex known as Victory Homes. All were one-story 

structures with bedrooms, living room, kitchen, bath, and utility room. 

Rents ran $27.50 per month for a one bedroom, $30.00 for two bedrooms, 

and $32.50 for three. People began occupying the homes in June 1942. 

Most were from Picatinny and Hercules, and Picatinny provided several 

members of the tenant’s association. Rents were up to $29.00 per month 

for a one-bedroom, $31.50 for a two bedroom, and $34.00 for a three 

bedroom by 1944, but soldiers and their families received reduced rates. 

This was only one of five area developments constructed to meet war 

worker needs. Two were in Dover and the others in Rockaway and Mine 

Hill.54

After the war, many families purchased the houses from the 

government. At the same time, the government returned the area to 

Randolph Township and cancelled the quarterly subsidy it had been 

paying the township for utilities and school services. The concentration 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

220

of so many blue collar workers with a strong tendency to vote Democrat 

did not fit easily with the rest of the affluent and Republican municipality. 

Financial and political pressures led Randolph to petition the legislature 

to remove the neighborhood from the township. Dover refused to take it, 

although it took the children into its schools, and the 0.20 square miles 

of Victory Gardens became an independent borough. Not only did 

Picatinny’s personnel needs create an entirely new unit of government, 

but the homes built in the 1940s constitute most of the borough’s housing 

to the present day.55

Because many workers lacked cooking facilities and many area 

eateries did not open before people left for work, Picatinny was running 

six cafeterias by 1944. The most elaborate was a combination cafeteria 

and kitchen in Building 34. This operation was larger, more organized, 

and less personal than before the war. “Ma” Danielson was gone, and pies 

came from a commercial firm. An employee who started in the Drafting 

Department in building 34 in 1943 remembered the cafeteria and how 

she had no time to use it. At first, she had 15 minutes for lunch, then 30.56

Employees jamming local transportation facilities provided an 

opportunity for new parties to enter the field. At one time, 19 bus 

lines, most of which neither predated the war nor survived it, delivered 

approximately 6,000 people from 109 communities. Faced with rising fares, 

Picatinny began operating the lines on 7 September 1943. It established a 

special lot to receive them and appointed a bus administrator and a chief 

dispatcher to keep them moving. An estimated 8,000 people crossed the 

lots daily as chief dispatcher Richard A.C. Magruder entertained them 

with martial music, a sacrifice for a man whose tastes ran to “Tales of the 

Vienna Woods.” Many boarded the shuttle train which ran from the lot to 

the back areas of the arsenal. The cars for this train formerly ran on the 

Sixth Avenue elevated rail line New York had torn down before the war. 

On 1 March 1944, Picatinny required all employees in manufacturing 

areas to leave their cars outside these areas and to ride shuttle buses 

or trains.57

Bus rides were not always joy rides. Harriet Buono remembered a 

steep, single-lane hill between Picatinny and Franklin and an icy day 

when a woman began screaming, “We’re gonna be killed!” The driver’s 

plea to “shut that damned woman up before we go over the side of this 

cliff” incited the other passengers to pile on her.58

Increased female employment accelerated the need for day care. 

The area’s first public day nursery for children of war workers was a 

cooperative effort of the Dover USO, the Council of Churchwomen, the 

Dover Ministerial Association, and local welfare agencies. The Council 

of Churchwomen acted as sponsor and hired the staff. The nursery took 
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WAYS OF WAR II

children from two to six, charging $3.50 for six days for the first child, 

$3.00 for the second, and $2.50 for the third. These fees covered breakfast, 

two light snacks, lunch, and games and handicrafts. There were no plans 

for older children, although the Dover YMCA considered helping with 

boys six to fifteen. Even the plans for small children went on hold due 

to labor shortages. Difficulties in hiring qualified teachers delayed an 

opening announced for 1 November 1943 until well into 1944.59 The 

nursery did not directly involve the Federal government, but it was in 

Victory Gardens.

The huge workforce spurred changes in area roadways. Just after Pearl 

Harbor, Picatinny completed what is now Phipps Road between Mount 

Hope Road and the Truck Gate. This eliminated a bottle neck caused by 

the increased number of workers from the powder factory and the sewing 

room areas having to turn down Mount Hope Road, now Farley Avenue, 

and then turn onto Parker Road by the Administration Building. On 29 

October 1943, the wife of Picatinny’s commander officially opened a 

new cloverleaf arrangement of access roads, bridges, and underpasses to 

ease access to main entrance from the Union Turnpike.60

Picatinny jobs were worth the effort to reach them. Under pay tables 

introduced at the end of May 1942, classified laborers, the largest employee 

segment, earned from $4.80 to $7.28 a day, explosives operators from 

$5.36 to $7.28, and production assistants from $5.76 to $10.24. Daily 

rates for those with specialized skills ran from $9.36 to $10.64 for welders, 

$8.46 to $9.76 for printers, $8.24 to $9.36 for masons, and $8.40 to $9.52 

for tinsmiths, carpenters, and air conditioning equipment operators. The 

minimum rate for arsenal blacksmiths was $8.08 per day, the same as the 

maximum for automobile repairmen. Blacksmiths’ primary duties were 

tool making and repair. Some foremen earned a lordly $15.36 per day.61

Picatinny considered its wages attractive and publicized its pay scale 

in advertisements when it was frantically seeking workers to up production 

after the Battle of the Bulge. The normal starting salary for chemists 

in 1945 was $2,600.00 per year, but the arsenal was willing to pay the 

same to 20 tool designers or draftsmen it desperately needed. The pay for 

mechanical draftsmen was in the $1,320.00 to $1,620.00 a year range. 

Picatinny was willing to go from $0.90 to $1.00 per hour for automatic 

and hand-screw machine operators and from $1.04 to $1.06 per hour for 

milling machine operators. A 1943 survey found arsenal wages about 15 

percent higher than those of workers in nongovernment plants.62

The 1942 pay table listed the position of shop forewoman with pay 

ranging from $6.80 to $7.60 a day. A foreman of laborers made from 

$9.60 to $11.04 a day, an ammunition loader started at $12.96 a day. 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

222

The forewoman position disappeared from later charts when women had 

moved into many foreman positions. Pay charts before 30 May 1942 had 

listed a separate category for classified workers, female. This disappeared, 

and the new schedule explicitly stated “women who do the same type of 

work as men will receive the same pay.”63

Not all of the money went to the worker. January 1943 saw the 

arsenal begin withholding for income tax. Prior to the introduction of 

wartime tax rates, few Picatinnyans made enough money to worry about 

the Federal income tax so, in February 1944, Internal Revenue Service 

representatives spent a week at Picatinny advising employees how to fill 

out the forms. The government tried to make it more palatable by calling 

it a “victory” tax.64

In addition to salary, the worker could accumulate up to 90 sick days 

plus 26 days of annual leave. Workers had to file written explanations for 

all absences over one day and the arsenal could charge time taken for 

minor ailments or doctor visits to annual leave. Employees had the option 

of taking pay for any unused annual leave, either annually or in a lump 

sum on honorable separation from government service. In June 1943, the 

government officially designated all legal holidays except Christmas as 

work days.65

Uncle Sam’s generosity was not limitless. He required employees to 

pay for clothing necessary to their work. The down payment of the special 

bandana used by WOWs to keep their curls out of the machinery was 38 

cents. The War Department praised itself for selling these at cost.66

Men’s safety shoes not only cost money but were subject to rationing 

along with ordinary shoes. Picatinny tried to arrange for its workers to 

buy new shoes without surrendering ration tickets but failed. To buy the 

first pair or to replace an old one, the employee had to go to the Shoe 

Store in building 351 to have the old shoes examined and to receive a 

certificate to take to his local rationing board. Repairing the old shoes 

could cost from 25 cents for a patch to $2.25 for full soles and heels. 

Showing a grasp of psychology, the issue of the base newspaper carrying 

the story on the certificate requirement placed next to it a story on how a 

safety shoe saved a worker from injury.67

Hiring an employee did not mean keeping one. To gain 6,689 

new workers in 1941, Picatinny had to hire 9,726. The most common 

reasons for resignation were transportation and housing problems, but 

disciplinary dismissals and suspensions occurred frequently throughout 

the war. In one week in April 1942, there were 5 discharges and 91 

suspensions running from one to ten days. Two of the discharges were for 

intoxication, one for endangering other workers, one for refusal to work, 
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WAYS OF WAR II

and one for causing a disturbance. The chief reasons for suspension were 

failure to report for assigned work and leaving work without permission.68

In February 1943, the daily absentee rate ran averaged 13.36 percent, 

well above the commander’s target of 5 percent but in line with national 

trends. Proposed solutions ran to the drastic. An unscientific survey of 

six employees found only one who objected a proposal to draft and send 

chronic absentees to the front lines. The objector did so on strictly practical 

grounds and had no problems with the basic concept. A plan to double 

pay losses for the chronically absent received unanimous endorsement 

from six other employees.69

Layoff rumors were frequent through the war, and arsenal authorities 

worried about their influence on morale. A 1943 rumor predicted the 

firing of the entire graveyard shift in the Loading Department. Picatinny 

did end the shift but put all its workers on other shifts. Another rumor 

had the arsenal taking a census of all women employees as a prelude 

to their dismissal. The survey was an attempt to collect the names of 

married women who wanted to take periodic days off without pay to tend 

to family matters. A possible April Fools prank was the rumor which had 

5,000 employees going out the gate on 1 April 1943.70

Another rumor had the Army drafting all arsenal males between 18 

and 38 to do their normal work but as privates earning $50.00 a month. 

This was instantly suspect because $50 was twice the pay of a 1943 

private, but the rumor had a tenuous connection to two facts. One was 

the presence of the 9355th Technical Service Unit The other was the 

1943 reorganization of the Plant Protection Force along military lines 

with the guards formed into companies while the chief and assistant 

chiefs became captains and the heads of shifts became lieutenants. All 

guards kept their civil service status and their civilian salaries.71

Efforts to keep employees on the line included close attention to 

their health, with Picatinny providing free vitamins along with annual 

physicals, x-rays, and blood tests which would have run about $50.00 

in private hospitals. Most conditions uncovered by the tests remained 

the responsibility of the employee and the employee’s private physician, 

but, when tests turned up an active case of tuberculosis, the arsenal 

sent the employee to a sanitarium courtesy of the U.S. Public Health 

Service. A tuberculosis epidemic was one of the Army Medical Service’s 

major concerns throughout the war and its prevention one of its major 

accomplishments.72

During the war, Picatinny health clinic personnel treated 199,950 

cases of injury and illness, conducted 49,598 physical examinations, 

made 87,766 laboratory examinations, conducted 1,762 special problem 

interviews and 3,006 psychiatric interviews, took 47,351 x-rays, and 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

224

processed 1,003 compensation cases. The health workers took pride in 

the absence of any deaths due to industrial exposure in the period from 

Pearl Harbor to the end of the war and in the reduction of industrial 

dermatitis cases from 35 a month to 1 or 2 a month. The main medical 

facility remained the hospital in Building 151, but 1943 saw aid stations 

open in buildings 31, 257, 333, and 378. The facility in 31 was open for 

the day and afternoon shifts, the others for the day shift only. In March 

1943, the main facility changed from a post to a station hospital. This 

allowed it to perform emergency surgery and to keep patients overnight.73

Research connected to Picatinny’s daily operations often had medical 

implications, as in the case of a study of tetryl’s health effects published by 

the post surgeon, Major E. W. Probst, and two of his staff, 1st Lieutenant 

M. H. Mund and Leontine D. Lewis, in the Journal of the American Medical 

Association of 14 October 1944. The report traced the chief danger to a 

form of dermatitis preventable by proper industrial hygiene. It concluded 

work with tetryl did not cause nose and throat conditions but could 

aggravate existing conditions, including allergies. It found no connection 

between tetryl powder and hearing damage or headaches.74

Workers worried about leaks of their medical information. Although 

the arsenal management insisted on the confidential nature of findings in 

most cases, the main reason for the physicals was prevention of contagion 

in the workplace. The tuberculosis case showed Picatinny would act 

against any condition threatening public health or productivity. Another 

fear was infection from mandatory shots. The death of a truck driver after 

receiving a smallpox inoculation did not help the situation, although the 

arsenal publicized the findings of the man’s doctor tracing the problem 

to chronic nephritis.75

Workers who did not receive the going rate for tasks performed were 

nine members of the Guard Force. These were dogs, most, if not all, boxers 

and shepherds. As did other workers, the canines had a personnel file with 

the individual dog’s height, weight, color, age, illnesses, hospitalization 

periods, names of trainers and handlers, and dates of absences from duty. 

It moved from duty station to duty station with the employee.

Kim, one of the five original dogs, had belonged to Lou Gehrig. 

When the New York Yankees slugger fell to the disease bearing his 

name, Mrs. Eleanor Gehrig donated the dog to The Seeing Eye, then in 

Whippany, New Jersey. The school only trained females as guide dogs for 

the blind, but one of the trainers, George O’Rourke, adopted Kim and 

took him to Picatinny where he became head dog trainer for the arsenal’s 

newly formed K-9 patrol in May 1942. One of O’Rourke’s first tasks 

was to lead a contingent of guards to dog handling classes at The Seeing 

Eye. A patrolman could qualify to take the training simply by showing 
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WAYS OF WAR II

an ability to get along with the dogs. O’Rourke preferred men without 

previous animal training experience because they had fewer ideas to 

conflict with his methods, but one patrol member, Albert Barnes, was 

another former Seeing Eye trainer. Before joining the K-9 patrol, Barnes 

had experimented with training billy goats to run barbed wire with the 

intention of having them replace the dogs on fence patrol, an idea still 

ahead of its time.76

Kim died of a stomach ailment in 1943. The other dogs left Picatinny 

in October 1944 for camps with more urgent needs. Some of their 

human colleagues found the dogs annoying, but the head of the Safety 

and Security Branch thought they “had served an excellent purpose 

for two and a half years. On numerous occasions the dogs performed 

magnificently. There are several cases, for example, where dogs saved their 

handlers from mortal snake-bite, and there have been other instances of 

good watchdog work which have not been publicized.” One dog, Gonas, 

had spotted a hole in the perimeter fence while two others, Kim and 

Fritzi, demonstrated detective potential by finding their handlers keys. 

There were eight dogs on the force when the Army transferred them.77

Dogs were not the only non-humans in the Picatinny habitat. The 

arsenal claimed the largest concentration of birds and beasts of any 

munitions installation in the country. Three factors contributed to this 

Dog Patrol
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

226

faunal wealth. A natural reason was Picatinny’s location on a strip of 

land noted for abundant wildlife, including partridge, pheasant, deer, red 

foxes, minx, opossums, woodcocks, ducks, muskrats, and snakes. A nonnatural cause was an unintended benefit from installation fences. Built to 

deter spies and saboteurs, they also kept out hunters.

The third factor was Leigh Tormey, a Transportation Department 

worker who appointed himself game warden for Picatinny’s 2,000 acres 

of swamps and marshes. Birds stayed at Picatinny because Tormey 

put out chicken scratch for food and built shelters to protect it. He set 

out alfalfa and marked the spots with tall stacks of corn stalks so deer 

could find it in winter snow. Several years before the war, Tormey had 

introduced a dozen mallards to the, then, duckless reservation and they 

were a hundred strong by 1942. To protect game populations, Tormey 

killed more than his share of egg-stealing snakes.

Picatinny paid Tormey nothing for his efforts, done after a full day’s 

work in the railroad roundhouse, but did give him permission to trap 

the reservation. Trapping foxes netted him money from fur sales and 

bounties and protected the pheasants sleeping in swamps and on low 

ground. Some muskrat and mink furs became stoles to compensate his 

wife for his extra hours away from home.78

Turtles were a persistent danger to ducks, and control of them fell 

to the Arsenal’s mosquito expert, Jimmy Gerardo. During his normal 

travels through Picatinny wetlands, he laid traps of nets and hooks baited 

Leigh Tormey and Bird Shelter
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WAYS OF WAR II

with scraps of meat and entrails. He once caught five turtles in one day, 

the biggest weighing 32 pounds. The others came in at 22, 16, and two at 

9 pounds. The Gerardo family diet featured terrapin soup for some time. 

Later, the arsenal created a duck maternity home, a series of floating 

nests in a brook near building 32. The nests used straw and scrap metal 

drums moored to wooden ties and were turtle and snake proof. As not the 

worst of Picatinny’s poets put it,

The Arsenal ducks have their ease,

As they sit in their floating trapeze.

To the turtles’ regret,

They can sit there and set,

And quietly say: ‘No quacks, please.’

Another beneficiary from the humane instincts of Picatinnyans was 

a fawn found abandoned by a roadway on the northern portion of the 

arsenal by Patrolman Curtis Wilbanks. Named Sally, clerks in Police 

Headquarters took turns feeding her bottled milk until she was able to 

move to the Lake Denmark home of Patrolman George Russell.79

The arsenal’s standard six-day workweek was a special hardship for 

its sportsmen because New Jersey law forbade Sabbath hunting. In July 

1943, over one thousand Picatinnyans petitioned the New Jersey Board 

of Fish and Game Commissioners to allow Sunday hunting in the coming 

fall. The president of the board refused, citing the animals’ need for a day 

of rest.80

Duck Hotel
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

228

Picatinny earned environmental points for its faunal diversity but lost 

them because of its water supply. In July 1943, the installation surgeon 

warned employees against drinking water from arsenal springs and 

streams because of a high B-coli count.81

Jersey City pushed for corrective actions because Picatinny streams 

and brooks fed its potable water supply. New Jersey Department of 

Public Works sanitary engineers based in Boonton, site of the Jersey 

City Reservoir, continually inspected arsenal rivers and streams for oil, 

turbidity, tetryl acidity, and bacteria. Picatinny stated it had made “every 

effort within reason to satisfy the state” but admitted “the problem was 

never completely controlled.”82

Major sources of oil contamination were the Metal Components 

Shop in Building 31 and the steel chip bins between its third and fourth 

wings. The installation constructed concrete slabs with retaining ledges 

and sloped surfaces and special catch basins around the bins and installed 

pipes in the bins to catch discharged oil and convey it to collecting drums. 

This not only reduced the amount of oil but made recovered oil available 

for future use. This was in addition to the oil recovered from the chips 

before they left building 31 for the bins. This was not a complete solution. 

The chips went from the bin into railroad cars for shipment, and, no 

matter how long the chips had been in the bins, excess oil still collected in 

the cars and dripped on the ground.83

Unidentified Employee Feeding Sally
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WAYS OF WAR II

Other oil sources included the Garage next door to building 31, the 

large air compressors in 31, 266, the powerhouse, and the parking lots. 

Any trucking or construction work could release large amounts into the 

ground. Even pedestrians passing through the Metal Components area 

aggravated the problem, as did the age and decrepitude of the buses 

using the parking lots. The parking lots were a problem because the steep 

grading for drainage meant a fast runoff of oil during any heavy, or not so 

heavy, rains. Control measures included close supervision of all activities 

for leakage and unlawful disposal of oil, installing oil collection pans by 

large pumps around the arsenal, spreading the absorbent powder RediDry on contaminated areas, and transferring waste oil to the powerhouse 

for disposal or reuse instead of igniting it on the burning ground. Special 

attention went to collecting all crank case oil in the Garage in special 

drums. The arsenal tried handling the problem of oil from washing cars in 

the Garage area by erecting a special concrete platform with an oil catch 

basin at another building, but lack of funds and other priorities forced it 

to abandon the platform in favor of the more convenient original site. 

The arsenal tried to capture oils which escaped all other precautions by 

installing special catch basins and collecting pools in the southern portion 

of the installation and by placing planks across the brooks to hold back 

films.84

Picatinny blamed high turbidity levels in its streams on dredging along 

Green Pond Brook for flood control, digging drainage ditches in the lower 

arsenal for mosquito control, and constructing earth basins southeast of 

the tetryl area to hold back sludge. Picatinny ran a small dam and weir 

with a sedimentation basin across the brook and surrounding low areas 

to form a settling basin near Spicertown and installed an alum feeding 

station above the dam. The rising water level required the arsenal to lease 

about 14 acres of land it had soaked. Later flood control work caused 

destruction of the dam and movement of the station upstream. The alum 

feeding station had two wooden tanks on a wooden platform with one 

tank for preparing the solution and the other for feeding to the stream.85

Contributing to the turbidity problem was the way the installation 

dealt with water acidity. The settling tanks used in neutralizing waste acid 

and cyanide waters from pickling and plating operations had discharge 

pipes near the top which did not reach the sludge settled at the bottom of 

the tank. Some of this matter escaped and collected in three settling pools 

along Bear Swamp Brook before they reached Green Pond Brook and the 

coagulating station. Picatinny’s research on the chemical and mechanical 

properties of this sludge led it to believe it had reduced the amount to 

a point not threatening to Jersey City. “While the offensive-appearing 

solutions which are discharged contribute to turbidity and a coloring of 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

230

the water, they are safe as indicated by individual laboratory tests before 

being released into the stream.”86

Picatinny did not consider color a serious problem. “A direct control 

of color has never been undertaken, although some of the believed 

contributing factors have been controlled.” The chief of the Chemical 

Branch inspected highly colored spots and the colored water and decided 

partial causes were reactions from the neutralizing processes and a deep 

blue effluent from cyanide waste water. He concluded “while it was possible 

to change the color, a complete return to the colorless characteristic was 

impossible.”87

On the question of acidity control, Picatinny rated itself “more or 

less satisfactory.” Jersey City wanted a potential acidity (pH) reading of 

6.1 for the outflow of the main settling basin. A study of 50 laboratory 

reports from 1944 and 1945 found readings at this point showed a high 

of 8.30, a low of 4.17, and an average of 6.89. The figures at the Lake 

Picatinny dam were a high of 8.6, a low of 4.7, and an average of 7.0. 

The low figures were the results of accidents or other disturbances in the 

areas, and Picatinny could treat them as aberrations and conclude “that 

in most cases the water leaving the Arsenal is well on the alkaline side 

and that an excess of lime has been used.” One source of the excess was 

an acid-controlled neutralizing station in the tetryl area whose operation 

was erratic enough to require manually adding lime to counter any acid 

released. In addition, the arsenal had poured large amounts of limestone 

around the station’s concrete foundation to neutralize sour soil.88

The installation monitored the bacteriological content of its streams 

and boasted its modern sewage disposal plant by Green Pond Brook 

discharged only effluents of acceptable bacteria count. It collected and 

disposed of solid matter as humus and gloated when pollution discovered 

during the war traced to cesspools on Lake Denmark Naval Ammunition 

Depot. Picatinny controlled this with portable chlorinating units installed 

on small brooks on the northeast side of the installation. The work to 

satisfy Jersey City was in addition to Picatinny’s constant checking of the 

wells supplying its own potable water.89

On occasion, industrial operations benefitted Picatinny fauna. In the 

winter of 1945, the ice on Lake Denmark was 18 inches thick and under 

a blanket of snow so water weeds could not get the sunlight necessary to 

manufacture oxygen bubbles. This caused hundreds of fish to congest in 

a small section a nearby spring kept free of ice. Investigators found mostly 

perch and suckers with an occasional pickerel, many already dead and 

others just barely alive. Outside this area, they found a dozen suffocated 

Oswego bass. An analysis of the water made under the direction of 

a local game warden found one-tenth the normal amount of oxygen. 
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Picatinny workers cut holes in the ice and used pumps to agitate the water 

and replenish the oxygen supply. The problem was not so serious in Lake 

Picatinny because warm water from manufacturing operations created 

many ice-free spots.90

The war gave Picatinny’s human and non-human fauna a much 

larger habitat. In 1940, the arsenal had 2,259 acres. It acquired another 

798.253 in 1941, mainly by condemnation and mostly in the area known 

as Spicertown. Strictly, this name applied to the cluster of houses built and 

occupied by Lewis Spicer and his relatives and descendants in the second 

half of the Nineteenth Century. More generally, the name covered all the 

land between the Cannon Gate and the new Main Gate constructed near 

Union Turnpike, the land on both sides of the right-of-way Picatinny 

had purchased in 1881. The prime purpose of this acquisition was to 

put more distance between dangerous operations and the general public, 

but the installation used the Spicer homes and other nearby houses for 

military housing and moved its burning ground from the central storage 

area to about a quarter-mile in from Route 15.91

The Spicertown purchase did not please everyone. Remembering 

the forced removal of 1941 almost four decades later, longtime resident 

William Pierson stated, “It’s tearing me to pieces. I was raised here. No 

amount of money could equal what this home meant to me.”92

Other acquisitions included the Post Farm, a plot bordering 

Spicertown and Route 15 owned by the Charles Post family. Post was 

a longtime Picatinny employee, and four of his children worked at the 

arsenal before entering the service. His other three children all worked 

at the arsenal during the war. The youngest son was a toolmaker, one 

daughter a machine operator, and another daughter a nurse. The extra 

land required moving the main entrance from the Cannon Gate to a 

point just off Route 15. To handle the extra traffic, the arsenal built a new 

off ramp and overpass to handle the thousands of vehicles entering and 

exiting each day. In 1943, the arsenal purchased another 1,867.56 acres, 

bringing the total to 4,947. This included the remainder of the North 

or Lidgerwood tract for which the arsenal had been negotiating since 

the previous war and which brought most of Lake Denmark within the 

reservation. Picatinny lost little time filling this area with storage igloos.93

In addition to his regular duties in Plant Engineering, John Beeman 

aided the project manager sent by the Zone Construction Quartermaster 

in New York City with clerical details. He spent nights and weekends 

without pay clearing titles and pushing the title company to finish its 

work. He had to pay for his own gas. His efforts led to a job with the 

Quartermaster office which he held for two years before joining the 

Navy.94
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

232

The number of buildings on the arsenal increased from 502 in 

September 1940 to 943 at war’s end while wartime expenditures on 

buildings, roads, railroads, and utilities totaled $8 million.95

One of the more advanced new facilities was the Metals Testing 

Laboratory, building 183. It could not claim a decisive role in the allied 

victory since it did not open until July 10, 1945, but it evidenced Picatinny 

continuing drive to claim the lead in postwar munitions development. 

Construction took nine months. The building had eight rooms dedicated 

to different types of testing. One room used acids to create macroetching cross sections for grain-structure studies while another subjected 

finishes to salt spray testing. The room for sample preparation had 

electric furnaces for heat treating and lathes and grinders for finishing. 

A fourth room housed a metallograph for photomicrographic study of 

small samples while the fifth was a dark room for developing x-ray films. 

The largest space in the building went to determining physical properties, 

including hardness, ductility, and tensile strength. These rooms must have 

seemed the wide open spaces to the workers who had been performing 

this work in the basement of building 162. Two other facilities begun 

but not finished before war’s end were a double-base powder plant and a 

high-explosives plant to manufacture Haleite. The 1200 area above Lake 

Picatinny filled in with storage igloos, many underground.96

Main Entrance 1944
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WAYS OF WAR II

Picatinny gave 183 a Georgian exterior to blend with the rest of the 

Technical Division area, but took a different route with its new transformer 

station and security building. Building 173, two doors from 183, was, and 

is, Picatinny’s only Art Deco structure. The building opened in 1942, two 

decades past the height of the style’s popularity.97

One building which had improved greatly since World War I was 

the powerhouse. Philip A. O’Brien, who remembered the underpowered 

days of World War I when he was a new employee, was now a senior 

superintendent of production in the Operating Department and proud 

of the facility’s 5,000-kilowatt capacity and its ability to run almost 

continuously. It did not have to supplement coal with wood as it had done 

in the earlier conflict, but this did not mean the arsenal had abandoned 

wood as fuel. It installed a wood burning unit in building 13 to replace the 

locomotive auxiliary heating plant in building 34. It burned scrap from 

the Carpenter Shop.98

Structures lost during war included an ether-and-alcohol-recovery 

building built in 1906 which was the last of the original powder factory 

buildings. It was obsolete because of improvements in powder production. 

As one employee recalled, “Then it took us a full day to produce what it 

takes an hour to manufacture now.”99

Metals Testing Laboratory under Construction - 1945
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

234

Extensive construction meant much destruction of trees and brush. 

In May 1944, Plant Engineering began planting two and three year old 

red and pin oaks to remedy the damage. The trees averaged 18 inches 

in height, and most went in the lower storage area. Neither beauty nor 

environmental recovery was the main motive. Trees could break up the 

shock waves of an explosion.100

Art Deco Building 173 under Construction

Powerhouse c.1942
235

WAYS OF WAR II

Between 7 December 1941 and 7 September 1945, Picatinny 

received 15,000 freight car loads of materials and shipped out 13,000. Its 

Stores Department handled a total, including materials moved about the 

installation, of 2,424,960 tons.101

On 7 December 1941, Picatinny disbursements ran at $1.5 million 

per month. The rate was $4.5 million per month when Japan surrendered. 

Total disbursements for the war period came to $100,759,398.95. In the 

same period, the number of vouchers went from 1,200 to 3,000 per month 

with a total of 105,373. Picatinny let out 69,300 contracts with a total 

value of $112,515,183.68, some covering materials for other Ordnance 

Department plants.102

Picatinny could claim its employees were safer during the war than 

in previous years and partially refute Congressman Thomas’s argument 

about the danger from mass hirings of new workers. The Greater New 

York Safety Council termed its reduction of accident frequency and 

severity rates “amazing.” In 1940, the frequency rate was 25.7 accidents 

per million man-hours worked. This dropped to 12.5 in 1941, to 8.0 in 

1942 to 4.0 in 1943, to 3.9 in 1944, and up to 5.5 for the first six months 

of 1945. The severity rate of 1.98 days lost per thousand man-hours 

worked in 1940 dropped to 0.46 in 1941 and 0.42 in 1942, went up to 

0.75 in 1943, dropped to 0.13 in 1944, and rose to 0.34 for the first half 

of 1945. The arsenal argued this was especially noteworthy given the 

large numbers of new employees, but part of the drop may have been a 

statistical reflection of the increased number of man-hours.103

The first post-Pearl Harbor fatality, and Picatinny’s first in 69 million 

man-hours, was Orril Louis LaDuke, a 52-year old Stores Department 

worker struck by a lift truck on 24 May 1943. The former landscape 

engineer and superintendent of streets and highways for Lake Placid, 

New York, had come to Picatinny on 19 December 1942. Stores employee 

Francis Wall received internal injuries when crushed against a building 

while unloading a truck. The 29-year old died in Dover General Hospital 

at 5:15pm on 19 July 1944.104

These deaths could have happened in any industry, but two others 

involved Picatinny’s specialty, explosions. On the afternoon of 18 

November 1943, Leo J. Diamond and William J. Walsh were working 

alone in a testing building when an 81mm mortar shell exploded. Walsh 

survived with serious injuries, but the 22-year old Diamond died the same 

night. On 9 August 1945, Richard Floyd, 44, of Dover, died in Dover 

general Hospital from buns received while destroying waste powder on 7 

August 1945. The powder flashed while he was preparing it for disposal. 

The assistant foreman of the burning ground had been at Picatinny 

about five years.105
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

236

On 19 January 1944, a primer compound in building 235 suddenly 

flashed. The woman carrying the compound, Stella Riemel, lost an 

arm and two fingers on her remaining hand. A coworker, Venia Martin, 

suffered shock and cuts from flying fragments. She returned to work in less 

than a week and told the base newspaper she could not “understand why 

some people are staying away from work just because a friend of theirs 

was near an accident. I know I haven’t even thought of not returning to 

my job.”106 It took steady nerves to work at Picatinny.

APPENDIX: LOADING BRANCH: 1944-1945

On Patriots Day, 1945, Lieutenant Colonel W. O. Heilman, chief 

of the arsenal’s Loading Branch, the main subdivision of the Loading 

Division, issued a report on “Practical Aspects of Running a Loading 

Plant: Picatinny Arsenal.” His aim was “to bring out and emphasize 

points, many of them small and at times seemingly insignificant, but 

which when considered as a whole, will ultimately determine whether or 

not the plant is going to be successful in its assigned mission.” In warning 

other loading plant bosses about potential headache sources, Heilman 

left later generations a glimpse of how one plant functioned in the last 

year of World War II.

This plant is charged not only with the responsibility of developing 

new processes to the point at which they can be turned over to 

other ammunition plants, but also with the necessity of being able 

to accomplish the following:

Table I

A. Load from 100 to 425 different items of ammunition 

every month.

B. Load on any one particular day anywhere from 80 to 125 

different items.

C. Load from 1 unit to 1,000,000 or higher, of any one of the 

numerous items referred to above.

D. Begin the loading of any of 425 items at short notice, either 

day or night.

E. The Loading Plant must be prepared to increase the rate of 

production of any one of the items tenfold or more in order to 

meet a deadline date.107

To accomplish this, the branch had 284 buildings, 65 for actual 

loading operations plus 219 magazines and other service buildings, and 

3,019 employees. In 1945, 400 to 500 of these employees had more than 
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WAYS OF WAR II

10 years experience. One-third, 1007, were male and 2,012 were female. 

There were 811 “colored” workers to 2,208 whites. The 1007 males 

divided into 108 black and 899 white, the 2,012 females into 703 black 

and 1,309 white. The branch workforce was 70.3 percent local with local 

defined as living within 20 miles of Picatinny. Distance between work and 

home was a significant factor in determining who worked overtime.108

In a department where employees shifted continually from one job to 

another, knowing how many workers were available at a given moment, 

predicting how many would be available the next day, and tracking and 

analyzing absenteeism claimed much of an administrator’s attention. 

For example, there were fluctuations due to season and weather. The 

daily absentee rate was 17.7 in August 1944 percent but dropped to 12.6 

percent in October. An analysis by day of the week found the rate on 

Saturdays, when workers earned time and a half, was only 8.9 percent 

against 14.2 percent on Tuesday. The highest daily rate had been on 

Mondays until the branch stopped approving Monday leave with pay.109

Analysis of the period 16-26 December 1944, minus the two Sundays 

and Christmas Day, confirmed earlier impressions. Of the two Saturdays, 

the 16th showed an absentee rate of 8.1 percent and the 23rd 11.2 

percent. On the Tuesdays, the rate was 22.8 percent on the 19th and 18.0 

on the 26th. Falling between the two Tuesdays was Wednesday the 20th 

with 19.9 percent. Other rates were 14.7 percent on Monday the 18th, 

18.6 percent on Thursday the 21st, and 9.7 on Friday the 22nd. The 

female rate was significantly higher on each day except Monday the 18th 

when the male rate was 14.9 percent to the female 14.6. The Saturday 

rates were 4.3 percent for males and 10.1 percent for females on the 16th 

and 5.0 percent for males and 14.2 percent for females on the 23rd. The 

day after Christmas showed a female rate of 21.8 percent to the males’ 

11.2 percent. If these figures prompted Loading Branch administrators 

to form sexist preferences, they kept them to themselves. They would 

have been wishful thinking, given wartime industry’s dependence on 

female workers. The high figure of the 19th represented 709 workers 

absent and meant stopping some lines and adding their personnel to 

other understaffed lines. Return of approximately 350 on 23 December 

forced more personnel reassignments.110

The period 15 December 1944 to 31 January 1945 saw a concerted 

drive to hire new employees, an effort which included the Apollo Theater 

meeting. Of 899 new hires, 766 or 85.2 percent were from New York City 

and 793 or 88.2 percent were black. The gender divide was 781 female, 

86.8 percent, to 118 male. Tracking the attendance records of the 899 

found 43 or 4.8 percent were absent one or more days with permission, 

17 or 1.9 percent had one or more sick days, and 522 or 58.0 percent had 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

238

one or more days absent without leave. The branch recommended 208 

or 23.4 percent for discharge.111

Similar trends appeared among employees hired between 1 February 

and 2 March 1945. Of 358 hires, 300 or 83.8 percent were New Yorkers 

and 318 or 83.8 percent were black. There were 296 females, 82.7 percent. 

Of the total, 87 or 24.3 percent had no absences, 22 or 6.1 percent had 

took one or more days leave, either sick or with permission, and 249 or 

69.6 percent were AWOL one or more days. The branch recommended 

136 for discharge.112

Most employees preferred the day shift, but approximately 200 

stated they would quit if they could not start work in the afternoon or at 

midnight, suggesting Picatinny was a second job for many.113

Other employees complained about shifting between tasks and 

buildings. The rate of transfers was 1.57 per employee per month, 3,140 

for 2,000 operators, in May 1944, but dropped to 0.85 by October. 

Heilman spelled out the factors plant directors needed to consider when 

making transfers. Some were basic and obvious, such as a job’s need for 

operators and the affect of the transfer on the line loosing operators, 

while others, such as trying to avoid assigning a worker to a job which 

could reduce his or her pay, were important to employee relations. Some 

sounded trivial, such as the transferee’s shift preferences and available 

transportation, but they were not trivial to the affected employee nor to a 

supervisor with a pressing deadline and a finite labor supply. Heilman had 

earned the right to advise. His branch halved the number of transfers per 

person over one six-month period and cut employee complaints about 

such actions by 20 percent.114

The Loading Branch classified its labor force into 16 skill groups. 

These were drillers and thread cleaners, kettle men, melt loading operators, 

pelting press operators, powder carriers, powder mixers, powder pourers, 

process inspectors, reject men, screening powder operators, set-up men, 

sewing machine operators, solderers, tool clerks, waxers, and weighers 

and scoopers. At any time, the administrator could face a serious shift in 

demand for workers in any of these categories. In May 1944, the branch 

needed 100 weighers and scoopers to turn out 3,650,000 detonators but 

in October of the same year it only need 15 to turn out 950,000 units. In 

the same month, it had needed 105 sewing machine operators because 

the 105mm powder charge schedule called for 320,000 units. The next 

month, it needed 56 as the number of units fell to 160,000. At one point, 

the need for skilled solderers increased tenfold and the branch’s Loading 

Facilities Section had to establish a school to train women in the trade. 

Approximately half the trainees qualified while the other half returned 

to their previous or similar jobs.115
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WAYS OF WAR II

Continually shifting workers often resulted in employees doing tasks 

with pay rates different from what the employees actually received. The 

branch promised, “Every attempt is made to pay the employee the rate 

called for by the job actually being performed,” but this was not always 

possible. Each building kept and daily updated a wage board showing 

rate of pay for every job as determined by the Wage Evaluation Board 

and the grade and pay of the operator doing the task. The branch rated a 

building satisfactory if 80 percent of its operators were in the proper grade 

for their work. The branch planned a concerted effort to assign operators 

to jobs paying their rates and thought this, combined with expected 

resignations and promotions, would bring most its operators and rates 

into line within 3 to 6 months. War’s end made the plan irrelevant.116

During October 1944, the branch received 3,177 instruction papers it 

had to receive, record, study, and route to concerned units. These included 

405 schedules, 244 schedule changes, 1,800 drawings, 200 specifications, 

and 528 expenditure orders and addenda. An order for 50,000 M1391 

bomb fuzes, for example, involved two sections and six buildings.117

The branch averaged about 400 jobs monthly with an estimated 30 

components per job, or about 12,000 component deliveries. Figuring 

partial deliveries to run about 10 to 20 per month, the branch estimated 

it received 120,000 to 240,000 items per month. Not all items arrived 

on time or in sufficient quantities or ready for use on the appropriate 

job, so supervisors often had to decide between accepting an item and 

refurbishing it on site or sending it back. Once operators actually turned 

out a product, it had to move quickly to avoid exceeding a building’s 

explosive allowance and to keep the amount of explosive in any one spot 

at a minimum.118

Picatinny had a problem setting up its loading lines other plants did 

not. The short time periods allotted to most jobs made impractical the 

normal practice of production and industrial engineers overseeing set up. 

The Loading Branch had to spend much time and effort teaching building 

foremen and gang bosses how to make judgments involving transporting 

materials to the line, availability of conveyors and other equipment, the 

amount of work per day reasonably expected of an operator on a new 

line, line capacity, available floor space, safety, and assorted industrial 

hygiene issues such as lighting and ventilation.119

Obtaining and keeping tools was a hassle if each of an average 

month’s 400 jobs required searching through an inventory of 1.75 million 

tools. In both September and October 1944, the Loading Branch issued 

approximately 150 tickets to the Stores Division for the procurement of 

tools, fixtures, and gages. In addition, each month it issued an average of 

225 job orders to the Maintenance Branch for the repair, modification, 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

240

or manufacture of tools, jigs, and fixtures and 200 job orders to the 

Metal Components Branch for the manufacture or modification of 

tools, jigs, fixtures, machines, and gages. It sent the Maintenance Branch 

approximately 415 more job orders for repairs to machines, equipment, 

and buildings and for installation and moving of equipment.120

The 400 monthly jobs required setting up, checking, and controlling 

approximately 960 inspection points. Route sheet determined their 

placement on some jobs, but many jobs did not have route sheets. It was 

often impossible to tell where to place inspectors until the job started 

running. Placing inspectors was the task of the branch’s Process Control 

Section.121

The Loading Branch has to coordinate its work with the Plant Safety 

and Transportation sections, the Wage Evaluation Board, the Civilian 

Training and Placement sections, the Post Hospital, first aid units, the 

Production Engineering Section, the Technical Division, and the Planning 

and Maintenance branches.122

The branch’s methods for dealing with these assorted problems 

sound banal and obvious, but Heilman thought it necessary to tell 

managers of other plants they should organize into “specific sections for 

performing certain types of work” and try “to place individuals having 

experience of jobs where their experience can be best utilized’ and 

strive “to define clearly the duties of all section and individuals, and to 

eliminate overlapping and duplication of effort.” True to the tradition of 

government publications, the colonel thought nothing so obvious he did 

not need to spell it. His final recommendation was less obvious and less 

acceptable to industrial managers. “Sections and individuals are given 

a relatively free hand in the performance of their assigned jobs and are 

held responsible for performing them in a satisfactory manner.”123

Controlling 3,000 workers performing 400 jobs per month required 

80 to 100 different forms. First came the preliminary papers from the 

Planning Branch. These, which might come together or separately, 

included the expenditure order, drawings, bill of material, and the 

arsenal required schedule. Loading used these to decide which and how 

many sections to assign to the task. The branch estimated the number 

of man days the task would take and the optimum daily production rate, 

and the assigned sections used the expenditure order and the drawings 

to decide in which building or buildings to do the work as well as tools, 

gages, machines, and fixtures requirements.124

In early 1944, the branch had seven sections, four for actual 

operations and one each for administration, loading facilities, and 

material and process inspection. The Loading Facilities Section had the 

responsibility of checking if the Central Tool Room had the necessary 
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WAYS OF WAR II

items or if it had to ask the Machine and Tool Design Section in the 

Metal Components Branch to prepare drawings so the Maintenance or 

the Metal Components Branch could make them or the Procurement 

Section purchase them.125

Heilman cited November 1944 to illustrate schedule setup. On or 

about 20 October, the Planning Branch sent Loading tentative schedule 

papers indicating 450 jobs as the “desired schedule” for the coming 

month. Loading then calculated the number of man-days necessary to 

do every job, about 77,000. Since the total man-days the branch actually 

had available only came to 52,000, it had to go the Chief of Manufacture 

with recommendations as to what jobs Picatinny should ask the Field 

Director of Ammunition Plants in St. Louis to reduce or eliminate. 

Principles guiding these recommendations included a desire to have a 

small portion of all types of work to keep the skills active at the arsenal, 

an intention to utilize all buildings and lines at some time during the 

month, an intention to get into and keep new development work, and a 

need to meet higher headquarters’ criteria for urgency.126

The Chief of Manufacture based his decision, in part, on the 

percentage of necessary materials he expected the arsenal to receive each 

month. He estimated 90 percent for November 1944 and assigned the 

Loading branch 58,000 man days of work, only 6,000 more than the 

branch had available. On the first of November, the branch had schedules 

for 168 jobs but materials on hand for only 60 of them, 36 percent. Still, 

during the month, it would do the 168 plus 200 more.127

The next step was to prepare a personnel-job distribution chart for 

each operational section breaking down the operators assigned to each 

job for the month. For example, 86 people worked in building 717 from 

the first to the 17th of November with orders to turn out 100,000 M4A1 

fuzes at the rate of 4,000 per day. This would yield only 64,000 fuzes, but 

the branch would not have necessary materials available after the 17th. 

Jobs in the melt pouring buildings had to consider such added factors as 

kettle capacities and building explosive limits.128

Production assistants from the Loading Facilities Section made sure 

all required tools were on line and checked each line on the day each job 

started. Workers could not use tools not on the Machine and Tool Design 

Section’s authorized list unless the organization and the Plant Safety 

Section approved a sketch. Then, the building foreman had to sketch 

out his line. The branch insisted on this requirement to force foremen to 

think about process improvement.129

Control of the line once the job started involved each gang boss or 

building foreman daily preparing a shift production and a shift personnel 

and time reports the main Loading Office in building 382 compiled into 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

242

composite reports. In addition, the Machine and Tool Design Section 

used a tool-check-up report to record if the job used designed tools, if 

there was a need to design other tools or to improve existing ones, and if 

the operation was using the tools efficiently.130

To take a specific November 1944 job, disassembly of M56 fuzes 

involved six tasks and eight operators. The three operators drilling out 

stakes did five per minute or 300 hundred per hour while one operator 

each did head removal at a 12 per minute rate, nose removal at 17 per 

minute, detonator holder drilling out at 10 per minute, slider plug removal 

at 12 per minute, and detonator holder removal at 9 per minute. Firstday line efficiency was only 70 percent, but the addition of two operators 

raised it to 75 on the second day.131

To improve this figure, the department had to eliminate a choke point 

in drilling out the detonator holder where the operator had to drill out 

two stake marks separately. Installation of a hollow-milled tool able to 

remove both corrected this. Another machine reduced the number of 

operators needed to remove the holder from the head from two to one.132

Keeping track of daily operations required keeping four progress 

report books as well as a daily list of operations for distribution to the 

commander, the chief of the Manufacturing Division, the Plant Safety 

Section, the Medical Branch, and the Machine and Tool Design Section. 

Process inspectors for each job came off a special file of over 300 operators 

qualified to inspect. For each assignment, the inspector received a form 

informing him or her of the added special responsibility and spelling out 

exactly what to watch for on the line. In the eleven months for 1 January 

to 1 December 1944, the Loading Branch ran 441,669 tests. It performed 

jolt and jumble testing on 1,086 busters and 13,808 fuzes, sand testing on 

42,576 detonators, sensitivity testing on 140,866 detonators and 120,814 

primers, and burning time testing on 105,686 delays and 16,833 fuzes.133

Where there are people, management must consider morale. One 

practice Loading Department heads found useful was to hold a meeting 

of all foremen approximately every two weeks to informally discuss 

problems and their correction. “Every effort is made to emphasize to the 

foreman that the success of the plant depends on their individual efforts. 

All efforts are made to have them take pride and responsibility in their 

work.” These meetings did not spare foremen the curse of receiving all 

orders in written form as administrative policy memoranda.134

At the same time, the branch tried to limit the number of supervisors 

per workers and did reduce the proportion of supervisors in the workforce 

from 24.1 percent on 11 March 1944 to 16.4 percent on 10 October 1944. 

Each week, about 20 supervisors had the job of stopping and reporting on 

at least three employees. This was to prevent employees drifting around, 
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WAYS OF WAR II

a difficult problem with 3,000 people constantly transferring between 

jobs.135

Some concerns seemed trivial. For example, at one point a building 

with only 30 personnel was using several hundred pencils and stationery 

pads per month. Assigning responsibility for issuing these to only one 

person and use of a requisition form ended this. Some were housekeeping 

matters threatening both worker safety and product quality. Problems in 

this area required institution of a building inspection form and a schedule 

for supervisory inspection of a given number of buildings weekly.136

While dealing with war needs, the branch looked to its postwar future. 

In April 1945, it was discussing modernizing buildings 256, 445, 810, 

and 823, not with an eye to mass production but “with the thought of 

securing flexibility for experimental and pilot plant production work.”137

Changes to 256 included removing the fire wall and concrete barricade 

to provide more open floor space for a better arrangement of production 

lines, centralizing in its north end the dial presses used in several other 

buildings to consolidate lead cups, and installing safety barriers on all 

6,000-pound pneumatic staking machines. The emphasis on more open 

floor space in this and other buildings shows planners realized the need 

for future flexibility. The postwar arsenal would not deal with the same 

products for long periods of time but would be continually adapting to 

new items.138

Picatinny and its employees received numerous awards during the war, 

including four Army-Navy “E”s for excellence. At the first “E” ceremony, 

Marion Spargo and Raymond Spicer represented the workforce.139

While these awards had a pro forma or given-for-showing-up aura, 

Picatinny had earned recognition in both the research and manufacturing 

areas. Compared to the First World War, its contributions were much 

larger and infinitely more varied. This earned it the right to spend the 

first years of peace fighting for its existence.
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

244

NOTES

1 “‘Blast’ Rumor Another Dud,” The Picatinny News, 5 December 1941. On 

the Hercules explosion, Davis Dyer and David B. Sicilla, Labors of a Modern 

Hercules: Evolution of a Chemical Company (Boston: Harvard Business School 

Press, 1990), pp. 224-227, is skeptical about sabotage, but questions continue 

to the present.

2 “Tighten Arsenal Defenses,” “Picatinny on 7-Day Week,” “Output Over 

Quota Mark,” “Picatinny to Work Jan. 1,” “Two Loading Shops to Work 10 

Hours,” and “The History of Picatinny Arsenal, Part IV,” The Picatinny News, 

12, 19, 26 December 1941, 9 January 1942, 14 November 1947.

3 “Picatinny Arsenal,” in Seymour M. Kaye, Encyclopedia of Explosives and Related 

Items, PATR 2700, Volume 8, p. P269 (hereafter cited as “Picatinny Arsenal”).

4 “Picatinny Arsenal,” P269, and Picatinny Arsenal’s Accomplishments During 

Second World War (7 Dec. 1941 to 7 Sept. 1945), photocopy of typescript in 

ARDEC Historical Office Files, (no date, but compiled shortly after combat’s 

end), p. 5 (hereafter cited as Picatinny WWII).

5 “First Army Fires P.A. Ammunition,” The News-Barrage, 13 April 1945.

6 The following account of organizational changes derives from of Telephone 

Directory, Picatinny Arsenal, Revised to Dec. 9, 1937 and, Summer 1944. 

See also “COL. LARNED NEW ARSENAL C.O.,” The Picatinny News, 

December 5, 1941. Larned held the temporary rank of brigadier general 

from 14 February until July 1942. “Col. Larned Now General”, The Picatinny 

News., 20 February 1942. “Sparta U.S.O. Club Opens; Wharton Center 

To Be Dedicated July 15th,” The Picatinny News., 10 July 1942, is the first 

reference to him as colonel since February. After his retirement, he could use 

the title of his highest rank held, so Picatinny building 94 bears the name of 

BG William E. Larned. For the shift of housing and land responsibilities, 

see Erna Risch and Chester L. Kieffer, United States Army in World War II: 

The Technical Services: The Quarter Master Corps: Organization, Supply and Services, 

volume 2, (Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History, 1988), 140.

7 “The History of Picatinny Arsenal,” Part III and Chapter 5, The Picatinny 

News, 31 October 31, 5 December 1947.

8 “Arsenal Halts Employing of New Workers,” The Picatinny News, 31 July 

1942; Picatinny Arsenal, Historical Quarterly Report, Loading Department, 

Third Quarter, 1944, Production Figures-p. 1, and Picatinny WWII, p. 6.

9 Picatinny WWII, p. 12, and “The History of Picatinny Arsenal, Chapter V,” 

The Picatinny News, December 5, 1947.

10 “The History of Picatinny Arsenal, Chapter V,” The Picatinny News, December 

5, 1947.

11 Harry C. Thomson and Lida Mayo, United States Army in World War II: The 

Technical Services: The Ordnance Department: Procurement and (Washington, D.C.: 

Office of the Chief of Military History, 1960), p. 122, and Picatinny WWII, 
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WAYS OF WAR II

pp. 6-7. See also “Picatinny Engineers Vital to Plants All Over U.S.A.,” The 

Picatinny News, 4 September 1942.

12 Picatinny WWII, p. 7. For examples of improvements found at other plants, 

see 1st Lt. R. R. Wiss, Chief Propellant Charge Division, Picatinny Arsenal, 

to Chief, Loading Department, Loading Memo No. 211: Report of Trip to 

Scovill Manufacturing Co., January 21, 1942, Picatinny Arsenal, Dover, N.J., 

January 29, 1942, and Capt Wiss, to Chief, Loading Department, Loading 

Memo No. 516: Report of Trip to the Hoosier Ordnance Plant, Charleston, 

Ind., Picatinny Arsenal, N.J., June 4, 1945, and Trip Report Summary 

of visits by Lt. Col. W. O. Heilman and Mr. W. Hosking, to Cornhusker 

Ordnance Plant , 21 & 22 August 1944, Ogden Arsenal and Salt Lake 

Ordnance Depot, 23 August 1944, Pantex Ordnance Plant, 26 August 1944, 

Kansas Ordnance Plant, 28 August 1944, and Field Director Ammunition 

Plants, 29 August 1944, dated, 7 September 1944, all in ARDEC History 

Office files.

13 John D. Millett, United States Army in World War II: The Army Service Forces: The 

Organization and Training of the Army Service Forces (Washington, D.C.: Office of 

the Chief Of Military History, 1954), p. 286; “Picatinny Arsenal,” p. P270, 

and Roger B. Baldwin, The Deadly Fuze: The Secret Weapon of World War II (San 

Rafael California: Presidio Press, 1980), pp. 176, 181-182.

14 Picatinny WWII, pp. 3-5. The document speaks of the Chemical and 

Mechanical branches and the Technical Department, the titles of the units 

when Picatinny prepared this report postwar. This section uses the names 

used during most of the war.

15 Research and Development in the Technical Division, Picatinny Arsenal (Picatinny 

Arsenal, January 1948), p. 36, and “Tomlinson Awarded Overseas Emblem,” 

Picatinny News, September 7, 1945.

16 “Picatinny Arsenal,” p. P270.

17 “Picatinny Arsenal,” p. P270, and Picatinny WWII, p. 6. See also Constance 

McLaughlin Green, Harry C. Thomson, and Peter C. Roots, United States 

Army in World War II: The Technical Services: The Ordnance Department: Planning 

Munitions for War (Washington, D. C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, 

1955), pp.468-469 (hereafter cited as Green, Planning).

18 “Picatinny Arsenal,” pp. P270-P271.

19 Cf. “Rocket Design is developed at P.A.,” The Picatinny News, 6 October 1944.

20 Green, Planning, pp. 381-382, 384-385.

21 Green, Planning, pp. 382-383.

22 Marvin Carmack, “George Clyde Hale, Hoosier Chemist and Pioneer in 

Ordnance Research and the Early Chemistry of the Explosive, RDX,” 

revised draft of paper delivered to Annual Meeting of the Indiana Academy of 

Science at Manchester College, November 2, 1990, pp. 2-3.
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

246

23 Green et al., Planning Munitions, pp. 367-368. See also Carmack, “Hale,” p. 

4, and “New Explosive Named In Honor of Dr. Hale,” The Picatinny News, 25 

June 1943.

24 “Picatinny Arsenal,” p. P271.

25 “Registered Nurses Asked to Volunteer,” and “Selective Service Board 

Approves Status of Workers,” The Picatinny News, 7, 21 January 1944.

26 “Action on Shortage of Coal is Planned,” The Picatinny News., 21 January 

1944.

27 “Youths to Stay at Arsenal Following Army Induction,” “Ordnance 

Detachment Undergoes Training Here,” and “Technical Service Unit is 

Reduced by Reassignment,” The Picatinny News, 28 April, 1 September 1944, 

21 September 1945; Telephone Directory, Summer 1944, p. 15; Revised Draft 

Report: Evaluation of Structures Built Prior to 1946 at Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey, 

(Prepared for the New York District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers by WCH 

Industries, Inc., Waltham MA, in association with Boston Affiliates, Inc., 

Boston MA, December 30, 1994), p. p. E-73 (hereafter cited as Evaluation of 

Structures 1994); Picatinny Arsenal, Telephone Directory, Summer 1944, Winter 

1945; “Former Civilians at P.A. in Military Garb,” and “Arsenal Workers 

Praised By Commanding Officer,” The New-Barrage, 28 June 1944, 31 August 

1945, War Department: (Original) Pay and Allowance Account: Richard R. 

Wise, Capt. Ord. Dept., October 31, 1942 and October 31, 1945, in ARDEC 

Historical Office files, and ARDEC Historical Office photo reproduced in 

Patrick J. Owens, “Looking Back at Picatinny,” The Voice, 7 October 2005.

28 “Ford Toolmakers Loaned to Arsenal,” and ”200 Soldiers Join Civilian 

Workers At Picatinny Jobs,” The News-Barrage, 11 February 1944, 12 January 

1945, and Metal Components Department, First Quarter, 1944, p. 14, Fourth 

Quarterly History, 31 December 1944, p. 7, Second Quarterly History, 30 

June 1945, p. 5.

29 “Age Limits Raised for Numerous Jobs,” The Picatinny Arsenal Barrage, vol. 9, 

no. 9 (May 1941), 6; “Woodsman Who Cut Arsenal Ties Now Helping Cut 

Plant Accidents,” and “Octogenarian,” The News-Barrage, 25 February, 12 

May 1944, and “Recalls Arsenal As Powder Depot,” and Clare R. Lussy, 

“The Woman’s Corner,” and “Ten P.A. Workers Quit Retirements to Aid 

War Effort,” The Picatinny News, 12 June 1942, 19 November 1943, 6 July 

1945.

30 “Women Inspectors Check P.A. Firepower,” The Picatinny News, 15 September 

1944, and Picatinny WWII, p. 9.

31 “Women Take Men’s Places” and “577 Wows in Metal Shops,” The Picatinny 

News, 6 March 1942, 12 March 1943.

32 “Women Take New Positions” and “Twelve Finish Tech Course,” The 

Picatinny News, 15 May, 28 August 1942, and “Woman Blacksmith in 

Maintenance,” The News-Barrage, 16 May 1944. 
247

WAYS OF WAR II

33 Her father appears in the Stores Department photo in the 1937 Ordnance 

Bomb, p. 29. He retired from Picatinny in either 1957 or 1959. Her sister, 

Florence Gaffney, made Picatinny a career and retired in the 1980s. Memo 

of Interview with Alice Kuizenga, 15 March 2005 (written up from notes 

by Patrick J. Owens, 17 March 2005). Memo and the course certificate in 

History File, ARDEC Historical Office.

34 “Arsenal Course Trains Students in Drawing and Blueprint Reading,” The 

Picatinny News, 15 September 1944.

35 “Hospital Gets Lady Doctor,” “The Woman’s Corner,” “Woman Who Made 

Gas Masks for Last War Starts Man-Sized Task,” “Who’s Who at Picatinny: 

Miss Emma Spargo,” and “Who’s Who at Picatinny: Annie D. Taylor,” The 

Picatinny News, 10 April, 28 August, 2, 9 October 1942, 8 December 1944, 

and “Who’s Who at Picatinny: Julia M. Burns,” “The Story of Ten Picatinny 

Wows,” and “Who’s Who at Picatinny: Lenora Van Sickles,” The NewsBarrage, August 11, 1944, 13 April, 27 July 1945.

36 “Hospital Gets Lady Doctor,” “Female Clinic Opens in 378,” “Picatinny’s 

Women in White Ready to Take Care of Any Employee Ills,” and “Dr. Ivey 

Leaves Arsenal To Start Private Practice,” The Picatinny News, 10 April, 31 

July, 1942, 21 January 1944, 3 August 1945, and “Who’s Who at Picatinny: 

Dr. Evelyn P. Ivey, Mental Hygienist,” The News-Barrage, 28 April 1944.

37 “New Workers Help Speed Firepower,” and “Child Care Center Being 

Planned In City for Arsenalites’ Families,” The Picatinny News, 5 January, 

16 February 1945, “Signing Up New Home Front Employees,” The NewsBarrage, 12 January 1945; Picatinny WWII, p. 8, and Ordnance Bomb, 1937

(Dover, New Jersey: Picatinny Arsenal, 1937), p. 144.

38 “Transfer Two to Explosives,” “Three Negro College Graduates Tend Stills 

in Ether, Alcohol Rectifying Plant,” and “Success Stories: Three Typical Case 

Histories Told by Loading Employees,” The Picatinny News, 21 August, 24 

December 1942, 18 June 1943, 10 November 1944.

39 “Women Working on Tetryl Hill,” The Picatinny News, 10 November 1944.

40 “Jamaicans Like Work at Picatinny; See Importance of Home Front 

Assignments,” The News-Barrage, 26 January 1945.

41 “250 Jamaicans to Work at Arsenal, Start Next Week,” “Post Exchange to 

Be Set Up at P.A.,” “Jamaicans Awarded Army-Navy ‘E’ Pins,” and “Cricket 

Game Ends in Tie,” The Picatinny News, 8 December 1944, 5 January, 1 June, 

6 July, 1945, and “Larned Extends Welcome to New Workers at Plant,” 

“Jamaicans Given Rules of Conduct,” “Jamaicans Like Work at Picatinny; 

See Importance of Home Front Assignments,” “531 Jamaicans Now at 

Picatinny,” “Renew Contracts of 247 Jamaicans,” and “Jamaican Workers 

Adept at Cricket,” The News-Barrage, 15 December 1944, 26 January, 9 

February, 9 March, 22 June 1945. On the West Indies workers program 

nationwide, see Byron Fairchild and Jonathan Grossman, United States 

Army in World War II: The War Department: The Army and Industrial Manpower

(Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, 1959), p. 179.
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

248

42 “Recreation Board for P.A. Jamaicans,” and “Jamaican Arsenalite Dies,” The 

News-Barrage,23 March, 29 June 1945.

43 “Jamaicans Quit Arsenal As Work Drops With Peace,” The Picatinny News, 17 

August 1945.

44 Picatinny WWII, p. 8, and “Recruiting Policy Continues as 5,700 More 

Sought,” The Picatinny News, 2 February 1945. On racial violence at other 

war plants, see Fairchild and Grossman, Army and Industrial Manpower, pp. 160-

168.

45 “Is it true what they say?,” The Picatinny News, 30 October 1942.

46 “Mrs. King Named to New Position,” The Picatinny News, 10 April 1942.

47 “Cafeteria Hiring Part-Time Help,” The News-Barrage, 23 June 1944.

48 “183 High School Students on Jobs,” The News=Barrage, 24 March 1944.

49 Edith Varga transcript, posted on Rosie the Riveter: Morris County Women I 

World War II, exhibit at http://archive.ccm.edu/rosie/EVarga.htm, pp. 4, 5.

50 Picatinny WWII, p. 8.

51 “9,203 at P.A. Live in County,” and “1,092 Travel to New York Daily,” The 

Picatinny News, 6, 13 March 1942.

52 Picatinny WWII, p. 10.

53 “Free Public Service Bus on Sunday to Inspect Hotels at Mount Freedom, 

“Lake Homes Are Offered,” “Houses Rent or Sale,” and “Hopatcong Hotel 

to House Employees,” The Picatinny News, 6, 13 February 1942, 19 March 

1943.

54 “300 Houses Ready Soon,” “Picatinny Workers Move Into New Dover 

Homes,” “First Families Enjoy Modern Facilities and Recreation at Victory 

Garden,” “Homes for Picatinny Workers Opening,” “Arsenal Personnel 

Directs Victory Gardens’ Activities,” and “Lower Rents Provided For Arsenal 

Soldiers,” The Picatinny News, 13 March, 19, 26 June, 23 October 23,1942, 15 

January 1943, 19 May 1944.

55 New Jersey Historical Sites Inventory: Morris County Cultural Resources 

Survey prepared for the Morris County Heritage Commission by 

ACROTERION, Historic Preservation Consultants, funded by Office of 

New Jersey Heritage, The Morris Board of Chosen Freeholders, F. M. Kirby 

Foundation, Inc., 1986/1987, photocopy of selected pages in ARDEC 

Historical Office files. See also Robert G. Geelan, “The Bitter Birth of 

Randolph’s Orphan,” Randolph Reporter, 6 June 1979, for a summary of the 

complicated voting. Mr. Mark Thomson kindly provided these very useful 

documents.

56 Picatinny WWII, p. 10; “Plan Hot Meals For All Workers,” “Serve 964 

Dinners As Cafeteria Opens,” and “Sixth Cafeteria to Open Near Lake,” 

The Picatinny News, 15 October 1943, 16 June, 15 September 1944; Kuizenga 

Interview, and Wagner Baking Corp. ad in The News-Barrage, 9 June 1944.
249

WAYS OF WAR II

57 Picatinny WWII, p. 10; and “Arsenal to Operate Bus Lines to Avoid Fare 

Increase; New Plan Starts Tuesday,” and Edna MacD. Serrem, “Picatinny’s 

Bursts and Duds,” The News-Barrage, 3 September 1943, 8 September 1944, 

and “Bus Shuttle System Started Wednesday,” The Picatinny News, 3 March 

1944.

58 Harriet Buono transcript, posted on Rosie the Riveter: Morris County 

Women in World War II, exhibit at http://archive.ccm.edu/rosie/EVarga.

htm, pp. 7-8.

59 “Day Nursery Will Open Near Dover,” “Postpone Opening of Day Nursery” 

The Picatinny News, 15 October, 5 November 1943, and ““Nursery School to 

Aid P.A. Workers,” and “Child Care Center Careful of Health,” The NewsBarrage, 14 July, 8 September 1944.

60 “New Road to Speed Cars,” and “Colorful Ceremonies Mark Official 

Dedication of New Access Network,” The Picatinny News, 12 December 1941, 

5 November 1943.

61 “New Wages Start May 30,” The New-Barrage, 29 May 1942. See also 

“Arsenal Smithies Continue In Footsteps of Forefathers,” The New-Barrage, 21 

January 1944.

62 “Picatinny Desperately Needs Skilled Men And Women Now To Help Speed 

Ammunition Overseas,” (full page want ad), The News-Barrage, 23 February 

1945, and “Study of Industrial Pay Shows Arsenal Workers Receive 15% 

Above Average,” The Picatinny News, 7 May 1943.

63 “Wage Survey Covers 10,000,” and “New Wages Start May 30,” The Picatinny 

News, 12 December 1941, 29 May 1942.

64 “First Victory Tax Payment Is on Jan. 11,” The Picatinny News, 1 January 

1943, and “Tax Collectors Aid Thousands at P.A.,” The News-Barrage, 11 

February 1944.

65 “Study of Industrial Pay Shows Arsenal Workers Receive 15% Above 

Average,” and “Cancel Legal Holidays For All War Workers,” The Picatinny 

News, 7 May, 18 June 1943.

66 “Bond Salesmen at Arsenal Selling WOW Bandannas to Women at Cost,” 

The Picatinny News, 19 February 1943.

67 “Ration Shoes At Picatinny,” “Shoe Rationing Rule Changed,” “Tough Shoe 

Saved Toes, Says Welder,” and :Shoe Ration Rules Given,” The Picatinny News, 

12, 26 February, 1 June 1943. For an introduction to the rationing problems 

of Picatinny commuters, see “How to Apply for More Gas,” “Many Eligible 

For New Tires,” and “Supply of New Tires is Exhausted; P.A. Drivers Urged 

to Get Recaps,” The Picatinny News, 26 March, 7, 14 May 1943.

68 “Arsenal Employees More Than Double During 1941,” and “5 Discharged, 

91 Suspended,” The Picatinny News, 2 January, 10 April 1942.

69 “Absentee Mark for February Exceeds 13%,” and Charles Schnieder, “The 

Inquiring Photographer,” The Picatinny News, 5 March 1943.
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

250

70 “Kill that Rumor,” and “Discontinue Midnight Shift in Loading Area,” The 

Picatinny News, 2, 9 April, 1943.

71 “Kill that Rumor,” and “Patrolmen Get Military Ranks,” The Picatinny News, 2 

April 1943.

72 “Physical Exam Given to All P.A. Workers,” and “All Employees Get Vitamins 

as Health Aid,” The Picatinny News, 2, 9 April 1943.

73 Picatinny WWII, p. 12, and “Change Status for Hospital,” and “Arsenal First 

Aid Stations Now Open,” The Picatinny News, 26 March, 15 October 1943.

74 “Tetryl Studies at Arsenal Published,” The Picatinny News, 27 October 1944.

75 “Kill that Rumor,” The Picatinny News, 12 March, 9 April, 1943.

76 “Arsenal Police Dog Patrol Constantly on Alert,” and “Dog Trainer, Now 

Patrolman at P. A., Experiments in Work with Billy Goats,” The Picatinny News, 

30 October 1942, 23 July 1943, and Chief of Safety to Head Guard George 

A. O’Rourke, Office Memo No. 255: Instruction in Dog Handling, April 

27, 1942, photocopy in ARDEC Historical Office files. Marion O’Rourke, 

a long-time Picatinny employee and daughter of George A. O’Rourke, 

provided this photocopy along with biographical details on her father and 

Kim.

77 “Dog Saves Guard,” “Arsenal Police Dog Patrol Constantly on Alert,” 

“Defeat Unknown By Arsenal Dogs,” and “P.A.’s K-9 Patrol Dissolved as 

Dogs Go on Other Duty,” The Picatinny News, August 7, October 30, 1942, 7 

January, 20 October 1944.

78 “Picatinny Is Vast Reservation for Game Birds,” The Picatinny News, 4 

December 1942.

79 “War Declared on All Turtles,” and “Full Grown Deer Pet at Lake Home,” 

The Picatinny News, 23 July 1943, 10 November 1944, and “Haven for Ducks 

Built On Arsenal Brook” and “An Arsenal Orphan,” The News-Barrage, 18 

April, 9 June 1944.

80 “Deny Hunting On Sundays,” The Picatinny News, July 23, 1943.

81 “Workers Told Not to Drink Creek Water,” The Picatinny News, July 16, 1943.

82 History of Water Pollution Problems–Arsenal Streams, photocopy in 

Picatinny Historical Office files of document included in History of the 

Engineering Division, January 1 to 20 June 1946, pp. 1, 12 (hereafter cited as 

“Water Pollution Problems”.

83 “Water Pollution Problems,” p. 1

84 “Water Pollution Problems,” pp. 1-2.

85 “Water Pollution Problems,” p. 3

86 “Water Pollution Problems,” pp. 3-4.

87 “Water Pollution Problems,” p. 4.

88 “Water Pollution Problems” p. 4.
251

WAYS OF WAR II

89 “Water Pollution Problems,” p. 4.

90 “Arsenal Rescues Many Fish Suffocating in Lake Denmark,” The NewsBarrage, 9 February 1945.

91 Picatinny WWII, p. 11, and Henry L. Stimson, Secretary of War, to 

Honorable Charles Edison, Governor of New Jersey, [list of properties 

acquired by the United States], 13 August 1943, photocopy in Picatinny 

Historical Office files.

92 “Picatinny outgrows its boundaries,” and “Lewis Spicer led the way.” Sunday 

Advance, 29 July 1979, and “Colorful Ceremonies Mark Dedication of New 

Access Network,” The Picatinny News, 5 November 1943.

93 “The Fighting Posts: Four Brothers Now In Service as Five Others Work 

at P.A.,” The Picatinny News, 23 July 1943; Picatinny WWII, p. 11; Christian 

Urbiola, Chief Master Plans Division, ARDEC, to Vicki Naujokas, 

Enterprise Management, RE: ACUB Proposal, 26 October 2010, and 

Picatinny Arsenal, Property Map: Land Acquisitions, 22 April 1947, and

Evaluation of Structures, 1994, p. E-349. The Department of Public Works at 

Picatinny has a deeds folder with a short account of earlier owners of the 

North Track entitled Burnt Meadow Forge or Job Harriman’s Iron Works or 

Denmark Forge. A copy of the last document is in ARDEC History Office 

Files.

94 John Henry Beeman, “The life and times of John Henry Beeman, Part II,” 

The Voice, 17 July 1997.

95 Picatinny WWII, p. 11.

96 “Metals Testing Laboratory To Be Built for Technical,” “Variety of Work 

Done In New Metals Testing Building,” and “Arsenal Successful in War; 

Has Peace Role Set,” The Picatinny News, 10 November 1944, 20 July, 28 

December 1945, and “Breaking Ground for New Picatinny Project,” and 

“New Buildings Being Erected,” The News-Barrage, 30 March, 13 June 1945.

97 Evaluation of Structures 1994, pp. E-93, E-96.

98 “Old Timer in Operating Department Recalls They Burnt Wood in 

Wartime,” The Picatinny News, 22 May 1944.

99 “Raze Building Erected in ’06,” The Picatinny News, 28 May 1943.

100 “Plantings of New Trees Start Soon,” The News-Barrage, 28 April 1944.

101 Picatinny WWII, 12.

102 Picatinny WWII, p. 12.

103 Picatinny WWII, pp. 10-11.

104 “Stores Worker Dies of Injury,” The Picatinny News, June 4, 1943, and “Stores 

Employee Killed in Accident In Upper Storage Area,” and “Arsenal Worker 

Dies of Burns, “The News-Barrage, 21 July 1944. 10 August 1945.

105 “Man Killed, One Hurt in Blast at Arsenal,” New York Times, 20 November 

1943.
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

252

106 “Two Women Hurt in Blow of Powder in Building 235,” The Picatinny News, 4 

February 1944.

107 LT. COL. W. O. Heilman, Chief, Loading Branch, Practical Aspects of 

Running A Loading Plant, Picatinny Arsenal, April 19, 1945, photocopy of 

typescript in Picatinny Historical Office files, p. 8 (hereafter cited as Loading 

Plant.

108 Loading Plant, pp. 99-13.

109 Loading Plant, pp. 14-15.

110 Loading Plant, pp. 15-16.

111 Loading Plant, pp. 17-18.

112 Loading Plant, p. 18A.

113 Loading Plant, p. 18.

114 Loading Plant, pp. 18-19, 59-60.

115 Loading Plant, p. 20.

116 Loading Plant, pp. 20-21.

117 Loading Plant, p. 22.

118 Loading Plant. pp. 23-24.

119 Loading Plant, pp. 25-25.

120 Loading Plant, pp. 25-26.

121 Loading Plant, p. 26.

122 Loading Plant, p. 26.

123 Loading Plant, p. 27.

124 Loading Plant, pp. 29-31.

125 Loading Plant, pp. 28-29, 30-31.

126 Loading Plant, pp. 33-34. On the role of the Field Director of Ammunition 

Plants, see Green, Planning, pp. 125-127.

127 Loading Plant, p. 34.

128 Loading Plant, pp. 36-38.

129 Loading Plant, p. 44.

130 Loading Plant, p. 49.

131 Loading Plant, p. 50.

132 Loading Plant, p. 52.

133 Loading Plant, pp. 52-54.

134 Loading Plant, p. 35.

135 Loading Plant, p. 59.

136 Loading Plant, pp. 60-61.
253

WAYS OF WAR II

137 Loading Plant, p. 61.

138 Loading Plant, Appendix F.

139 “ARSENAL GETS ARMY-NAVY ‘E’ ON PRODUCTION 

ACHIEVEMENT,” “Miss Spargo Speaks on Women’s Behalf,” and “R. L. 

Spicer Accepts Pins; Pledges Work,” The Picatinny News, 2 October 1942.
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

254

Chapter 7

Ways of Cold War

Picatinny ended World War II under the Army Service Forces (ASF), 

Office of the Chief of Ordnance (OCO), Ammunition Division, 

Industrial Service. Ordnance Department postwar planning had intended 

to make it a product center responsible for developing and procuring 

ammunition, but ASF planned to place all technical services installations 

under geographically based service commands.1

The arsenal had 8,700 employees at the start of August 1945. Two 

days after the Nagasaki bombing, it was announcing furloughs and 

planning layoffs and, within a month, was down to 6,000. By October 

1945, manufacturing activities had ground to a halt. A committee led 

by Mayor John Roach, Jr., of Dover and including E. V. Casey, W. H. 

MacDonald, G. A. Schlutter, and R. T. Curtis, Picatinny employees 

representing Lodge No. 225, American Federation of Government 

Employees (AFGE), paid a call on Secretary of War Robert P. Patterson, 

other officials, and the state’s Congressional delegation. The AFGE, whose 

end goal was a steady workforce of 4,000, emphasized the immediate aim 

of securing enough funding to rehire recently discharged employees with 

15 or more years of service. The delegation had planned to see President 

Truman, but there is no evidence this happened.2

The division lines in the county apparent after the 1926 explosion 

were no longer visible. Mayor Roach used his second position as a Morris 

County freeholder to introduce a resolution in support of keeping the base. 

The other freeholders did not question the economic harm a shutdown 

would cause county wide. The Morris County Officials’ Association wrote 

Federal and state officials, including the heads of relevant congressional 

committees, protesting throwing locals out of work while sending money 

254
255

WAYS OF COLD WAR

to rehabilitate war-wrecked nations. In the midst of standard rhetoric on 

national defense, inaccurate references to the site’s role in the Revolution, 

and warnings about avoiding another Pearl Harbor, the letter snuck in a 

bit of frankness when it described the arsenal as “vital to the association 

because its constituents and tax payers have since the founding of the 

country found a source of employment there at.” Closing Picatinny 

“would disrupt every municipality in the County of Morris as well as the 

county itself.”3

Joining Roach and the union representatives in Secretary Patterson’s 

office were Congressman Charles A. Eaton, Senators Albert W. Hawkes 

and H. Alexander Smith, and James F. Burns, national president of the 

AFGE. With Patterson came an assortment of brass representing ASF 

and OCO. After discussing the matter for an hour and a half, Patterson 

ordered the Ordnance officers to consider several steps. The first was 

to push the recoilless rifle program, an effort which, if funded, would 

give the arsenal 400 to 450 jobs. The funding depended on the power 

and influence of the congressman and senators. Patterson also ordered a 

search for work the Army could transfer to keep Picatinny’s metal shops 

going, a reexamination of rocketry programs to see what work could 

go to the arsenal, an approach to the Navy for work orders, a stop to 

separations of experienced employees and the release of funds to keep 

machinery and equipment in order, and a search for work for long-term 

employees, on the condition “the work should be suitable and that it 

should not be anything like raking up leaves.”4

Badgering worked. Money for several small projects arrived in early 

November, but this did not prevent layoffs of career employees. The 

union put the November personnel figure at 900 and expected it to reach 

650 by year’s end. These figures were exaggerations, but the arsenal 

administration did fear a drop to a thousand employees. The lowest point 

was 2,071 in 1947, almost double the 1938 figure.5

In December 1945, Picatinny became the Ammunition Technical and 

Training Command. This short-lived title did not mean the Ordnance 

Department had implemented its product center concept. The original 

ASF plans had called for each product center to control all installations 

engaged in the development, procurement, and distribution of its assigned 

items, but the new command at Picatinny commanded nothing beyond 

Picatinny. None of its 28 duties were new to the installation, and the new 

title came with no new personnel, no new funds, and no promise of either 

for the foreseeable future. March 1946 found the arsenal in a position to 

hire men as munitions handlers, craftsmen, and laborers and to rehire 

several women recently discharged from the propellant bag sewing room, 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

256

but it had to lay off 800 people in October. A follow-up on the dismissed 

employees claimed most found jobs in other local concerns.6

In December 1946, the installation newspaper announced the 

Ordnance Department had received $30 million in research and 

development money from the Corps of Engineers with $8 million 

designated for Picatinny. Colonel Larned warned against expecting 

immediate employment gains but held out hope for better times. Not 

wanting to leave anything to chance, a second citizen’s group, with many 

of the same members, planned a return to Washington to target a newly 

elected Congress.7

Picatinny credited the lobbying effort with starting “a flow of money 

and projects that enabled Picatinny to reemploy its skilled personnel and 

maintain its status as the Army’s Ordnance research and development 

center.” The work force increased slowly, reaching 3,000 in June 1950.8

Several familiar names were absent from the expanded work force. 

Thomas Spargo and Granville E. Webster retired in 1946, followed by 

Marion Spargo in 1947. George C. Hale died on 4 November 1948. 

One familiar face remained visible through the early Cold War period. 

Colonel John P. Harris took over command of Picatinny from Colonel 

Larned on 1 March1948. Harris officially retired in August 1952, having 

reached the mandatory age, but the Ordnance Department recalled him 

to his post and kept him there until July 1953.9

The history of the Machine Shop illustrates how one arsenal unit 

coped. The shop had stopped work on all items except the M89 base 

detonating and the M90 point initiating fuzes after V-J Day. Production 

schedules calling for 200,000 M89 parts and 25,000 M90 parts per 

month kept 700 employees active, but cancellation of both programs left 

the shop with only a few experimental orders and 50 employees. The 

shop put its unused equipment on standby, placed machinery subject 

to deterioration in protective storage, and moved as many activities as 

possible into the head house section of building 31. Tool work and plating 

remained in wings 4 and 5 of 31. Building 24, until then home to process 

inspection work, shut down. The Deburring Unit and the cartridge case 

renovation section stayed in building 45. New orders allowed the shop to 

remove items from standby and to have facilities ready for use when the 

Korean War started.10

Picatinny found the funds to complete several construction projects 

interrupted by the postwar cutbacks. These included building double-base 

and rocket propellant plants, a high-temperature propellant surveillance 

building, and an acid concentrating plant and turning building 266, 

completed in1903 as Magazine No. 5, into a home for a supersonic wind 
257

WAYS OF COLD WAR

tunnel. The rocket propellant operation included a number of small 

structures intended to carry out most of the Army’s solid propellant 

research. In addition, Picatinny squeezed the budget for such minor 

but pleasing efforts as painting all quarters. One source of extra funds 

was the Salvage Yard. It grossed $168,503.00 in the fiscal year ending 

30 June 1946, but the arsenal faced diminishing returns as wartime stocks 

decreased.11

New machinery acquired during this period included the showpiece 

20-million volt betatron x-ray machine unveiled on 14 November 1946. 

The 25-ton unit was 260 times more powerful than standard hospital 

x-ray machines and could detect flaws in shells and bomb casings down 

to .002 inches and cavitation in loaded explosives. The machine required 

its own building with two- foot thick barricades of reinforced concrete 

to prevent ray reflection and a 42-inch barricade in front to protect 

observers. It was only the Army’s second such unit, the first being at Rock 

Island Arsenal. Shortly after acquiring the big machine, Picatinny added 

a new million-volt x-ray machine to handle more routine inspections.12

Colonel John P. Harris
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

258

Supersonic Wind Tunnel

Double-Base Propellant Plant
259

WAYS OF COLD WAR

Betatron Demonstration

Installing Betatron
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

260

The historical of summary of Picatinny’s work from 1945 to 1951 

devoted 2,294 pages of double-spaced type to research and developments 

projects. A random sample of titles found the arsenal worked on:

testing of dual granulation powders for 105mm howitzers,

development of analysis methods for specifications pyrotechnics,

effects of metals on double-based propellants,

development of improved propellants and ignition systems for normal 

 and high velocity artillery ammunition,

design and development of propellant charges for shoulder fired 

 rockets,

research and development activities for high explosives,

properties of tertiary mixtures for high explosives,

development of a colored marker shell,

development of a process for preparing fine ammonium picrate,

determination of properties of plastics at low temperatures,

demolition devices and accessories,

fuze for the T17E2 antitank mine,

the T18 antitank mine,

hand and rifle grenades and their fuzes,

the T2020 base-detonating rocket fuze,

the M2 and M3 jet-assisted take-off (JATO) engines,

the T131 rocket,

the 4.5-inch M16 series rockets,

the M130 mechanical time fuze for bombs,

segregated metal dust-oxidant photo flash,

the T2 railway signaling torpedo,

surveillance testing of theM8A1 signal flare,

the 60mm M83A1 illuminating shell,

the T120 tracking flare,

the T18 destructor,

the shaped charge bombs,

bomb anti-ricochet devices,

the Lark missile.13

One result of this research was a light, putty plastic explosive with 116 

percent the brisance or shattering effect of TNT which Picatinny chemist 

Karl Ottoson announced in a 1950 technical report. Composition C-4 

not only served as the Army’s standard demolition explosive for several 
261

WAYS OF COLD WAR

decades but provided soldiers with a quick, efficient, and illegal cooking 

fuel. Security considerations meant it would be almost 20 years before 

Ottoson received the Army Meritorious Civilian Service Medal for this 

work.14

Picatinny’s value was not in the development of individual items 

but in its role as a place able to carry out multiple tasks on many and 

varied items. Still, events on an Asian peninsular pushed several Picatinny 

developments into the spotlight.

The infantrymen who faced Russian T34 tanks in the opening battles 

of the Korean War quickly learned the damage an 85mm main gun and 

two 7.62mm machine guns could do. They also learned the thick armor 

plate of the 32-ton tank made it hard to hurt it back, at least with the 

2.36-inch M20 bazooka. At Osan in July 1950, the first battle for United 

States troops in Korea, the T34s kept coming through despite howitzer, 

recoilless rifle, and bazooka fire. At one point in the fighting, an Army 

lieutenant fired twenty-two 2.36-inch bazooka rockets from fifteen yards 

to no visible effect. Such failures made ground troops understandably 

reluctant to engage North Korean armor.

At Taejon, a couple of weeks later, United States infantrymen used 

3.5-inch bazooka rockets developed at Picatinny with so much success 

they began actively hunting enemy armor. A legend quickly sprang up 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

262

which had every round fired from a 3.5-inch bazooka at Taejon killing 

a tank. This was the stuff of Hollywood movies and munitions company 

advertisements. No weapon and no munition is perfect. However, most 

of the 15 T34s destroyed at Taejon died from 3.5-inch rocket fire. An 

infantryman in Korea found the name and address of William Walker, a 

Loading Department employee, on the packing ship in a box of the new 

rockets and wrote to tell him “they make mighty big holes in the North 

Korean tanks.”15

The story of the new munition reached back to an earlier conflict. 

A historian of antitank warfare considered the bazooka the only 

distinguished achievement of U.S. antitank research and development 

during World War II, but he went on to note, “by 1945 it was proving too 

small and too weak for the last versions of the German tanks.” Combat 

soldiers had realized this even earlier. Commanding a parachute combat 

team in Sicily in 1943, Colonel James M. Gavin found,

The bazooka rockets were bouncing off the tanks and the tanks 

were then chewing the troops to pieces. The next day we actually 

buried some troopers with pieces of bazooka ground into them by 

tank tracks. We captured one tank by grenading the crew when 

they came out to talk things over a bit too close to a trooper.... 

The tank had four bazooka hits on it, none of which penetrated.16

Gavin later learned the Germans had captured a bazooka in 

Sicily and used it to make the bigger and more powerful faustpetrone

they employed with deadly effect against the Allies in Normandy. The 

Ordnance Department ordered development of an improved weapon in 

June 1944. When Major General Gavin took charge of Army research 

and development after the war, he made developing a new bazooka a 

Above, 3.5-inch bazooka rocket

Below, 2-36-inch bazooka rocket
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WAYS OF COLD WAR

priority. He saw the need for a larger weapon as critical and thought it 

should have been with troops well before 1950.17

A semi-hostile way to put the basic question is, “What were munition 

developers doing between June 1944 when the U.S. Army Ordnance 

Department ordered development to start and August 1950 when the 

first rockets went to troops in the field?” The short answer is they were 

developing. Specifically, they were putting the item through five design 

configurations designated T80, T80E2, M28, M28A1 and M28A2.18

The original T80 motor tube was in two pieces, the motor and the 

nozzle. The motor body was a straight section of WD4130 or WD8630 

steel tubing either seamless or welded. Requirements called for this 

assembly to have a minimum yield strength of 85,000 pounds per square 

inch (psi) and a minimum elongation of 10 percent. Production of the 

nozzle involved either cold drawing from WD1314, WD1315, WD1015, 

or WD 1020 steel or forging from WD1015 or WD1020 steel. Constant 

from the original T80 to the final M28A2 was the requirement for a 

closure disc to prevent the passage of hot propellant gases through the 

Characteristics T80 T80E2 M28 M28A1 M28A2

Overall length

(maximum) 26.3” 23.67” 23.55” 23.55” 23.55”

Head length

(maximum)

9.15-13”

(approximate) 10.58” 10.58” 10.58” 10.58”

Ogive length

(maximum)

4.63”-7”

(approximate) 4.63” 4.63” .63” 4.63”

Nozzle threaded integral integral integral integral

Trap egg crate 

precision

egg crate 

precision

precision 

cast/ 

perforated

bar

perforated

bar

perforated

bar

Motor/motor

closure

assembly

 silver

soldered threaded threaded threaded threaded

Trap seat yes no yes yes yes

Fin assembly unshrouded shrouded shrouded shrouded shrouded

Electric contact lead wire

contact notch

lead wire

contact notch

lead wire

contact 

notch/ring

lead wire

contact ring

lead wire

contact ring

Bursting charge Bursting 

charge cyclotol

RDX and 

Comp B Comp B Comp B Comp B

Charge weight 1.82 lbs. 1.82 lbs 1.93 lbs. 1.93 lbs. 1.93 lbs.
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

264

pipes or seams in the closure disc to the detonator and explosive charge. 

Hydrostatic testing of the motor tube and closure assembly and the nozzle 

at 14,000 psi allowed little or no safety factor over the firing pressures 

expected from the completed weapon. There was no test for the threaded 

junction between the motor tube and the nozzle.

Making the motor tube and nozzle in one piece by hot or cold forming 

from tubing marked the change to T80E2. Other changes distinguishing 

the T80E2 motor body were use of a buttress thread instead of brazing to 

secure the motor closure to the tube, removal of a trap seat, and change 

of the venturi chamber exit angle from 100 30’ to 220 30’.

Adoption of the threaded motor closure was the last practical change 

to the motor closure configuration, except for a requirement to stamp 

“X” on the side of the disc left exposed after assembly to ensure proper 

placement and facilitate inspection. In 1947, the hydrostatic test pressure 

went to 18,000-19,000 psi and the minimum yield strength to 125,000 psi.

The need to increase strength and safety, improve interior ballistics, 

and decrease costs propelled the trap and spacer assembly through several 

design changes. The original egg crate design of the T80 trap lasted 

until the fifth revision of the T80E2 design, but it went through changes 

to correct strength and safety problems. A malfunction during ballistic 

testing showed when setback forces jammed powder grains rearward, the 

thin edges of the trap grids cut the propellant and increased its burning 

surface. This increased pressure dangerously. The move from a two-piece 

to a one-piece motor body allowed removal of the trap seat and the 

flanges which were cutting the propellant. The final T80E2 trap was a 

precision steel casting essentially the same as the egg-crate version except 

it was a one-piece casting and had an outside diameter cast to conform 

to the venturi contour. The new trap provided satisfactory strength, but 

it was expensive and carried the possibility of a porous casting liable to 

failing on firing.

Development was complete when the fighting started, so Picatinny’s 

Manufacturing Division needed just 24 hours to go from pilot plant to 

full-scale production. Division head Wilfred “Bricky” Hosking detailed 

an engineer to follow the development process and to release parts for 

manufacture as soon as they seemed “design firm.” A Midwest firm 

turned out the first rocket bodies, but Picatinny rejected the pilot lot. 

Hosking’s group examined the lot and selected 25 for use. The Technical 

Division disagreed,

but later that day, after receiving further urgent calls from 

Washington, [it] released the five best of the rejected bodies. The 

rocket bodies were loaded, the rounds assembled, and they left 

that night by special carrier for Korea. Either two or three days 
265

WAYS OF COLD WAR

later, a message was received: “Five bazooka’s [sic] fired, four 

tanks destroyed.”

This led to the release of the another 25 selected bodies followed by 

15 more.19

The rounds fired by United States tanks in Korea were Picatinny 

products, most developed or improved during or just after World War 

II. Among the items in which Picatinny took special pride were 76mm 

and 90mm armor-piercing cap (APC) projectiles and shaped-charge 

high explosive antitank (HEAT) rounds. The shaped charges produced 

jets able to attain velocities of 25,000 feet per second (fps) and defeat 

several inches of armor plate. Other developments led to hypervelocity 

projectiles able to travel at 3,500 fps. Key to this work was the use of a 

sintered tungsten core surrounded by a much lighter metal.20

As important as were individual developments, the arsenal had to 

see all munitions reached the troops whole, intact, and dry. One project 

to achieve this was the Package Testing Laboratory’s investigation into 

retaining inner sealing covers in outer caps on complete round metal 

containers. In addition, troops knew how to use many items they took into 

combat because of the practice and training aids Picatinny provided.21

By late 1949, the Army had completed preliminary studies indicating 

the possibility of producing a nuclear artillery shell and was looking for 

someone to design one. Colonel Angelo R. DelCampo at the Pentagon 

told Colonel Harris he needed “an Ordnance engineer with an exceptional 

combination of experience, imagination, boldness and courage,” and the 

Picatinny commander loaned him Robert Schwartz, a City College of 

New York graduate who had worked on radar in the Navy during the 

war. DelCampo initiated a thorough security check and, then, brought 

the man to the Pentagon to explain the project. Schwartz worried about 

abandoning a course he was taking at Newark College of Engineering, 

but DelCampo allowed him to continue Monday evening classes while 

spending the rest of the week in Washington.22

Schwartz completed his preliminary sketches over a period of 15 

days spent alone in a locked room in Washington and then sharpened the 

details in another locked room, this one at Picatinny. The challenge was 

to increase the size of the Army’s largest field artillery round from 240mm 

to 280mm and toughen it to withstand the propellant forces necessary to 

fire it at 6,000 revolutions per minute (rpm). This meant the shell needed 

to be 4,000 times as strong as an atom bomb case. Asked how he met the 

challenge, Schwartz, true to the top secret nature of nuclear work, only 

replied, “If you are going to protect your watch against a two-ton hammer 

blow, how would you go about it? I proposed letting all the intricate parts 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

266

mold into one glob of steel to withstand the hammer blow, and then free 

themselves to function after the blow.”

The Chief of Staff of the Army, General J. Lawton Collins, thought 

enough of Schwartz’s effort to praise it in his memoirs over a quarter of 

a century later.23

The next problem was to convince the Pentagon, a hard sell until 

Samuel Feltman, chief of the Ballistics Section of the Ordnance 

Department’s Research and Development Division, went against 

conventional opinion and bureaucratic caution by forthrightly stating it 

would work. Schwartz had to rush to procure equipment and put together 

a staff to carry out a development effort which led to the Atomic Annie 

cannon firing the first of the new 280mm atomic shells at Frenchman 

Flat, Nevada, on 25 May 1953.

The “Atomic Annie” gun and ammunition came too late for the 

Korean fighting, but three cannons did go to Europe. There, it proved 

hard to move and showed too short a range. Still, General Collins did 

not doubt the presence in Europe “of our nuclear guns has contributed 

greatly as a deterrent to any offensive by the Soviets”.24

A report on arsenals done for the Assistant Secretary of the Army 

for Logistics seven years after the Korean truce singled out Picatinny to 

illustrate the value of the government side of the government-industry 

partnership, because, “In World War I and II and the Korean War, 

Colonel Harris Presenting Award to Robert Schwartz
267

WAYS OF COLD WAR

Picatinny provided a nucleus of know-how to establish industrial and 

other government loading plants for the manufacturing, assembling and 

loading of ammunition.”25

There should not have been a serious problem as many, if not 

most, orders during the Korean conflict went to firms which had been 

producing the same or similar items just five years earlier. However, “The 

personnel who had this experience were no longer with the companies, 

and it was necessary for Picatinny Arsenal to train new personnel and 

provide effective technical assistance prior to successful manufacture of 

the required items.”26

At the outbreak of the conflict in June 1950, Picatinny had 3,500 

people. Employment was at 5,000 by the end of 1950 and reached a peak 

of 7,750 in the summer of 1952. At the time of the armistice in June 

1953, it was at 7,200. It then began a decline, but, in contrast to the postWorld War II situation, the drop was gradual with the workforce staying 

over 5,000 throughout the 1950s. The low point came after an 11 percent 

cut in 1958. After Korea, again in contrast to 1945, the nation was not 

sure peace had come.27

The number of officers was usually in the twenties. The core enlisted 

contingent stayed stable, six in 1949 and five in 1951. In 1951, soldiers’ 

assignments included the Finance Branch and the Guard Force.28

Supplementing the regular cadre during the Korean War were 

enlisted personnel from the Scientific and Professional Personnel (SPP) 

Program, an effort to assign draftees with science and engineering 

degrees to positions using their education and talents. A group photo 

from May 1953 shows 17 program members. Richard Valerio’s degree 

in mechanical engineering allowed him to spend his 1952-1954 hitch 

working in Picatinny’s Rocket and JATO Section. A 1952 bachelor’s 

degree in electrical engineering from City College of New York not only 

placed Alan M. Moss in the S5P program but earned him a position at 

Picatinny following his military service.29 

Although far from the battlefield, Picatinny still had its dangers. 

The low number of employees in the late forties may have helped keep 

accident rates down, reaching a record low of 3.38 per million manhours in 1948, but multiple deaths increased severity rates.30

Picatinny tried to distance itself from one death. It may have had 

grounds to question the connection between the falling pipe which injured 

William Rogalo’s head, shoulders, chest, and ankle on 26 February 

1946 and his death from either a blood clot or a pulmonary embolism 

on 2 April while recovering at his home in Wharton after an extended 

stay at the Marine Hospital on Staten Island. The arsenal’s historical 

summary called it a “freak death” and fixed the odds against it at “one 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

268

in ten million.” Still, the incident did occur and Mr. Rogalo did die while 

convalescing from a workplace incident.31

Other deaths were definitely the results of arsenal employment. On 15 

October 1946, William C. Rowe, a 33-year arsenal veteran, was coupling 

a boxcar to a locomotive when another train came around a curve, hit the 

boxcar, and threw him under its wheels. He died from hemorrhage and 

shock. The blame fell on the sharpness of the curve and other boxcars on 

a siding. The event pushed the arsenal to reduce the maximum speed for 

rounding curves to 10 miles per hour and to require train crews to keep 

in touch on newly installed two-way radios.32

Dr. Paul F. Macy, a chemist and laboratory chief, fell to a sliver of 

glass from a retort which exploded on 2 October 1947. He thought he 

was unhurt until he noticed bleeding from his chest. He died before 

reaching the hospital.33

Three deaths gave 1948 an unenviable severity rate. Two men died 

on 8 June 1948 when the photoflash bomb they were loading exploded. 

Both Earl Roff and Joseph J. Kavalic were experienced employees, with 

14 and 9 years service respectively. The explosion destroyed the building 

and its contents.34

Jerry Barbato first came to Picatinny in 1940, but Army service kept 

him away from 1942 to 1946. He died on 13 August 1948. He and another 

SPP Soldiers 1953. Richard Valerio is on the right, row 1, 

Al Moss on left, row 3

 (courtesy of Richard Valerio)
269

WAYS OF COLD WAR

explosives operator had just finished adding 450 pounds of ingredients 

for 3/8-inch stick powder used in 3.5-inch bazooka rockets to a mixer 

in building 527. He stopped to close the door and push the mixer switch 

while the other worker pushed a cart into the next room. A reinforced 

wall completely protected the second man when the mix exploded, but 

the blast threw Barbato 100 yards into Lake Picatinny. His father-in-law 

worked with Brabato and informed his wife before arsenal authorities 

could. Picatinny’s first recommendation to prevent a recurrence involved 

a building specially designed for this type of mixing and farther from 

other buildings so as to have “less damage to capital equipment.” The 

second recommendation looked to employee safety by suggesting placing 

the start switch farther from the operation or barricading it.35

The next death did not involve explosives. On 29 June 1949, three 

men in building 302D had finished using a radial drill press which 

provided centrifugal forces for testing connected with development of a 

zigzag delay element from the T2000E1 point detonating fuze and were 

removing wires and other accessories. The machine started suddenly and 

killed an unnamed operator. The evident reason for the startup was a 

worker pulling on a stuck wire.36

Blending and screening of T9 powder for JATO engines had become 

a largely mechanical process by 17 March 1950, but emptying powder 

from the hopper to 50-pound aluminum cans remained a manual chore. 

Two men in building 232 were doing this when a spark, probably from 

static electricity but possibly from friction, set off a blast which did 

$140,000.00 worth of damage and killed James E. Doyle and Daniel H. 

Costello. Joseph Hirt, David S. Ehrentraut, and Zenora Beatty suffered 

minor injuries treated on post. A board made several recommendations 

but knew “events of an accidental origin cannot be eliminated.” Dover 

residents felt the blast, and others heard it 20 miles away.37

The longest death roll of Picatinny employees in arsenal history 

occurred on 25 January 1951 when a fire in building 559 claimed nine 

lives. Investigators thought the most probable cause was a static spark 

from a bin of freshly dried propellant powder for 75mm recoilless rifle 

ammunition, but they considered compression of powder grains or dust 

between metallic surfaces a possible alternative. They specifically sought, 

but did not find evidence, of sabotage. The dead were

Bernard J. Boardman, 51, of Dover,

Alfred L. Cummings, 19, of Montclair,

Grady Futch, 27, of Newark,

Willie R. Benton, 25, of East Orange,

Kenneth O. Kimbrough, 51, of Madison,

Alexander Kusma, 32, of Dover,
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

270

Thomas J. Turner, Jr., 26, of Newark,

William J. Wells, 24, of Orange,

Nelson Gregory, 30, of East Orange.

Three died instantly while the others lingered. Last to go was Nelson Gregory 

on 29 January. He had worked at Picatinny for four months.38

On 6 March 1953, Harold F. Sisco and Russell C. Sanders asphyxiated 

on leaking fumes while they were removing ether during smokeless 

powder manufacture.39

The post-World War II period saw women depart from the many of the 

technical and production jobs they had held during the war. For example, 

on 31 December 1944, women were 37 percent of the Metal Components 

Department, 526 out of 1386. By 30 June 1946, the department had 

become a branch with a female contingent of 2 against 451 males. The 

Technical Division employed many women, and photographs show 

several doing technician work. Still, most were probably in clerical and 

secretarial positions. There were sufficient women on the arsenal in 1952 

to form their own softball league.40

Picatinny women still sewed powder bags for the Korean conflict 

as they had for the one with Spain, but some had moved from sewing 

cloth to running machines which stitched together strips of smokeless 

powder. Running explosive materials through machinery was extremely 

dangerous, so the women directed the machines by remote controls, 

watching through small portholes in heavy barricades. Several women 

doing this work had been at the arsenal during World War II and had 

returned for the new war.41

The only woman engineer known to work at Picatinny during the 

Korean War was Helen Vanderbilt. She had started at the arsenal in 

1916 and had risen through the clerical ranks until she simultaneously 

headed both Personnel and Mail and Records sections during World 

War II. Increased interaction with engineers during the war inspired her, 

and, instead of waiting quietly for pension time, she spent three years 

taking courses through the Rutgers Extension Division until she had 

an engineering degree to pair with her certificate from Dover Business 

College. She was the first woman at Picatinny to successfully transition 

from a clerical to an engineering career.42

The arsenal kept no statistics on the racial composition of its workforce, 

but black faces appeared frequently in the installation newspaper, with Dr. 

Birtill Lloyd’s prominent through the fifties. The beginning of the decade 

found him in middle management, heading the High Explosives Unit in the 

Technical Division’s Propellants and Explosives Engineering Section. He 

would later serve as chief of the Radiographic and Theoretical units and 

acting chief of the Engineering Research Center. He was on Picatinny’s 
271

WAYS OF COLD WAR

Board of Civil Service Examiners and the Radiant Energy Board and 

was chief of the Special Projects Unit when he left Picatinny in 1959 

for a place with the National Industrial Development Commission which 

returned him to his native Jamaica. He had been active in local politics, 

including a term as president of the Mount Hope Board of Education.43

A 1950 Technical Division organizational chart with photographs 

shows the division’s 400 employees included four African Americans. 

There was one black man, Alfred Cumming, among the dead of the 1951 

fire.44

Through the ups and downs in personnel numbers between the end 

of World War II and the end of the Korean fighting, Picatinny Arsenal 

maintained a fairly stable organizational structure. In 1945, it had 

Inspection, Industrial Stores, Engineering, Manufacturing, and Technical 

divisions. These organizations had enjoyed the elevated title of “group” 

during the war. The only additions by 1951 were Personnel and Training 

and Procurement divisions. Although Industrial Stores became simply 

the Supply Division, a rare case of a government organization actually 

shortening a title, and Manufacturing changed to the Industrial Division, 

their missions experienced no drastic changes. There were increases in 

the number of branches within divisions and of sections within branches 

when workloads and personnel rose. The arsenal continued having 

military personnel head major organizations aided by civilian deputies. In 

addition to the divisions, there were Administration, Control and Special 

Helen Vanderbilt
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

272

Planning, Safety and Security, and Civilian Personnel branches plus a 

Finance Section. In April 1951, the Administration Branch became the 

Office of Administrative Services with branches for Medical, Military 

Personnel, Office Services, and Security and Intelligence.45

The pace of change accelerated after Korea. Some alterations, such 

as the demotion of the Supply Division to the Supply Office, reflected 

drops in personnel and not changes in mission. The newly named unit 

kept its supply and transportation duties, including the motor pool and 

the railroad. The Office of Administrative Services saw a branch split off 

as the Intelligence, Security, and Safety Office. Its duties including police, 

fire, and medical services.46

Some changes reflected those at higher levels. In May 1954, the 

Ordnance Corps established the Ordnance Ammunition Command 

(OAC) with headquarters at Joliet, Illinois, and the task of combining 

ammunition engineering functions at arsenals into a single effort dubbed 

the National Industrial Engineering Mission for Ammunition. Picatinny 

established a liaison office to respond to the needs of this and to a similar 

National Research and Development Mission for Ammunition.47

The arsenal wanted both higher headquarters and private industry 

to see it as the place to go for creative solutions to problems, whether 

in research, development, process engineering, or production, and it 

aggressively marketed itself as the place with the personnel and equipment 

to solve munitions problems. Arsenal brochures of this period detailing its 

resources to the Ordnance community provide an overview of the mid1950s installation.

The Technical Division, which had taken to calling itself the Research 

and Development Division, became the Samuel Feltman Ammunition 

Laboratories after the Ordnance Corps official who had died in a recent 

traffic accident. Picatinny announced the new name at the celebration 

of its 75th anniversary held on 2 July 1954, two months short of its 74th 

anniversary. The confusion was the result of misreading a payroll for 

the board which had chosen the powder depot site as a powder depot 

payroll.48

The director of Feltman Laboratories was an Army colonel assisted 

by a lieutenant colonel as executive officer and two civilian associate 

directors, one for development and one for research. These men joined 

with the arsenal’s management and safety engineers to form the Research 

and Development Planning Board which reviewed and passed on 

technical programs and financial requirements of each laboratory.49

In 1956, the laboratories employed 452 professional personnel plus 

more than 250 draftsmen and aides and over 120 technicians, explosive 

handlers, technical writers, and clerical personnel. The professional 
273

WAYS OF COLD WAR

contingent boasted 21 PhDs in chemistry, physics, chemical engineering, 

and metallurgy plus 57 employees with masters degrees, and 330 with 

bachelor degrees. Additionally, there were 16 scientific advisors from 

academia and industry in consulting capacities.50

During the 1950s, the organization had eight laboratories working on 

artillery ammunition, mortar ammunition, recoilless rifle ammunition, 

atomic munitions, mines and grenades, bombs and guided missile 

warheads, pyrotechnics and demolition charges and equipment, explosives 

and rockets other than antiaircraft, and propellants and impact fuzes for 

rockets, guided missiles, and small arms. Picatinny shared the rocket 

responsibilities with the recently created Redstone Arsenal in Alabama. 

Seven laboratories specialized in specific areas while the eighth, Technical 

Laboratory Services, did testing and drafting for the others.51

The Propellants and Explosives Laboratory established designs for all 

types of ammunition, conducted malfunction investigations, and sought 

economical alternatives to existing raw materials. One success in the 

last area was deriving cellulose from sulfate wood pulp instead of from 

cotton linters. The laboratory took great pride in its ability to take a solid 

rocket propellant problem from the basic design stage to production scale 

manufacture.52

Fuze Development Laboratory projects included developing a base 

detonating fuze with a piezo-electric crystal to decrease initiation time 

and improve armor penetration in the 3.5-inch rocket, developing safeand-arm devices for the Bomarc, Matador, Hawk, and Nike missiles, 

and evaluating other agencies’ fuze designs for the Falcon, Terrier, and 

Sparrow missiles. Rocket fuzing was a new field and required the use of 

innovative principles and techniques. For example, a magnetic fuze for 

2-inch rockets used the eddy current the fuze generated when passing 

through a target to detonate the explosive.53

More traditional items still challenged the laboratory’s ingenuity. Rifle 

grenade fuzes, for example, had to be sufficiently sensitive to function 

when hitting soft soil or water, but such sensitivity increased the chances 

of premature functioning when the munition hit underbrush or tree 

limbs. The laboratory met the problem by developing a fuze which did 

not function within ten feet of the launcher.54

Other ammunition development work fell to either the Ammunition 

Development Laboratory or the Artillery Ammunition and Packing 

Development Laboratory. Rocket development work ranged from 

improvements to the 3.5-inch bazooka to development of barrage rockets 

and JATO engines. The JATO engine Picatinny designed for the Matador 

missile achieved nearly 57,000 pounds of thrust for almost three seconds. 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

274

Projects in this field required investigating alternate materials, as in the 

effort to decrease JATO weight by developing a case almost completely 

free of fiberglass. Other missile work included designs for Matador, Dart, 

Nike, Corporal, and Honest John warheads.55

The story of the Hawk surface-to-air interceptor illustrates 

Picatinny’s place in Army rocket development. Turning studies from 

Ballistics Research Laboratories at Aberdeen Proving Ground into the 

XM5E3 warhead, as the Army Rocket and Guided Missile Agency asked 

Picatinny to do in February 1955, required, after the initial design work, 

six static functioning tests, three 40-foot drop tests, six storage tests, three 

centrifuge tests, two vibration tests, one internal pressure test, two packing 

tests, and 5 missile flights before release for production engineering. The 

XM5 justified all this effort on 29 January 1960 when it successfully 

interrupted the flight of an Honest John missile. This project benefited 

from Picatinny’s expertise in plastics as well as in explosives and fuzing.56

Packaging developers were active students of new materials as they 

devised containers for items as different as liquid explosives, variable 

time (VT) fuzes, and black powder. New products of the 1950s included 

ammunition cans with tear strips.57

Other munitions accomplishments included mines better able to 

elude detectors and a series of demolition bombs with increased accuracy 

and lethality for use with new, higher speed aircraft. Pyrotechnic 

developments included a photoflash bomb which resisted initiation by 

rifle bullets and high velocity metal fragments for use on aircraft carriers. 

In 1956, Picatinny established a separate Pyrotechnics Laboratory in 

building 1514.58

Research into subjects not limited to specific munitions or types of 

munitions went on in the Ammunition and the Chemical and Plastics 

research laboratories. Physical research studies included propellant 

ignition, muzzle flash suppression, and radioactive and piezo-electric 

materials potentially usable in fuzes. Chemical researchers applied findings 

in synthetic organic chemistry to the development of better propellants 

and explosives. Their radioisotope laboratory significantly improved 

clarification of the reaction mechanisms of explosive materials.59

Researchers sought procedures to learn the mechanical properties of 

plastic materials by exposing them to rapid shocks, prolonged stress, and 

abnormal environment conditions. Plastic items under consideration in 

the mid-1950s included a base plate for mortars, a JATO motor, and 

water tanks. The Plastics Laboratory was able to perform all standard 

mechanical tests on plastics over the temperature range -650F to 

+2000F and possessed high-rate-tensile and tensile-flexural-compressive 
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WAYS OF COLD WAR

testers along with standard impact, creep, fatigue, hardness, abrasion, 

and stiffness testers. Its injection and compression molding equipment 

included a machine able to make extrusions as long as four inches.60

Research in all areas at Picatinny, no matter how basic, aimed at 

application to military use, and the Feltman Laboratories maintained 

an Engineering Research Section tasked with shortening the time from 

research to engineering. The section’s main activity was evaluating the 

potential service value of unconventional items. In 1956, these included 

procedures to defend tanks from shaped charges, a system for commander 

control of mine systems, and resistance-capacitance networks for time 

delays and item sterilization.61

Atomic munition development had moved a long way from Robert 

Schwartz in his one lonely room. By 1956, Schwartz was chief of an 

Atomic Applications Laboratory employing 151 people. One field of 

concentration covered the electromechanical safe, arm, and fuze devices 

necessary to adapt atomic munitions to guided missiles and rockets and to 

allow detonation of prepositioned atomic munitions. Another investigated 

the reduction of shell size by lighter metals and newer geometrical shapes 

and improved safe and arm devices and fuzes for guided missiles and 

rockets. Laboratory facilities were capable of complete environmental 

testing of nuclear warhead installations for all guided missiles and rockets 

the Army had or planned to have. The arsenal tried to obtain funding to 

build a nuclear reactor but failed. In 1957, Schwartz found his position 

upgraded to associate director for special weapons and his responsibilities 

tripled as the arsenal disestablished its Atomic Applications and Fuse 

Laboratories and spread their personnel and facilities among the new 

Long Range Atomic Missiles Warhead Systems, Tactical Atomic Missile 

Warhead Systems, and Advanced Atomic Weapons Systems laboratories.62

One facility reporting to the Picatinny commander was not on the 

arsenal, nor was it in New Jersey. Late in 1952, the arsenal took charge of 

the Maynard Ordnance Test Station in Massachusetts. This had been the 

Maynard Backup Storage Area under Fort Devens. Picatinny assigned an 

Army captain to supervise the ammunition development conducted by 

Arthur D. Little, Incorporated. This marked the first time the arsenal ran 

a distant facility. Picatinny continued its supervision until Maynard closed 

in August 1957.63

The Industrial Division became the Arsenal Operations Division 

(AOD) but remained in charge of all Picatinny’s manufacturing and 

fabrication facilities and continued under the direction of “Bricky” 

Hosking. The change signaled an increasing focus on manufacturing to 

the needs of research and development, not production of large quantities 

for service use. Division workers saw themselves as the “artisans” who 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

276

turned out the items researched and developed by the professionals in the 

laboratories. This did not mean the division lacked expertise. In 1956, it 

employed 119 professionals and 57 sub-professionals, the latter including 

tool and machine designers. It had 204 tool, die, and gage makers 

and apprentice tool makers and 379 people skilled in the plating and 

fabrication of metal and machinery.64

The division’s Atomic Munitions Branch worked on inert components 

fabrication, explosive recrystallization and purification, and electroplating 

and electronic testing of special ammunition items. The branch had to 

be circumspect in discussing its work and equipment, even in documents 

published to convince other agencies to assign projects to it, but it did 

some bragging about its facilities. In the mid-1950s, it boasted superior 

presses, lathes, grinders and other machines, including two environmental 

chambers able to change temperatures for -400F to +1500F in under 

10 minutes, three large automatic bar machines able to produce parts 

with diameters ranging from 1.625 down to 0.5 inches with tolerances 

+/- 0.0002 inches, and two 250,000-volt productograph machines with 

sensitometers for radiographic inspections.65

The Explosive Lens Branch produced high explosive charges in 

unique geometric shapes to extremely close machine tolerances. It had 

a completely air-conditioned building for assembling finished explosive 

items to warheads and a ballistic testing facility with instruments for 

timing, photographing, and evaluating the wave shapes of explosives up 

to 50 pounds.66

The Propellants and Explosives Branch ran plants producing items 

in research, pilot, and production lots. The Rocket and JATO Propellant 

Plant turned out sheet and extruded propellants for both experimental 

and semi-production work. It could turn out extruded grains at a rate 

of 1,500 pounds per day while a cast-propellant line produced grains up 

to 36 inches in diameter and 150 inches long. A plant for solvent type 

rocket propellants reached a daily rate of 2,200 pounds for the bazooka 

rocket’s 3/8-inch propellant and could turn out 1,500 pounds of powder 

for 60mm and 81mm mortars in 24 hours.67

The Experimental and Cast propellant plants worked on smokeless 

propellants for .50-caliber to 280mm ammunition and for rockets, 

nongaseous powders, cast charges for rocket and JATO engines, pilot 

scale lots of solventless rocket propellants, and nitrocellulose nitration 

and stabilization studies.68

The Cannon and Small Arms Propellant Plant could manufacture 

10,000 to 35,000 pounds, depending on type, of single-base propellant 

in 24 hours with 12-inch horizontal presses while double-base facilities 

could produce 7,500 pounds with a 12-inch vertical extrusion press. 
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WAYS OF COLD WAR

Small arms and cast powder production ran between 1,000 and 2,000 

pounds per 24-hour day.69

The High Explosives Plant could turn out 1,500 pounds of the 

nitroglycerin necessary for double base propellant manufacture at a rate of 

1,500 pounds in 8 hours, crude tetryl in batches of 375 pounds, and liquid 

explosives in batches of 50 to 150 pounds. The plant produced PETN, TNT, 

RDX, tetranitrocubane, nitroguanidine, Haleite, methylinitroguanidine, 

dinitroethylkbenzene (DNEB), triethleneglycoldinitrate (TEGN), and 

potassium knitrobenzofuroxzn (KDNBF).70

The Loading Branch was responsible for carrying out, developing, 

and improving many manufacturing processes and procedures and for 

activities associated with loading, assembling, packing, and renovating 

different types of ammunition components and complete rounds. Its 70 

operating buildings and 220 magazines and auxiliary buildings covered 

157 acres and housed facilities for loading items ranging from small 

electric detonators to 10,000-pound bombs. The branch was able to load 

from 100 to 450 different items per month and fill production orders 

varying from one to one million units. Its inventory included over 220,000 

different types of tools and some 5,000 machines, among them a 750-ton 

hydraulic press.71

The branch’s Complete Round Area employed approximately 225 

people who assembled all types of rounds as well as JATO power packs 

and mechanical and electrical fuzes. The 300 supervisors and operators 

in the General Loading Area dealt with production problems of primers, 

detonators, relays, delays, artillery and bomb fuzes, and pyrotechnic 

devices. The area housed a spin-test machine capable of 300,000rpm 

along with a stroboscope and electronic equipment for measuring arming 

speed. The Propellant Charge and JATO Area had 240 workers running 

a time-fuze plant, a black-powder processing unit able to fill 45,000 timefuze rings daily, and an ammunition destruction area.72

The 130 process inspection-facilities workers applied sampling 

techniques in search of “maximum quality at minimum cost.” Technicalcoordinating facilities personnel followed up on job orders for complex 

components with new designs, observed operations for proper tool 

functioning, issued and reviewed technical guides and work instruction 

for operators, issued daily work schedules with production and personnel 

standards, and maintained contact with operating personnel during 

production.73

The Inert Components Branch’s 1,000 employees turned out metal 

and wood products for all arsenal operations in 12 buildings. One 

building of 18,100 square feet housed tool and equipment manufacturing. 

Manufacture, modification, and development of component and 
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278

ammunition prototype work required 10,920 square feet and 90 workers. 

Nonmetal tasks included manufacturing wind tunnel models, cabinets, 

wooden bodies for vehicles, and packing and transport materials. Item 

assembly and disassembly took place on two electrically driven conveyor 

lines, each 120 feet long. The branch’s Apprentice School was able to 

train 100 tool, die, and gage makers at a time. The tool course ran four 

years and involved 8,320 hours of shop and classroom instruction.74

The Machine and Tool Design Branch’s 60-some employees designed 

equipment for explosive and propellant manufacture, special machinery 

for explosive loading and item assembly, and test equipment for all 

arsenal activities. The Methods Engineering Branch’s 60 professionals 

included chemists, physicists, analytical statisticians, and an assortment of 

engineers primarily engaged in developing and establishing procedures for 

manufacturing propellants and explosives, fabricating metal components, 

and loading, assembling, and packing ammunition items. In addition, 

they established quality control techniques and analyzed operations data 

to increase efficiency and decrease cost.75

The Industrial Engineering Division was an upgrade of the 

disestablished Industrial Division’s Product Engineering Branch. Its 

mission was to ensure newly designed or proposed weapons and munitions 

were producible within the limits of national resources, manufacturing 

facilities, workforce, and economy. It also served as a support agency 

for the national industrial engineering missions of OAC and Redstone 

750-ton Press
279

WAYS OF COLD WAR

Arsenal. The division’s 275 employees included 220 chemical, ordnance, 

mechanical, industrial, and electrical engineers.76

As did the other divisions, this one needed an organization focusing 

on nuclear matters. The Atomic Engineering Branch controlled, directed, 

and coordinated development of the technical resources necessary to 

fulfill the national industrial engineering and procurement mission for 

atomic munitions and special weapons. Its work did not include nuclear 

components nor multitime (MT), VT, and electronic fuzes. It did include 

performing the pre-standardization engineering liaison plus studies and 

evaluations necessary to transition new items to production and the 

engineering to ensure efficient production. The branch also furnished 

initial technical data, had administrative and technical control over test 

requirements preparation, and controlled and directed all phases of 

system acquisition.77

Production designs and processes for non-nuclear munitions were 

the province of the Ammunition Engineering Branch. It entered the 

development process when an item was ready for engineering testing and 

exercised administrative and technical control over preparation of test 

items. Following user acceptance, the branch worked with the Inspection 

Engineering and Process Development branches to prepare the technical 

data necessary for the procurement, manufacture, and acceptance of 

items. Technical data packages included ordnance tracings, specifications, 

bases of procurement, breakdown sheets, standard inspection procedures, 

preliminary descriptions of manufacture, and reproducible gage 

drawings. Work on approved items included malfunction investigations, 

engineering assistance to production, and product engineering to improve 

quality, producibility, and maintainability and to find better and more 

economical substitute materials.78

Attracting the branch’s attention during the 1950s were the 2-inch 

rocket series, the M59 JATO, Honest John, Nike I, and Matador 

warheads, and the 2.75-inch T131, 3.6-inch M28 and M29, and 4.5-

inch M32 rockets. Production engineering activities covered the M404A1 

rocket fuze, M908 electric bomb fuzes, the T2133E1 and T2121 rocket 

fuzes, the reefing line cutter used in parachute drops and for data package 

recovery, the T1409 fuze for the Nike B and the T1405 nose switch for 

the LaCrosse guided missiles, and the M24 initiator for the Nike.79

The Inspection Engineering Branch did not work on atomic 

munitions, but it designed gages for all other ammunition items except 

inert projectiles and cartridge cases, developed inspection methods and 

techniques, made recommendations to the Ordnance Corps on inspection 

policy, worked with the Inspection Division to develop new or improve 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

280

old tools, devices, and gages, and prepared, published, and distributed 

inspection procedures and handbooks.80

The Process Development Branch sought new and improved methods 

and equipment for propellant and explosive manufacture and ammunition 

loading and assembly and exercised technical supervision over these 

operations at government owned, contractor operated (GOCO) plants.81

One branch accomplishment in the mid-1950s was establishing the 

suitability of sulphate wood pulp for use in military grade nitrocellulose, a 

change which helped ensure adequate supplies. The branch’s evaluation 

of a continuous process for nitrocellulose manufacture reduced manpower 

requirements and costs and eliminated spent acid disposal problems. 

Development of high speed, semiautomatic equipment for direct loading 

of relays and delays further reduced manpower requirements and 

costs. The branch’s use of the ammonium thiocyanate and the British 

aqueous fusion processes, along with improved spent acid concentration 

procedures, reduced electrical power and specialized equipment 

requirements in nitroguanidine manufacture along with costs and acid 

disposal problems.82

The Inspection Division was responsible for acceptance inspection 

of all items manufactured or received by Picatinny and for inspection, 

storage, issue, procurement, and distribution of inspection gages and 

related items. Its main subsections were the Gage and Radiographic 

laboratories and the Atomic Branch.83

The Gage Laboratory’s 20 gage and tool inspectors operated within 

3,200 square feet of floor space maintained at a constant temperature 

and were the proud possessors of internal measuring machines capable 

of reading 0.125-inch to 12-inch diameters to within 20 millionths of an 

inch and external measuring machines able to read length up to 48 inches 

within 10 millionths of an inch. A Vince master inspection dividing head 

measured diameters up to 12 inches and lengths up to 40 inches within 

one second of arc. The laboratory’s Pratt and Whitney mechanical lead 

tester could check taper and straight threads up to four inches in both 

diameter and length.84

The Radiographic Laboratory had charge of Picatinny’s two 

betatrons, both the 22-million volt Allis Chalmers machine acquired 

in 1946 and a one-million volt General Electric model. It used them to 

examine all calibers of shells, propellant charges, warheads, and their 

related components.85

The Atomic Branch inspected all atomic weapons the Ordnance 

Corps procured and all adaptation kits the corps produced. It was the 

only organization doing this work and had 34 employees.86
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Installation responsibilities previously under the Engineering Division 

were now the tasks of the Plant Engineering and Maintenance Office. It 

people kept the arsenal up and running so others could perform their 

missions. By July 1958, Picatinny land areas covered 5,058.96 acres, 

1,265 improved and 3794 unimproved. Lake Picatinny provided another 

108 acres, Lake Denmark 174. On these acres were 1,150 buildings 

enclosing 2.6 million square feet of floor space, 35 miles of railroad track, 

40.65 miles of paved road, 21.26 miles of unpaved road, 44.3 miles of 

sidewalks, and 75 parking lots with space for 4,200 cars.87

Picatinny acquired 12.98 acres in 1956 and 82.305 acres in 1957. 

This acreage encompassed lands ravaged by the 1926 explosion, including 

properties of the Van Sickles and Peterson families.88

The Engineering Services Branch performed design, engineering, 

and drafting work and provided technical coordination for varied 

mechanical, civil, electrical, chemical, and structural engineering projects. 

The superintendent of field operations had charge of six other branches 

responsible for Plant Services, Buildings and Roads, Utilities Service, 

Utilities Operating, Grounds, and Preventive Maintenance and Standby 

Facilities. A Fire Prevention and Protection Branch reported directly to 

the office chief in his capacity of arsenal Fire Marshal. The Coordination 

and Planning Office was responsible for estimates, scheduling, and similar 

administrative matters.89

The Plant Services Branch had its administrative offices in building 

302 along with its Machine, Millwright, and Tin shops. The Millwright 

Shop section included Metalwork, Welding, and Blacksmith units. The 

branch’s Maintenance Section divided the arsenal into six areas with 

crews in each to deal with problems around the clock. For example, the 

Area 3 crew worked out of building 281D and served the 200, 600, 700, 

800, and part of the 1200 areas.90

The Equipment Installation Section drew on all the craft shops to 

install, relocate, align, and remove heavy equipment. One of its most 

demanding challenges was moving entire loading lines in time to meet 

schedule demands. The Tool Crib Section ran the Central Tool Room 

in building 302 while each operating branch maintained small cribs and 

scarce material storage lockers around the arsenal. The section loaned 

out about 8,000 items annually.91

The Buildings and Roads Branch had General Field, Railroad, 

Heavy Equipment, and Painting and Carpentry sections. The main 

contribution of the General Field Section was to supply the bodies for 

such labor intensive tasks as insect and rodent control, snow removal, 

tree trimming, blasting operations, brick laying, and air-tool drilling. The 

Railroad Section was responsible for maintaining the rail bed. Running 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

282

the railroad itself was still the task of the Transportation Branch in 

the Supply Office. Rolling stock included three radio-equipped diesel 

locomotives, 10 flat cars, two hoppers, two side dumpers, and 78 boxcars. 

The Painting Unit trained arsenal laborers as painters instead of hiring 

from the outside, as did the Carpentry Unit.92

The arsenal handled its own refuse instead of using outside 

contractors. An incinerator in building 320 disposed of all burnable 

waste except explosives and oils. These went to the burning ground at the 

south end of the arsenal.93

The Utilities Service Branch had responsibility for care, maintenance, 

and repair of power lines, transformers, electronic controls and 

instruments, motors, wiring, conduits, switch boxes, power outlets, 

service mains, heating, air conditioning, piping, plumbing, and steam 

fittings. It divided into Line, Electrical and Electronic, and Pipefitting 

and Refrigeration sections.94

Disposal of 65.78 million gallons of sewage annually was the 

responsibility the Utilities Operating Branch. The system included a 

disposal plant with an Imhoff digester, eight ejector stations, 10.8 miles 

of sanitary sewers, and 2.4 miles of storm sewers. Picatinny’s system 

connected with the disposal system of its next-door neighbor, the Naval 

Air Rockets Test Station (NARTS). 

The same branch had charge of the water supply. Three 1,500 gallon 

per minute (gpm) pumps in the powerhouse, building 506, supplied 

service water. Another connection allowed pumping water to NARTS 

from Lake Picatinny when the station had a water shortage. Drinking 

water came from two reservoirs with a total capacity of 500,000 gallons. 

Pumps sent the chlorinated water from the reservoirs to 100,000 gallon 

elevated towers, one in the double-base area and one near the tetryl area 

and the powder factory.95

The powerhouse housed the double extraction generators and 

back pressure turbines which supplied electricity to both Picatinny and 

NARTS. The arsenal had an interchange agreement with New Jersey 

Power and Light Company under which Picatinny received power from 

the company in summer and sent it back in winter. The parties computed 

the balance of the exchange at the end of each year, but no money 

changed hands.96

This 1906 powerhouse was still the source of arsenal steam. The 

older section had four high pressure boilers fired by continuous ashdischarge stokers while a new section added in 1956 had two powered 

by pulverized coal and oil. Each boiler could provide 160,000 pounds 

of steam per hour at 450psi and 7500F. Both systems used bituminous 

coal. An auxiliary boiler house in building 99 had three 250-horsepower 
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WAYS OF COLD WAR

boilers operating at 30 to 50psi and burning refuse wood and sawdust 

from the box shop.97

Duties of the Grounds Branch included all landscaping work, 

regular inspection of lawns and trees for disease, maintenance of 

lawns and shrubbery, and spraying, pruning and doctoring of trees. It 

also did maintenance previously done by the Horticultural Section in 

the greenhouse and on the golf course, although money for these two 

activities came from non-appropriated funds. The greenhouse’s primary 

funding source was the sale of cut flowers, potted plants, and perennials 

for activities on post and floral arrangements to the Picatinny Welfare 

Association when an employee died. The arsenal’s chief horticulturalist 

was John H. Gunther, the 1920s stable boss now in his sixties.98

“Bricky” Hosking was one of a committee of six who worked 

with Eugene F. Wogan & Sons, an architectural firm in Worcester, 

Massachusetts, to plan the golf course’s expansion to 18 holes. Planning 

began in 1954, and players started using the new greens in 1957. The 

principal funding source was member donations. The committee insisted 

on arranging the holes so players had to cross Green Pond Brook and 

thereby face a water hazard. In 1958, Picatinny moved a wooden building 

from across the road and annexed it to Building 121, the golf club, to 

house locker rooms for both sexes and a pro shop.99

The Preventive Maintenance and Standby Facilities Branch handled 

preventive maintenance for machines, utilities, and non-residential 

buildings, performed small repairs taking less than an hour, kept 

records of maintenance data and related information, saw to layaway, 

maintenance, and repair of inactive equipment and facilities, and had 

charge of catalogs and drawings covering 13,000 pieces of machinery.100

When not fighting fires, the Fire Prevention and Protection Branch 

kept busy inspecting buildings and maintaining its equipment. In 1958, 

two of its four pumper vehicles could put out 750gpm while the third 

delivered 500 and the fourth 300. A portable pump put out 200gpm. 

There was one full-time ambulance with a second available on weekends. 

The part-time vehicle was a Cadillac.101

The Saturday Evening Post ran a story on Picatinny at the start of 1955. 

Many people objected to the title, “Life in a Sudden-Death Factory,” but 

others read it as praise of the patriotism of those willing to work at such 

dangerous place. The author conceded his title was misleading when he 

talked about Picatinny’s low disabling injury rate, 1.77 days lost per a 

million man hours against a National Safety Council rate of 7.44 for all 

industries in 1953.102

Crowing over the low fatality rate challenged fate, and fate responded 

quickly and harshly. Joseph Geisik died on 4 March 1955 when the 106mm 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

284

round he was unloading exploded. Of the other two men working on the 

round, James Ripel suffered a hip injury while Arthur Hooper escaped 

unharmed. They were working in a small structure well separated from 

other buildings, so there were no other casualties.103

The 1956 accident rate hit a four-year high. Marlin Oswald died 

from injuries received in a powder blender fire in building 477 on 29 

March 1956 and died at Dover General Hospital the same day. On 6 

September 1956, a blast during blending operations killed William R. 

Mase and injured Wilfred S. Slattery, William S. Miller, and William C. 

Regino. Edward L. Brown’s entry into the fume filled building failed to 

save Mase, but he did prevent more damage by smothering two charges 

in danger of blowing. Brown received a medal and a $200 award for the 

Secretary of the Army for his actions. On 24 July 1957, another blender 

explosion injured supervisor Nicholas DeFelice and employee Daniel J. 

Casey. DeFelice died from his injuries about a month later. DeFelice had 

earned praise for trying to aid the injured Oswald over a year earlier.104

The 1950s saw Picatinny make steady and concerted efforts to entice 

scientists and engineers. Its main attraction was the Federal pay scale. A 

technical worker with a bachelor’s degree could start as a GS-5 at $4,490.00 

a year and could go to GS-7 and $5,430.00 with a master’s or six months 

experience. A doctorate or two and one-half years could make one a 

GS-11 with a top salary of $8,230.00. Higher positions required at least 

four more years’ experience and usually involved supervisory duties. The 

highest technical position was GS-16 with a top pay of $15,150.00. The 

arsenal helped employees meet the educational requirements by having 

Stevens Institute of Technology hold course on base. Employees received 

full pay while attending classes and paid only a nominal registration fee 

when the course work had a connection, even if only a general one, to 

their duties.

A wage deduction bought a retirement benefit which would pay 1.5 

percent of the average of the best five years’ salaries for each year of 

service. Insurance benefits included hospitalization through Blue Cross 

and life insurance at a rate of 25 cents bi-weekly for each $1,000.00 of 

coverage. Sick leave accrued without limit at a rate of 13 days per year. 

New employees earned 13 days annual leave per year while those with 

three to fifteen years’ service earned 20. Employees with more than 15 

years’ service earned 26.105

The arsenal considered its recreational facilities added attractions. In 

addition to the golf course, the tennis club was still active and a Picatinny 

baseball team continued to play in the Dover Twilight League as in the 

1930s. There was also intramural softball and bowling.106
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WAYS OF COLD WAR

While buying land and eagerly seeking new scientists and engineers, 

Picatinny shed production workers. A reduction in force authorized by 

Department of the Army on 14 March 1957 ordered 468 people to 

leave on 30 April. Because senior employees could take the jobs of their 

juniors, the reduction ended up affecting about a thousand workers. The 

Army was looking at full ammunition stockpiles it expected would meet 

its munitions needs for years to come, and Picatinny saw research and 

development as its role in the Army’s future. The arsenal commander, 

Colonel I. O. Drewry, Jr., firmly asserted the arsenal was still “on a solid 

foundation” but “our efforts will be directed more exclusively toward 

research and development and away from production work.”107

Foresight is never 20/20. Events were about to force expansion of the 

arsenal payroll and an increase in production activity.
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

286

NOTES

1 Harry C. Thomason and Lida Mayo, The United States Army in World War 

II: The Technical Services: The Ordnance Department: Procurement and Supply

(Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, 1960), pp. 472-

474, and John D. Millet, The United States Army in World War II: The Army Service 

Forces: The Organization and Role of the Army Service Forces (Washington, D.C.: 

Office of the Chief of Military History, 1954), pp. 401-408. For thinking 

of logistics organization at the DOD and DA levels from just after World 

War II through the 1950s, see Elliott V. Converse III, History of Acquisition in 

the Department of Defense, Volume I: Rearming for Cold War (Washington, D.C.: 

Historical Office, Office of the Secretary of Defense, 2012), 137-203.

 2 Comptroller, Management and Analysis Division, Picatinny Arsenal Long 

Term Trends: Special Arsenal Activities, 30 December 1976, pp. 66-67 

(hereafter cited as Long Term Trends); “Work Slumps as War Ends,” 

and “Rally to P. A.,” The Picatinny News, August 17, November 16, 1945, 

and “Immediate Curtailment of Picatinny Arsenal Work When V-J Day 

Proclaimed,” “Dover Sends Delegation To Capital On Picatinny,” and 

“Results Of Capital Trip For Arsenal Held Encouraging,” Morristown Daily 

Record, 14 August, 9, 12 October 1945, and John Roach, Jr., Mayor, Town 

of Dover, to COL W. E. Larned, Commander, Picatinny Arsenal, [report on 

meeting with Secretary of War], October 17, 1947, in Frank D’Auria File, 

ARDEC Historical Office.

3 “Freeholders Ask Arsenal Be Continued As Formerly,” “Denville C.C. Acts 

On Layoff,” and “County Officials Cite Vital Need Of Arsenal,” Morristown 

Daily Record, 11, 12 October, 1945.

4 Roach to Larned, October 17, 1947. Roach misspelt Burns’s name as 

“Byrnes,” perhaps confusing a union official with the then Secretary of State.

5 “Force Reduction Procedures Shown County Agencies,” “Manufacturing is 

Halted,” “Work Outlook Brighter,” “Arsenal Outlook for More Jobs Called 

Brighter,” The Picatinny News, September 7, October 5, 19, December 28, 

1945, and E. V. Casey to Mr. James F. Burns, National President, A.F.G.E., 

[Picatinny job losses], 15 November 1945, D’Auria File, ARDEC Historical 

Office and Long Term Trends, p. 66. 

6 “P.A. Designated Technical Center for Ammunition,” “Men and Women 

Now Being Hired At the Arsenal,” and “Picatinny Rolls Reduced by 800 

After Sept. 30,” Picatinny News, 28 December 1945, 8 March, 13 September 

1946. Cf. Thomason and Mayo, p. 474.

7 “Picatinny’s Long Range Outlook Seen Optimistic,” and “Citizens Group 

Plans Action to Boost Picatinny,” Picatinny News, 13, 24 December 1946.

8 Edward S. Diehel, comp. and ed., Historical Summary, 25 September 1945 

– 1 July 1951, p. iv (hereafter cited as Summary, 1945-1951), and Long Term 

Trends, p. 67.

9 “G.E. Webster, of Technical Division, Retires after 34 Years at Picatinny,” 

“Spargo Retires After 29 Years Service at P.A.,” “20-Year Group to Honor 
287

WAYS OF COLD WAR

Eight Former Workers,” “Building Dedicated To Honor Memory of Dr. G. 

C. Hale,” “J. P. Harris Is New C.O.; Colonel Larned Retires,” and “Colonel 

Harris to be Recalled After Retirement,” The Picatinny News, 29 March, 19 

July, 1946, 20 May 1947, 5 March 1948, 15 August 1952, 15 May 1962. See 

also “County Obituaries: Dr. George C. Hale,” Morristown Dailey Record, 5 

November 1948.

10 Summary, 1945-1951, pp. 2395-2395.

11 “Stops Work at Picatinny Upon New Construction,” Morristown Daily 

Record, 6 November 1945; “Arsenal Continues New Construction,” “Some of 

the New Construction Awaiting Completion,” and “Arsenal Houses Being 

Painted,” The Picatinny News, 7 September 1945, 18 January, 2 August, 6 

September 1946; “Jersey To Be Site of Rocket Research,” New York Times, 

1 November 1946, and Revised Draft Report: Evaluation of Structures Built Prior 

to 1946 at Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey, (Prepared for the New York District, 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers by WCH Industries, Inc., Waltham MA, in 

association with Boston Affiliates, Inc., Boston MA, December 30, 1994), pp. 

E-123-E- 124 (hereafter cited as Evaluation of Structures 1994).

12 “20,000,000 Volt X-Ray Betatron Unit Installed,” and “New X-Ray 

Machine Seen Research Boon,” New York Times, 15 November 1946, and 

“Installation of the New Betatron,” and “Betatron Future Bright in Industry,” 

The Picatinny News, 19April, 10 May, 22 November 1946.

13 Summary, 1945-1951, pp. v-xvi.

14 “Composition C Type Explosives,” in Basil T. Fedoroff and Oliver E. 

Sheffield, Encyclopedia of Explosives and Related Items, vol. 3 (Dover, New Jersey: 

Picatinny Arsenal, 1966), 485, and “Meritorious Civilian Service Award 

Goes to Karl Ottoson,” Picatinny News, February 17, 1969. See also K. G. 

Ottoson, Technical Report: Development of Military Explosives Equivalent 

to Commercial Dynamites, Project No.TM-5001F, Report No. 1. Serial No. 

1760, 13 February 1950.

15 Roy E. Appleman, United States Army in the Korean War: South to the Nakong, North 

to the Yalu (Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History, 1992), pp. 69-72, 

157, and “GI At Front Says Picatinny Ammo Keeps North Korean Reds On 

Run,” The Barrage, 7 November 1950. See also John Weeks, Men Against Tanks: 

A History of Anti-Tank Warfare (New York: Mason/Charter Publishers, Inc., 

1975), pp. 99.

16 Weeks, Men Against Tanks, pp. 98, 99, and LTG James M. Gavin, War and Peace 

in the Space Age (New York: Harper and Brothers, Publishers, 1958), pp. 65-67.

17 Gavin, War and Peace, p. 68, and On to Berlin: Battles of an Airborne Commander, 

1943-1946 (New York: The Viking Press, 1978), pp. 52, 223. For the start 

date of development, see Constance McLaughlin Green, Harry C. Thomson, 

and Peter C. Roots, The Ordnance Department: Preparing Munitions for War

(Washington D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, 1955), p.360.
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

288

18 Unless otherwise noted, the rest of this description of M28A2 development 

is a condensation and a rearrangement, hopefully coherent, of data in 

Summary, 1945-1951, pp. 1161-1176. 

19 Summary, 1945-1951, pp. 1161-1176, 2861-2862, and Living History: 

Wilfred Hosking and Picatinny Arsenal, Interview, January 1995, in Wilfred 

Hosking Collection, ARDEC Historical Office files.

20 Donald R. Beeman, Assistant Chief, Design and Engineering Development, 

Picatinny Arsenal, “Progress in Ammunition: Our Research and 

Development Program Must Be Maintained,” Ordnance, vol. XXXV 

(November-December 1950), 252-256.

21 Summary, 1945–1945, pp. 1295, 1456.

22 Unless otherwise noted, the story of the first nuclear shell follows “‘How We 

Made the A-Gun Shell,’” The Picatinny News, November 25, December 23, 

1953, January 27, 1954. These articles reproduce a piece by Edwin Diehl 

in the Saturday Evening Post, November 1953. Former Picatinny employee 

Diehl had, by then, moved on to become manager of public relations for 

the P. Lorillard Company in New York City. “Saturday Eve’g Post Features 

Article on P.A.’s Atomic Feat,” The Picatinny News, November 25, 1953. For 

construction of the 280mm cannon, see Watervliet Arsenal: A History of the 

Nation’s Oldest Arsenal (Watervliet, New York: Watervliet Arsenal Public Affairs 

Office, 2013), pp. 195-196.

23 General J. Lawton Collins, Lightning Joe: An Autobiography (Baton Rouge and 

London: Louisiana State University Press, 1979), p. 359.

24 Boyd L. Dastrup, King of Battle: A Branch History of the U.S. Army’s Field Artillery 

(Fort Monroe, Virginia: Office of the Command Historian, United States 

Army Training and Doctrine Command, 1993), p. 261, and Collins, Lightning 

Joe, p. 359.

25 The Future of the Arsenal System [no publication information but a report 

by the Future of the Arsenal System Study to the Assistant Secretary of the 

Army for Logistics in an covering disposition form dated 10 October 1960], 

Tab 7-1 (hereafter cited as Future of the Arsenal System). The copy in the 

ARDEC Historical Office has attached a response from Picatinny dated 1 

March 1961.

26 Future of the Arsenal System, Tab 7-1.

27 Long Term Trends, p. 68.

28 Picatinny Arsenal, Telephone Directory, Winter 1949, p. 18, 1951, pp. 3, 10, 

15, 16, 1952, p. 15.

29 Photo in Eugene L. Valerio to Public Affairs Office, Picatinny, e-mail: 

Documents of Possible Value to You, 24 July 2007, and Valerio to ARDEC 

Historical Office, regular mail, September 5, 2007. Photo shows 16 people 

with the photographer making the 17th. For Moss’s biography, see “Named 

Technical Director,” ARRADCOM Voice, 20 December 1982.
289

WAYS OF COLD WAR

30 Summary, 1945-1951, p. 2500.

31 Summary, 1945-1951, p. 2403, says pulmonary embolism, but “William 

Regalo Dies in Wharton; Injured Feb. 28,” The Picatinny News, 5 April 1946, 

says blood clot.

32 Summary, 1945-1951, p. 2504, and “Arsenal Employee Killed By Train,” 

The Picatinny News, 18 October 1946, and “William C. Rowe Dies In Arsenal 

Accident,” Dover Advance, 17 October 1946. For Rowe’s career, see “Who’s 

Who at Picatinny: William C. Rowe Locomotive engineer,” The Picatinny 

News, 15 June 1945.

33 “Explosion Fatal to Dr. P. F. Macy,” The Picatinny News, 3 October 1947, and 

“Laboratory Chief Killed In Accident At Picatinny,” Morristown Daily Record, 

30 October 1947.

34 Summary, 1945-1951, p. 2507, and “Two Employees Die In Explosion Of 

Flash Bomb,” The Picatinny News, 11 June 1948.

35 Summary, 1945-1951, p. 2509, and “Jerry P. Barbato Dies In Explosion,” The 

Barrage, 27 August, 1948.

36 Historical Summary, p. 2515. The base newspaper did not cover this event, 

probably because it occurred on an issue date and the next one was not for 

another month.

37 Historical Summary, 1945-1951, pp. 2517-2520: “Two County Men Killed 

When Picatinny Powder Building Explodes,” Morristown Daily Record, 17 

March 1950, and “Blast At Picatinny Kills 2, Injures 3,” New York Times, 18 

March 1950.

38 Historical Summary, 1945-1951, pp. 2523-2526; “Five-Death Blast Probed 

at Picatinny,” Newark Evening News, January 26, 1951: “Picatinny Fire Toll 

Rises To 9 As Last of Injured Dies In Hospital,” Morristown Daily Record, 30 

January 1951, and “9th Man Dies in Picatinny Blast,” New York Times, 30 

January 1951.

39 “2 Workers Die At Picatinny Suffocated By Ether Fumes,” Daily Record, 7 

March 1953

40 Metal Components Department, History, fourth quarter, 1944, p. 5; Metal 

Components Branch, Historical Report, first half, 1946, p. 12; Chart: 

Picatinny Arsenal Technical Division, 26 June 1950; Research and Development 

in the Technical Division Picatinny Arsenal (Ordnance Department-U.S. Army, 

January 1948), pp. 43, 56, 58, 59,71, “Plan to Organize Girls’ Softball” and 

“Softball Leagues Open 1952 Season,” Picatinny News, 18 April, 16 May 

1952.

41 “Arsenal Women Capitalize on Home-Developed Skill,” Picatinny News, 21 

November 1952.

42 “One of Few Women Engineers at Arsenal,” Picatinny News, 17 October 

1952.
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

290

43 “Lloyd Headed for Jamaica,” Picatinny News, 14 January 1959. Lloyd could 

serve in an elected position because school board candidates in New Jersey do 

not run as nominees of any political party.

44 Chart: Picatinny Arsenal Technical Division, 26 June 1950, and “Five-Death 

Blast Probed at Picatinny,” Newark Evening News, January 26, 1951.

45 Picatinny Arsenal, Telephone Directory, Winter 1945, 1953, and 1952, and 

“Administrative Services Office is Established,” The Barrage, 30 April 1951. 

See also Picatinny Arsenal, Organization Manual, 1 November 1951.

46 Cf. Picatinny Arsenal, Telephone Directory, 1952, and Chart, 1 February 

1956, in Functions and Facilities of Picatinny Arsenal (Dover, New Jersey: 

February 1956), p. iiA (hereafter cited as Functions and Facilities). The ARDEC 

History Office’s copy of the latter once belonged to Karl Ottoson.

47 See Brig. Gen. Joel G. Holmes, “The Ammunition Center,” Ordnance, 

XXXVII (September-October 1952), 264-269, and Brig. Gen. R. G. 

Butler, Jr., “The Ammunition Command,” Ordnance, XL, 351-353. For 

organizational changes and debates over changes at higher levels, see John E. 

Hewes, Jr., From Root to McNamara: Army Organization and Administration, 1900-

1963 (Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History, United States Army, 

1975), pp, 217-258.

48 “7,000 Take Part As Arsenal Has 75th Anniversary” and “Samuel Feltman, 

Man of Science,” Picatinny News, July 6, 1954. For the dating confusion, see 

Chapter 1, note 4.

49 Functions and Facilities, pp. 5-6.

50 Functions and Facilities, pp. 32-33.

51 Functions and Facilities, p. 5.

52 Functions and Facilities, pp. 9-10.

53 Functions and Facilities, p. 10.

54 Functions and Facilities, p. 10.

55 Functions and Facilities, pp. 11-12, 13. See also “Rockets at Picatinny Arsenal,” 

Jet Propulsion, vol. 26, no. 2 (February 1956), 114.

56 Stein, Saul D., and John W. Trevena, Picatinny Arsenal Technical 

Memorandum DW-403: Conventional Non-Nuclear Warhead Development 

at Picatinny Arsenal, May 1962, pp. 36-40. For other Picatinny activities 

for the Hawk program, see Ralph E. Lotan, “NATO Makes the Hawk,” 

Ordnance, vol. 48, no. 261 (January-February 1964), 437-438. For Picatinny’s 

role in developing another missile system, see Mary T. Cagle, Historical 

Monograph: Development, Production, and Deployment of the Nike Ajax Guided Missile 

System, 1945-1959 (Redstone Arsenal, Alabama: U.S. Army Ordnance Missile 

Command, 30 June 1959), pp. 20, 101, 176, 178, 180, 222. Converse, 

Rearming for the Cold War, pp. 596-647, discusses the organization of missile 

research at the Army level.
291

WAYS OF COLD WAR

57 Functions and Facilities, p. 12.

58 Functions and Facilities, pp. 12-13, and “Pyro Marks First Year,” Picatinny News, 

29 May 1957.

59 Functions and Facilities, pp. 8-9.

60 Functions and Facilities, pp. 8, 17-18.

61 Functions and Facilities, p. 9.

62 Functions and Facilities, pp. 7, 14; M. D. Pollock, Project Manager, Project 

Operations Section, prep., AMF-NL-3-57, ER-7365: Picatinny Nuclear 

Reactor Facility Study (Greenwich, Connecticut: Nuclear Laboratory of 

AMF Atomics, American Machine Foundry Company, December 1957), and 

“Schwartz Appointed Associate Director,” The Picatinny News, May 29, 1957.

63 “Arsenal Assumes Command of New R&D Test Station,” “Maj. Hicks To Be 

C.O. at Maynard,” and “Captain Good Is Cited for Maynard Job,” Picatinny 

News, 19 December 1952, 31 March 1954, 29 January 1958.

64 Functions and Facilities, pp. 38, 39, and Arsenal Operations Division Brochure, 

January 1956, p. 2 (hereafter cited as AOD Brochure).

65 Functions and Facilities, pp. 40-46.

66 Functions and Facilities, pp. 46-48.

67 AOD Brochure, p. 12, and Functions and Facilities, p. 48.

68 AOD Brochure, p. 15.

69 AOD Brochure, p. 7.

70 AOD Brochure pp. 7-10 (erratic page numbering has 10 after 7 but text is 

continuous).

71 AOD Brochure, p. 18.

72 AOD Brochure, pp. 21-26.

73 AOD Brochure, p. 26.

74 AOD Brochure, pp. 29-37. See also “Apprentice School Serves Real Need,” 

Picatinny News, 14 September 1954.

75 Functions and Facilities, pp. 51-53.

76 Functions and Facilities, pp. 58-59.

77 Functions and Facilities, pp. 59-60.

78 Functions and Facilities, pp. 66-67.

79 Functions and Facilities, p. 69.

80 Functions and Facilities, pp. 61-62.

81 Functions and Facilities, p. 64.

82 Functions and Facilities, p. 65.
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

292

83 Functions and Facilities, p. 72.

84 Functions and Facilities, pp. 72-73.

85 Functions and Facilities, p. 73.

86 Functions and Facilities, pp. 73-74.

87 Plant Engineering and Maintenance Office (Dover, New Jersey: Picatinny Arsenal, 

July 1958), pp. 88-89 (hereafter cited as Plant Engineering).

88 Christian Urbiola to Vicki Najoukas et al, e-mail: RE: ACUB Proposal, 26 

October 2010: Corps of Engineers, New York District, [map] Real Estate, 

Picatinny Arsenal Military Reservation, 20 June 1967.

89 Plant Engineering, p. 3.

90 Plant Engineering, pp. 10-29.

91 Plant Engineering, p. 34.

92 Plant Engineering, p. 37-46, and “Small, But Important, Railway A Vital 

National Defense Link,” Picatinny News, 11 August 1960.

93 Plant Engineering, p. 46.

94 Plant Engineering, pp. 46-54.

95 Plant Engineering, p. 67.

96 Plant Engineering, pp. 59-67.

97 Plant Engineering, pp. 54-59, and Historical Properties Report, Picatinny 

Arsenal, Dover, New Jersey, Draft Report, December, 1984, prepared by the 

Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record 

of the National Park Service, Inventory Sheet for Building 506.

98 Plant Engineering, pp. 67, 79, and “Thorny Retirement Grounds Gunther—but 

not for Long,” The Picatinny News, 4 February 1960.

99 Picatinny Arsenal Golf Course: A History (Dover, N. J.: Picatinny Arsenal, [c. 

1975]) n.p., and John J. Klusick, “Who, How and When”: The Development of the 

Picatinny Arsenal Golf Course by Military and Civilian Volunteers (Picatinny Arsenal, 

2008), pp. 7, 8.

100 Plant Engineering, p. 79.

101 Plant Engineering, pp. 79, 85.

102 “Life in a Sudden Death Factory,” Saturday Evening Post, vol. 227 (15 January 

1955), 26-27, and “Story on Arsenal Appears in Post,” Picatinny News, January 

26, 1955.

103 “Powder Blast Kills Worker At Picatinny,” Morristown Daily Record, 5 March 

1955. Ms Clara Wolford, Mr. Geisik’s daughter, brought this death to the 

writer’s attention during conversation on 23 September 2012 The Picatinny 

News, which was on a long hiatus from March to November 1955, did not 

cover the event.
293

WAYS OF COLD WAR

104 “Some More of the Same,”“1956 Accident Rate Highest in Four Years,” 

“Cite Brown As Hero in ’56 Mishap,” “Brown Retires; Cited as Hero in 1956 

Blast,” and “DeFelice Dies From Injuries,” Picatinny News, 25 April 1956, 

30 January, 28 August 1957, 28BJanuary 1959; “One Killed, 3 Injured in 

Blast at Picatinny,” Daily Record, 7 September 1956, “burns Prove Fatal to 

Arsenal Employee,” The Plain Speaker (Hazelton PA), 30 March 1956, and two 

undated newspaper clippings enclosed with John J. Spano, grandson of Mr. 

DeFelice, to Public Affairs Office, ARDEC, e-mail: Former Employees, 20 

September 2007, in Other Explosions Folder, ARDEC Historical Office files. 

The article from The Palin Speaker came courtesy of John Dunado, Rockaway 

Township Historical Society, who found it at http://www.newspapers.com. 

105 Picatinny Arsenal: The Cradle of American Ammunition (no place, no date). The 

original pay scale in the pamphlet matches one from 1956. Cf. “Engineers 

Get Raise in Pay,” Picatinny News, April, 1956. The pay rates given here 

come from a sheet stapled over the original sche25 dule and announcing 

a 10 percent increase. On DOD-wide interest in improving the research 

and development workforce, see Converse, Rearming for the Cold War, pp. 

435-436. ARDEC History Office has a copy of the brochure Picatinny 

Arsenal Extension: Graduate Study Program Offered by Stevens Institute of 

Technology, Hoboken, New Jersey, 1952-1953.

106 Picatinny Arsenal: The Cradle of American Ammunition.

107 “486 to Receive Layoff Notices,” and “An Important Message from the 

Commanding Officer,” Picatinny News, 27 March 1957. The first article used 

the 486 figure, but the commander’s message put the final count at 468.
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

294

Chapter 8

Naval Air Rocket Test Station

I

n 1943, The Picatinny News ran an article on its neighbor, Lake 

Denmark Naval Ammunition Depot, which sought to praise but 

ended up highlighting a serious problem, dependence on one mission. 

After commending depot workers for “supplying Uncle Sam’s fighting 

ships with the ammunition to ‘Keep ’em Shooting,’” the piece could say 

little else about current activities and had to pad the story with a history 

emphasizing the 1926 explosion.1

The depot spent the war doing exactly what it had been doing 

since 1891, storing ammunition. There were changes, most notable 

the assignment of 40 Women Auxiliary Volunteers in the Emergency 

(WAVES), and new buildings, including two barracks intended to house 

500 sailors. This suggested the Navy saw a future for the installation, as 

did the depot’s recruitment of local boys 16 to 18 years old as summer 

hires to fill the gap when its enlisted people went to the Pacific following 

the victory in Europe. Still, failure to add missions placed it in a poor 

competitive position postwar, especially after the Navy opened more 

modern depots at Earle, New Jersey, and Hawthorne, Nevada.

The depot initiated preparations to house a disciplinary barracks, but 

postwar funding shortages halted construction in October 1945, before 

any prisoners arrived. The project went on permanent hold when the 

Navy shut down the depot. The final ammunition lots did not ship out 

until 1950, when the depot had only 26 employees, but the installation 

was moribund by early 1946.2

 The fate of the site merged with the fortunes of Reaction Motors, a 

rocket research firm in Pompton Plains, New Jersey. Established at the end 

of 1941, the company did well respected rocketry research for the Navy 

294
295

NAVAL AIR ROCKET TEST STATION

during the war and was on the cutting edge of liquid propellant research 

at war’s end. However, Pompton Plains residents did not welcome being 

on the threshold of the Space Age and found the Navy’s high opinion of 

the firm irrelevant. It arranged the revocation of the company’s permit 

to store explosives on 25 October 1945.

Company founder Lovell Lawrence insisted on two criteria for a new 

site. It had to be away from complaining neighbors and within 15 miles of 

his home in Denville, New Jersey. So, in mid-1946, the company moved its 

engine design, model construction, and production facilities into the two 

new barracks buildings at the old depot. It moved administrative, security, 

and other support work into several smaller buildings and purchased 237 

acres just north of the government’s property. It did its testing on 25 acres 

of “a narrow dirt road between the depot and Hibernia.” This stretch of 

Snake Hill Road was where the company set up nine temporary stands in 

quonset huts and conducted the final tests of the 6000C4 engine used in 

Chuck Yeager’s sound-barrier-breaking X-1 rocket plane. Administrative, 

financial, personnel, and manufacturing work went to Rockaway Borough 

in 1949, but testing remained at Lake Denmark.3

The move seems to have caused little commotion as Reaction told 

residents vibrations would be slight and come from rocket flights in the 

air and not from liftoff from the ground. As a United States Senator in 

1926, Walter E. Edge had wanted to close the ammunition depot. Now 

Governor of New Jersey, he was not in a critical mood as he toured the 

Marines, Sailor and WAVES at Naval Ammunition Depot 1943
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

296

facility and promised to improve a local road to the test area provided 

Federal funds were available.4

The Navy opened its Aeronautical Rocket Laboratory in 1 July 1948 

and changed the name to the Naval Air Rocket Test Station (NARTS) 

on 1 April 1950, the same date the site transferred from the Bureau of 

Ordnance to the Bureau of Aeronautics. When it opened, the facility 

occupied approximately 650 acres. Advantages included a “nearly 

secluded area” close to an industrial area from which to draw personnel 

and materials and near enough to the District of Columbia so “liaison 

with the Bureau of Naval Weapons and other agencies of the Department 

of Defense is an easy matter.” In addition, the site “had paved roads, 

railroad track, military housing and scores of warehouses suitable for 

conversion for use as shops, labs and administration buildings.” The 

Navy took further advantage of Reaction’s presence by contracting for 

the company to train rocket technicians, a rare species in 1950. By1960, 

the station took “in some 760 acres and represents a multimillion dollar 

investment. If future plans work out, facilities and the station’s technical 

staff will be doubled in the next decade.”5

The station added solid propellant work in 1952, but liquid ones were 

its main focus. A brochure NARTS put out to publicize facilities and 

capabilities gives a detailed portrait of the installation Picatinny would 

inherit about a year after the brochure’s publication.

Research and development activities fell under seven main categories:

1. Evaluation of solid and liquid rocket engines under development 

by commercial and government agencies to ascertain their 

suitability for production and service use

2. Evaluation of new oxidizers, fuels, monopropellants and 

construction materials for rocket engine systems

3. Development of methods for analyzing rocket propellants

4. Analysis and development of new design concepts

5. Collaboration in preparing military specifications for rocket 

engines, propellants and associated components and materials 

of construction

6. Provision of services and facilities for use by contractors

7. Collaboration in writing safety manuals for propellants including 

their storage and handling and damage control requirements.6

Qualification testing work included judging new products, safety and 

reliability determinations, evaluating contractor products, age testing 

of older items, and investigating performance deficiencies in items 

in operational use. Programs active in 1960 included evaluating high-
297

NAVAL AIR ROCKET TEST STATION

temperature resisting materials in rocket-engine applications, storage 

testing of liquid propellant prepackaged thrust units and solid propellant 

starter cartridges, and evaluating electroformed nozzles.7

At the same time, NARTS planned and conducted preliminary 

investigations into damage control of propellant oxidizers, combustion 

instability, a variable thrust engine for spacecraft application, high energy 

monopropellants, mixed oxidizers, ultra high-density propellant systems, 

and monopropellants as gas generants. Technical services provided to the 

Bureau of Weapons, other government agencies, and private contractors 

included participation in the Department of Defense’s standardization 

program and development of specifications and procedures for mixed 

amine fuel. Companies assisted included Standard Oil of Indiana and 

Fulton-Irgon.8

In 1960, NARTS had approximately 280 employees. A Navy captain 

was in charge with a commander as executive officer. A small contingent of 

Navy personnel included support staff and trainees. A Marine contingent 

of 2 officers and 45 enlisted men handled security until replaced by 

civilian guards in 1958.9

In addition to its own Marines, the station was home to three 

companies of 21st Battalion, Unites States Marine Corps Reserve. 

Starting with seven officers and twenty enlisted men in 1947, the units 

had approximately 800 personnel upon activation in August 1950. The 

battalion embarked for Korea on 15 October 1950. Its men, minus 32 

killed in action, were home by Christmas 1951 and deactivated by April 

1952.10

At the heart of NARTS operations was the Rocket Propulsion 

Laboratory, known as the Engineering Division until 1959. Its director was 

a Navy commander, its technical director a civilian research scientist. The 

laboratory’s two divisions, Propellants and Rocket Engines, were under 

a civilian research chemist and a civilian chemical engineer respectively. 

The Propellant Division had two laboratories, Physical Chemistry 

for propellant synthesis and Analytical Chemistry for developing 

procedures to evaluate propellant performance. The division’s major 

areas of concentration were research into new propellants, development 

of new liquid propellants and analytical procedures for oxidizers and 

fuels, investigation of the influence of varying propellant combinations 

on ignition and performance, and preparation of procurement and 

operational specifications. Division Chief John D. Clark, a 1934 Stanford 

Ph.D. with a sideline as an expert on fantasy literature, had become 

prominent in the field of liquid propellants by developing a family of 

monopropellants. In a field where people frequently changed employers, 

he was with NARTS from 1949 to its closure and then went with its 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

298

successor at Picatinny until the successor closed. His book Ignition! remains 

an informative and entertaining introduction to the history of liquid 

propellants as well as the source for several anecdotes regurgitated here.11

In 1960, the Physical Chemistry Laboratory boasted such state-ofthe-art equipment as a Beckman aquameter, a specially modified Parr 

adiabatic oxygen bomb calorimeter, and a Wesphal specific gravity 

balance. It also had a workshop for glassblowing and small repairs and an 

outside pit for hazardous testing.12

The Analytical Chemistry Laboratory was proud possessor of 

a Beckman D. U. spectrophotometer, a Beckmann DK-2 recording 

spectrophotometer, a Perkin-Elmer Model 21 infrared recording 

spectrophotometer, a Todd spectranal, a refractometer, potentiometer 

titrimeters, a KBR die assembly, a Fisher electrophometer and 

electroanalyzer, a photovolt fluorimeter, photovolt colorimeters, a Sargent 

Model 21 recording polaragraph, conductivity bridges, gas analysis 

apparatus, microanalytical combustion apparatus, photomicrographic 

equipment, a JPL type impact tester, a Crawford burning rate bomb, a 

card-gap tester, and adiabatic compression, thermal stability, and autoignition testers.13

NARTS publicized its possessions to attract work from rocket 

developers both governmental and private. It still had its original tenant 

as the major corporate user of the facilities, but Reaction experienced 

several changes after coming to the station. In November 1953, Matheson 

Chemical Corporation, shortly to merge with Olin Industries, acquired a 

controlling interest in Reaction. Olin-Matheson then arranged a merger 

of Reaction with Thiokol Chemical Corporation. On 30 April 1958, the 

company became the Reaction Motors Division of Thiokol.

Dependence on government contracts made job tenure at Reaction 

less than certain. A layoff in September 1957 dismissed 73 workers and 

reassigned 20 others. Still, the company had 669 workers by 1955 and 

went up to 1,639 in 1958.14

Reaction leased three NARTS areas on the north side of Snake 

Hill Road. Test Area A had eight stands with reinforced concrete walls 

and corrugated metal roofs designed primarily to test liquid propellant 

engines with up to 10,000-pound thrust turbine pumps. Firings were 

usually horizontal on concrete block mounts. Concrete walls separated 

fuel and oxidizer tanks from the firing bays. Tank capacity varied from 

250 to 3,200 gallons. Each stand had separate control and instrument 

rooms wired for oscillograph, circular chart, and strip chart recorders. 

Observers watched firings from the control rooms through armored glass 

windows.15
299

NAVAL AIR ROCKET TEST STATION

Test Area B had two stands, one double bay and the other variable 

attitude. In the double-bay arrangement, one bay was for model and fullscale liquid propellant catapult testing and the other for firing rockets 

with thrusts up to 15,000 pounds. The bays shared a control room. The 

variable attitude stand could handle rocket firings up to 20,000-pounds 

thrust in both vertical and horizontal attitudes. A reinforced concrete base 

with four tank rooms and an overhead rotating beam allowed attitude 

changes. A concrete blockhouse with evaluation instruments was nearby 

while the control room was 200 feet away in a protected dugout.16

Test Area C had three double-bay concrete stands for testing liquid 

propellant engines up to 15,000-pounds thrust. The firing attitude was 

horizontal with the engine attached to a reinforced concrete block mount. 

The area had a 13,000-gallon horizontal steel tank with a working 

pressure of 220 pounds per square inch (psi) for ammonia storage and 

high-pressure gasification equipment to supply nitrogen gas at 2,000psi 

to tanks in all test areas through underground pipes. A cascade from 135 

high-pressure storage bottles, each with a volume of 8 cubic feet, provided 

gas to Areas B, C, and D.17

During its years at NARTS, Reaction Motors developed gas generators 

for aircraft catapults, worked with Aerojet to develop the Atlas missile’s 

three-engine principle propulsion system, and developed the LXR-99 

engine for the X-15 rocket plane, the XLR-44 engine for the Sparrow 

missile, and the LR-58 Bullpup engine. In addition to such high profile 

items, Reaction looked into rockets for helicopters and sleds, frequently 

testing the engines on local lakes.18

In 1957, Reaction was under contract to Chance Vought to develop 

the Super P, a turbo rocket for a Navy high performance fighter plane. 

On 16 September, with the project in its final stages, one of the engines 

exploded on a NARTS test stand and killed Howard Lee Bell, a ChanceVought employee from Arlington, Texas. Flying fragment injured three 

Reaction and three Chance Vought workers. Reaction’s William Dellecker 

suffered severe burns. The explosion combined with design problems to 

remove Reaction from a project which led to the Crusader fighter.19

Reaction and the propellant operations at NARTS shared “a 

comfortable, off-the-cuff, forget the paperwork and what the brass don’t 

know won’t hurt them, sort of relationship,” which encouraged the use 

of each other’s facilities.20

Of the sites NARTS ran itself, Test Area D, across Snake Hill Road 

from Area C, was the most active. The dominant structure was test stand 

D-1, a reinforced concrete structure for testing liquid propellant booster 

rockets with their own tanks or high-thrust solid propellant rackets. The 

stand had a thrust rating up to 100,000 pounds, accepted rockets as large 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

300

as 20 feet in length by 30 inches in diameter, and fired up to 5 seconds 

in both horizontal and vertical attitudes without cooling of the flame 

deflector plates. Other equipment included a gantry crane with a 5-ton 

hoist for installing and removing rocket motors and remote-controlled 

closed-circuit television facilities.

Test stands D-2 and D-3 were dual mount test bays sharing the 

same reinforced concrete building and able to test two separate liquid 

Test Area D c.1960

Rocket Firing in Test Area D
301

NAVAL AIR ROCKET TEST STATION

propellant rocket engines with up to 10,000-pounds thrust. The normal 

firing attitude was horizontal. Directly behind the firing mounts were 

propellant tank rooms separated by steel bulkheads of type 347 stainless 

steel with working pressures rated at 1,200 pounds per square inch 

gauge (psig). Tank capacities ran 25 to 550 gallons, pressurization was by 

nitrogen, and workers could move them from bay to bay as needed.

The central control room was between the two bays. Most data 

recording was by strip chart recorders and recording oscillographs, but 

there were a seven-channel tape recorder to collect high-frequency data, 

thermocouples for temperature measurement, a turbine type flowmeter 

with NARTS built integrators, and two transducer systems, one a variable 

reluctance and the other a DC strain gage system, to measure thrust and 

pressure.

In addition, NARTS instrumentation specialists built two special 

analog computers for the control room, one to continuously compute 

characteristic exhaust velocity or specific impulse and oxidizer-to-fuel 

flow rates and the other to compute heat transfer.21

NARTS remodeled Test Stand D-4 in the late 1950s to test liquid and 

solid propellant engines up to 30,000-pounds thrust. The liquid propellant 

engine testing equipment was the same as for stands D-2 and D3 while 

the solid propellant motor testing was the same as in D-6. A separate 

control room between D-4 and D-6 with closed-circuit television and 

strain gage pressure and thrust pickups handled firings from both stands. 

Data recording was by an Alinco four-channel strain age amplifier feeding 

an oscillograph and by transducers feeding two high-speed potentiometer 

chart recorders. The room had a deadweight tester, a Heise gage hydraulic 

system for pressure cell calibration, and a Morehouse ring for thrust 

calibration. Both D-4 and D-6 could fire solid propellant motors with 

thrust capacities up to 40,000 pounds horizontally or at small angles from 

the horizontal. Tanks for D-4 had a working pressure rating of 2,000psig.

Stand D-6 could test jet-assisted take-off (JATO) motors mounted on 

a roller frame bolted to rails embedded in the floor. The trust reacted 

through a load cell by a massive concrete block anchored to the stand 

floor.

D-5 was a components workshop divided into a 28x44-foot 

nonhazardous area for cold tests of rocket engine components and 

a 12x27-foot concrete-walled room for hazardous testing. The nonhazardous area had a flow test system which delivered water at pressures 

up to 1,200psi and flow rates up to 500 gallons per minute (gpm). Remote 

control of operations in this area was from an instrument-and-control 

bay outside the area. Operations included testing of high-pressure inert 

gas equipment, ignition delays, and gas generators. D-5 contained a small 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

302

altitude chamber rated up to 100,000 feet to do ignition-proof testing of 

electrical components.

In the late 1950s, NARTS raised a new building for hazardous 

propellant handling. The 40x16-foot facility had two 11x12-foot storage 

bunkers attached. The work area had exhaust and deluge systems and a 

drainage system connected to a neutralization pit and could make flow 

calibrations on, pick equipment for use with, and conduct small-scale 

blending tests of any hazardous propellant.

Area D housed NARTS’s JATO Exhaust Temperature and Blast 

Pressure Facility. Equipment available for such testing included a 13-

foot tower, a movable track-mounted frame, and instrumentation able to 

measure exhaust flame temperatures and blast pressures during firings of 

simultaneous JATO configurations.

A concrete pad sheltered temperature conditioning equipment, 

including hot, cold, and ambient boxes. The cold box was an Airco 

3x4x10-foot mechanically refrigerated unit able to reduce the temperature 

to -900 F. Both hot and ambient boxes used electric strip heaters to control 

temperatures and had capacities of 37 cubic feet. Normally used for shortterm, pre-firing storage of JATO engines, igniters, starter cartridges, and 

similar items, these boxes could handle longer term storage.

Area D boasted a centrifuge able to rotate a 200-pound object at a 

6-foot radius at 100 revolutions per minute (rpm) and having a special 

slip ring to allow firing a 50-pound thrust unit during rotation. Other 

facilities were an instrumentation workshop with electronic workbenches 

and a utility room for assembly and minor repair of rocket engines and 

components. NARTS used nitrogen stored in a high-pressure cascade 

and piped throughout the area to pressurize propellant tanks.22

Rising above D to the south was Test Area E. Test Stand E-1 was one 

of the largest static test stands on the East Coast, and NARTS considered 

it the “elite” of its facilities. E-1 dominated the site, both because of its 

high elevation and its ability to handle liquid propellant engines with 

thrusts up to 350,000 pounds. Reaction Motors used the stand to test 

such major items as the LXR 99, but it was NARTS’s creation. “NARTS 

engineers not only fathered the original plan for the E-1 facility but 

also shephered [sic] the design through layout, drew up the preliminary 

specifications and maintained active liaison during the final architectural 

detailing and construction. The project is rightly considered one of the 

major accomplishments of the NARTS engineering staff.” Frank Grad 

and Sons of Newark, New Jersey did both preliminary and detailed 

structural designs.23

E. M. Waldron Company, another Newark concern, started 

construction on 19 November 1951, completed excavation by February 
303

NAVAL AIR ROCKET TEST STATION

1952, and had the basic structure in place by August even though a steel 

strike delayed procuring ammonia and water tanks and the coolant tank 

did not arrive until April 1953. The stand was ready on 1 May 1953. 

The project excavated 3,830 yards of earth, blasted 1,500 yards of rock, 

poured 3,230 yards of concrete, and used 650 tons of steel.24

The engine mount was a hollow beam of rectangular cross-section 

connecting two trunnions 15 feet apart on a cantilevered balcony 60 feet 

above grade to permit static firing at any attitude. A sliding roof allowed 

vertical setup of missiles 90 feet long.

Under the mount, two sets of double doors resembling bomb bays 

opened above separate tank rooms for fuels and oxidizers and separate 

cascade rooms for propellant pressurization. The liquid oxygen tank had 

a 2,500-gallon capacity and a working pressure rating of 50psi, while 

the ammonia tank had a 3,000-gallon capacity and a working pressure 

rating of 225psi. Nitrogen gas pressurized fuel and cooling water, gaseous 

oxygen the liquid oxygen.

E-1’s control room was 250 feet and slightly downhill from the stand 

and had 79 allocated recording channels and 17 spare ones in 1960. 

Equipment included 35 potentiometer recorders, 8 direct wiring Sanborn 

recorders, a 2-channel cathode-ray oscilloscope, and terminals for two 

18-channel oscillographic recorders the station planned to acquire.25

Test Area G, developed on the east side of Lake Denmark during the 

last years of Navy control, had three concrete pads for damage control 

and destructive effects testing of rocket propellants. Actions during these 

tests included firefighting, fuel and oxidizer mixing, detonation, and firing 

.50-caliber and 20mm rounds into containers of oxidizers, fuels, and 

monopropellants. The maximum total weight for oxidizer and propellant 

combinations in damage control testing was 100 pounds.

Set aside from these was a fourth pad for card-gap testing of 

propellants for shock sensitivity. A gun turret enclosed this pad to deflect 

shrapnel from propellant cups and steel plates. The pad had its own 

propellant storage and preparation building. Card-gap testing caused a 

great deal of wear and tear on turret armor originally designed to keep 

out fish and water at sea, so NARTS added a sheet about an inch and 

a half from the original plating. This seemed a minor matter until the 

turret lay idle for several months and bats wintered in the gap. Clark was 

present at the next firing and reported,

And when the first shot went off, they all came boiling out with 

their sonar gear fouled up, shaking their heads and pounding 

their ears. They chose one rocket mechanic – as it happens, a 

remarkably goosey character anyway – and decided it was all his 

fault. And if you, gentle reader, have never seen a nervous rocket 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

304

mechanic, complete with monkey suit, being buzzed by nine 

thousand demented bats and trying to beat them off with a shovel, 

there something missing from your experience.26

Each pad had its own control room equipped for photographic 

coverage as well as the normal recording and control instrumentation. 

Other area facilities included a variable-height drop-test facility and a 

10x10x8-foot simulated missile magazine of 0.5-inch steel plate used to 

determine pressurization rates and resulting pressures from propellant 

reactions and to investigate ways of controlling these reactions.

This was the site for shock tests of prepackaged liquid-propellantloaded thrust units using a mobile Consolidated Electrodynamics 

Corporation HYGE 3416 shock tester with a 3-inch diameter. This 

machine used compressed gas to impart a 33g acceleration to a 250-pound 

weight and a 100g acceleration to smaller specimens. It was sufficiently 

mobile to do service in Area D when necessary.27

During testing, workers cranked pumps at water towers to raise 

pressures over 200psi. During one firing, Reaction engineer Bob Holland 

sprayed the right side of a stand with a 1.5-inch fog nozzle but had to 

turn it off because two other workers needed more pressure of the their 

2.5-inch nozzle. He turned his back on when the others found themselves 

forced against a drill press.

Forces released in rocket firing were strong enough for the station to 

place signs in restrooms warning against flushing urinals during testing. 

Test Stand in Area E under Construction
305

NAVAL AIR ROCKET TEST STATION

His scientific curiosity piqued, Holland flushed during testing and water 

sprayed the far side of the room.28

On a rise above its Main Gate was NARTS building 99, now 

Picatinny building 3100, the Environmental Test Building. Testing of 

solid-propellant boosters and sustainers, prepackaged liquid-rocket 

engines, and gas generators in their propulsive state took place in four 

bays occupying most of the building’s 5,000 square feet of floor space. 

Temperature-conditioning equipment in three of the bays included 

four walk-in boxes, two hot and two cold, all from Tenney Engineering 

Company and all with dimensions of 4x6x10 feet. The cold boxes had a 

temperature range from -900F to +20F, the hot from +2000F to +20F. 

There were two smaller boxes, a cold one from American Instrument 

Company and a hot one made by NARTS, for testing igniters and other 

small components in the same temperatures ranges. Both were 2x2x5 feet. 

Supplementing them were several portable servo units which supplied hot 

or cold air to produce temperatures from -700F to +2200F in insulated 

spaces.

NARTS produced the building’s 4x4x10-foot rain, humidity, and salt 

spray cabinet which subjected items to a rainfall of four inches per hour 

(plus or minus one inch), humidity up to 100 percent at +1700F, and a 

3-mph salt spray over an area of 80 square centimeters.

MB Manufacturing Company provided the four electromagnetic 

vibration exciters placed outside the boxes and linked to test items by 

force-bars. The smallest was a Model C-11 with a force output of 50 

pounds and a frequency range from zero to 2,000 cycles per second (cps). 

Two Model C-5 units had force outputs of 750 pounds and frequency 

ranges from zero to 500 cps. A Model C-25 unit had the same frequency 

range as the C-5s but a force output of 3,500 pounds. Supplementing 

the electromagnetic vibrators was a mechanical shaker with a 100-pound 

table capacity of 10g and a ten to 60 cps range and an All-American Tool 

Company vibration fatigue-testing machine with a total load capacity 

of 100 pounds at 10g, an adjustable total displacement from 0 to 0.25 

inches, and a frequency range from 0 to 500 cps.

NARTS bragged its Schaevitz Company centrifuge could handle test 

samples up to 100 pounds and attain 25g at 150rpm and a radius of three 

feet. The machine was nine feet in diameter and 5.8 feet high and had a 

maximum test sample volume of 18 cubic inches. Its specially designed 

slip-ring assembly provided 30 rotating, low noise electrical connections 

for data collection. Outside the Environmental Test Building was a 10-

foot frame for drop testing. Testers released a solenoid bomb from an 

inside control room to activate it. A heavy materials machine shop was in 

what is now Picatinny building 3150.29
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

306

The NARTS commander and his family lived in the same impressive 

house the depot commander had occupied. The enlisted barracks was 

Picatinny’s present building 3050. The 1934 structure was on the same 

site and had the same configuration as the Marine barracks destroyed 

in the 1926 explosion. Unmarried officers lived nearby in the present 

building 3227. Most housing for married couples dated from rebuilding 

in the 1930s, but the Navy began new quarters construction in the present 

3200 area late in the 1950s.30

In November 1958, the station commander, citing “a change in 

security arrangements,” announced a shift from Marines to civilian 

guards. The Marines were to go to the Mediterranean and the Far East. 

The action may have been a preparation for more drastic changes.31

Test station employees started hearing closure rumors as early as May 

1959. In February 1960, Senator Clifford P. Case of New Jersey asked the 

Navy Department pointed questions about the future. The Navy put Case 

off temporarily but admitted studies of rocket station consolidation were 

in progress. The commander of the Army Ordnance Special WeaponsAmmunition Command (OSWAC) avowed Picatinny was ready to absorb 

NARTS operations and personnel if the Navy abandoned them.32

A memorandum from the Deputy Chief of the Bureau of Naval 

Weapons dated 28 April 1960 revealed plans to disestablish NARTS and 

transfer its land and facilities to Picatinny Arsenal on 1 August 1960. 

The Navy Department released the information to the public on 10 May 

1960. By then, Picatinny personnel had prepared reports on the facilities 

and expertise available for transfer, and some NARTS technicians were 

already working parts of their shifts at the arsenal.33

Picatinny’s main interest was the Rocket Propulsion Laboratory 

and its 76-person research and development staff. In May 1960, this 

staff included 54 professionals and semi-professionals, 12 model makers, 

and 10 support personnel. Semi-professionals were those who “do not 

have degrees but are highly skilled in electronic, mechanical, design, and 

calculating techniques employed in liquid rocket engine programs.” The 

professional and semi-professional category included chemists, electronics 

technicians, rocket propulsion mechanics, draftsmen, and technical aids. 

Morale seemed high, with no personnel losses in the past three years 

“even during the last 6 months of unrest.”34

Some work went to the Naval Ordnance Test Station at China Lake, 

California, the Naval Weapons Laboratory at Dahlgren, Virginia, and 

the Naval Propellant Plant at Indian Head, Maryland. The station’s 

records went to China Lake. The main work, liquid propellant research, 

continued in place under the station’s neighbor.35
307

NAVAL AIR ROCKET TEST STATION

It took until 20 April 1962 to complete the paperwork transferring 

the Navy land to the Army, but Picatinny assumed control of test 

station facilities and personnel on 29 July 1960. The Rocket Propulsion 

Laboratory became the Liquid Propulsion Research Laboratory, part 

of the Ammunition Development Division in Picatinny’s Ammunition 

Group. Irving Forsten, technical director of the disestablished laboratory 

became chief of the new one. Other senior NARTS personnel headed 

subunits of the new organization. The former Navy buildings received 

new numbers starting at 3000.36

The Army commemorated the former owner of by designating what 

was now the northeast section of Picatinny as Navy Hill. Five years later, 

Picatinny changed the area’s name to Marine Corps Hill, but Navy Hill 

remained the usage of choice for both residents and employees.37
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

308

NOTES

1 “Naval Depot Stores Ammunition for Fighting Ships,” The Picatinny News, 12 

February 1943.

2 “Waves on Shores of Lake Denmark,” “Depot at Lake Denmark Stores Naval 

Firepower,” “Shift to Pacific Causes Manpower Shortage at Lake Denmark,” 

and “Prison Barracks Plan Abandoned,” The Picatinny News, 29 January, 23 

July 1943, 6 July, 16 November 1945, and U.S. Naval Air Rocket Laboratory 

(NARL), A Report of Progress, January 1950, n.p (hereafter cited as NARL, 

Progress Report, January 1950). Picatinny Arsenal: Historic American 

Engineering Report prepared by Pamela Thurber and Sandy Norman, 1982, 

1983, pp. 34-35, found traces of the preparations for the prison barracks, 

including ones suggesting guard towers. 

3 The basic history of Reaction Motors is Frederick I. Ordway and Frank H. 

Winter, “Pioneering Commercial Rocketry in the United States of America,” 

Journal of the British Interplanetary Society, vols. 36-40 (1983-1987), (a four part 

series hereafter cited as Ordway and Winter). Ordway was a former Reaction 

employee. For the move to Lake Denmark, see vol. 37,546- 547 and “Jet 

Propulsion Research Firm to Be at Navy,” The Picatinny News, 1 March 1946. 

For the Yeager flight connection, see Ordway and Winter, vol. 38, 159 and 

Revised Draft Report: Evaluation of Structures Built Prior to 1946 at Picatinny Arsenal, 

New Jersey, (Prepared for the New York District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 

by WCH Industries, Inc., Waltham MA, in association with Boston Affiliates, 

Inc., Boston MA, December 30, 1994), p. E-459 (hereafter cited as Evaluation of 

Structures 1994), and NARL, Progress Report, January 1950.

4 “Reaction Motors Now Being Built At Lake Denmark,” and “Gov. Edge 

Inspects Reaction Motors at Lake Denmark,” Dover Advance, 8, 26 August 

1946.

5 All about NARTS Engineering Facilities (Lake Denmark, Dover, N. J.: U.S. Naval 

Air Rocket Test Station, [1960]), pp. 3-4 (hereafter cited as All about NARTS); 

Lieutenant Commander F. C. Durant, III, USNR, “The Naval Air Rocket 

Test Station—Purpose and Progress,” paper presented at the 1950 Annual 

Convention of the American Rocket Society, Hotel Statler, New York, New 

York, November 30-December 1, 1950, and NARL, Progress Report , January 

1950. A copy of the Durant paper is in A Gateway to Space, June 22, 1997, A 

Reaction Motors Commemorative Presented to the US Army Armament 

Research, Development and Engineering Center, Picatinny Arsenal, NJ, by the 

Denville Historical Society, Denville, NJ, a binder prepared for the society’s 

display on the 50th anniversary of supersonic flight. This binder in ARDEC 

Historical Office has other related documents, including a copy of the Ordway 

and Winter History.

6 All about NARTS, p. 4.

7 All about NARTS, p. 5.

8 All about NARTS, p. 5
309

NAVAL AIR ROCKET TEST STATION

9 All about NARTS, pp. 9-10, and “Marines Due To Move From Lake Denmark,” 

Picatinny News, November 12, 1958.

10 “Brief History of the 21st Infantry Battalion,” presented at Monument 

Dedication, 7 September 1997, typescript in ARDEC Historical Office; 

and “Marines at Picatinny? Nearly 200 Drill Here,” Picatinny News, 

17 February 1969.

11 All about NARTS, unnumbered pages between pp. 9-10 and after p. 23, and 

John J. Baronowski, Commanding Officer, NARTS, to Commander, U.S. Naval 

Air Research and Development Activities, Subject: Command Histories, 11 

January 1960. On the development of liquid propellants, see John D. Clark, 

Ignition!: An Informal History of Liquid Propellant Rockets (New Brunswick, New 

Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1972).

12 All about NARTS,, unnumbered pages between pp. 23-24.

13 All about NARTS, unnumbered page before p. 23-24.

14 Ordway and Winter, 36, 549-551, and “Reaction Motors Inc. Drops 73 

Employees,” Morristown Daily Record, 21 September 1957.

15 All about NARTS, p. 26.

16 All about NARTS, pp. 26-27.

17 All about NARTS, p. 27.

18 Ordway and Winter, vol. 37, 166-167, 168.

19 Ordwary and Winter, vol. 37, 168; “Engineer dies, 6 hurt in N.J. engine 

blast,” Newark Star-Ledger 17 September 1957; “One Dead in Jersey as Rocket 

Blows Up,” New York Times, 17 September 1957: “H. L. Bell Killed In Fuel 

Accident,” The Chance Vought Vanguard n.d. but the week of the blast ,and “RMI 

Rocket Blast at NARTS Kill 1, Injures 6 Others, “Reaction Motors, Navy 

Launch Investigation,” and “Continuing Probe Into Fatal Blast at Reaction,” 

Morristown Daily Record, 17, 18, 21 September 1957. The Vanguard article is 

courtesy of Mr. Dick Atkins, Chance Vought Archives. See Atkins to ARDEC 

Historian, e-mail: explosion, 15 December 2009.

20 Clark, Ignition!, p. 77.

21 All about NARTS, p. 14.

22 All about NARTS,, pp. 13-17.

23 All about NARTS, p. 18.

24 R. N. Abramson, D. S. Brandwein, and H. C. Menes, “The 350,000-Pount 

Thrust Rocket Test Stand at Lake Denmark, N. J.,” Jet Propulsion: Journal of the 

American Rocket Society, vol. 24, no. 5 (September-October 1954), 291-296. The 

authors were NARTS division and branch chiefs.

25 All about NARTS, p. 18.

26 All about NARTS, p. 21, and Clark, Ignition!, p 171n.

27 All about NARTS, p. 21.
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

310

28 http://bobholland.com/me/reaction2.htm.

29 All About NARTS, pp. 23-25, and Evaluation of Structures 1994, p. E-407.

 30 Evaluation of Structures 1994, pp. E-426, E-429, E-434, E-437, E-439, E-450, and 

photos of 1950s construction ARDEC Historical Office photo files.

31 “Marines Due To Move From Lake Denmark,” Picatinny News, 12 November 

1958.

32 “Asks Navy Report On Lake Denmark,” and “Air Station Ruling Due Soon,” 

Newark Evening News, 24, 26 February 1960. Clippings of these articles are in 

a scrapbook in the ARDEC Historical Office. Who compiled it is uncertain, 

but the contents suggest an employee of both NARTS and the ARDEC Liquid 

Rocket Propulsion Laboratory, possibly Irving Forsten.

33 Plan for Utilization of Naval Air Rocket Test Station for Research and Development 

Capabilities (Dover, New Jersey: Picatinny Arsenal, May 19, 1960), pp. 1, 9, 

Appendix 1 (hereafter cited as Plan for Utilization). The Bureau of Naval 

Weapons memo is in the appendix.

34 Plan for Utilization, pp. 2-3.

35 J. N. Murphy, Commander, U.S. Naval Air Research and Development 

Command, to Chief of Naval Operations, Command History, 9 February 

1961.

36 Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army, New York District, Map: Real Estate: Picatinny 

Arsenal, 16 April 1952, revised 5 May 1962: “Picatinny Takes Over NARTS,” 

Morris County Daily Record, 28 July 1960; “PA to Accept Naval Station on 

August 1st,” “Flag Lowered For Last Time on ‘Navy Hill,’” and “Bright Future 

Predicted for Liquid Rocket Fuels,” The Picatinny News, 7 July, 11 August, 15 

December 1960; “Army Gets Navy Base,” New York Times, 31 July1960, and 

Liquid Rocket Propulsion Laboratory, Ammunition Development Division, 

Ammunition Engineering Directorate, LRPL Propulsion Capabilities, May 

1963, and A Listing of Professional Personnel, January 1964. 

37 “Flag Lowered for Last Time on ‘Navy Hill,’” and “It’s ‘Navy Hill’ No More,” 

Picatinny News, 11 August 1960, 20 December 1965.
Chapter 9

Ways of Cold War II

Late in 1957, while 27 members of Picatinny’s Moonwatch Team 

scanned the skies for the Soviet Union’s recently launched Sputnik 

satellite, their fellow employees watched the news out of Washington. 

Soviet space successes had convinced the government it was not paying 

enough attention to space research. This inaugurated a search for funds 

to transfer to missile development and ignited a rumor about a Picatinny 

closure as one way to raise such money. The Chief of Ordnance, 

Lieutenant General Emerson L. Cummings, made arsenal employees an 

early Christmas present of a public and categorical denial.1

 Picatinny 

was entering a period when missions and facilities would increase in both 

number and variety.

Rearrangements in Feltman Engineering and Research Laboratories 

(FERL), the new name for Feltman Laboratories, signaled the types of 

systems the Army considered important. May 1957 saw the activation of 

three new units based on elements of the phased out Fuze and Atomic 

Applications laboratories. The Long Range, Tactical, and Advanced 

Atomic weapons systems laboratories were under Robert Schwartz, just 

appointed to the new position of Associate Director for Special Weapons.2 

Creation of the Plastics and Packaging Laboratory in May 1958 

recognized the expanded and expanding use of plastics and prepared for 

the designation of Picatinny as the Army’s Plastics Information Center. 

This relieved the Artillery Ammunition and Packing Development 

Laboratory of a mission and made it simply the Artillery Ammunition 

Development Laboratory. Another alteration was deactivation of the 

Explosives, Plastics, and Propulsion and Propellants laboratories in favor 

of one Explosives and Propellants Laboratory.3

311
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

312

Changes in the Arsenal Operations Division (AOD) sought to 

“achieve better management control and place emphasis on the changing 

developments in the field of ammunition, both in the conventional types 

and particularly in the new areas of Special Weapons.” There were now 

two operations areas, one in charge of the Loading, Propellants and 

Explosives, and Inert Components branches and a second running the 

Explosives Lens, Atomic Ammunition, and Special Weapons branches. 

The latter was an expansion of the Adaption Kit Section formerly in 

the Inert Components Branch. A superintendent of planning and 

engineering had charge of methods engineering, machine tool and 

design, and coordination and planning work.4

These alterations were precursors to ones dictated at a higher level. 

Special or atomic weapons commanded a rapidly increasing share of the 

government’s research budget, a fact the Army recognized by establishing 

the Ordnance Special Weapons-Ammunition Command (OSWAC) with 

headquarters and a main operating unit at Picatinny. The other main 

unit took over the resources of the Ordnance Ammunition Command 

at Joliet, Illinois, and had charge of 32 installations around the nation.5

The Department of the Army (DA) announced formation of 

OSWAC on 27 August 1958. Major General R. G. Butler, the designated 

commander, initially hoped to have it up and running by 1 January 1959, 

but the Chief of Ordnance pushed the date back to 1 July. Butler had 

his military staff active by January and key civilians in place by April. 

Picatinny employees filled 15 of 32 key civilian positions with another 14 

transferring to Picatinny from Joliet. All 24 headquarters stenographers 

were Picatinnyans. Production engineering work, which employed 146 

civilians, moved from Joliet to Picatinny effective 1 July 1959, along with 

cataloging and technical publication duties previously at Joliet. Butler 

retired just before the command became fully operational on 1 July. His 

successor was Brigadier General William Kerr Ghormley. The OSWAC 

commander and his headquarters staff initially shared building 151 

with Picatinny’s commander and administrative personnel but moved 

to building 171, the former Technical Division headquarters which had 

started life as Magazine No. 2, on 2 May 1960.6

Picatinny’s administrative accommodations to OSWAC included 

two new divisions. The Staff Division contained the Civilian Personnel, 

Comptroller, Legal, Public Information, Small Business, Administrative 

Services, Adjutant, and Safety, Security and Intelligence offices while the 

Support Division had charge of the Inspection, Purchasing, Supply, Plant 

Engineering, and Property Disposal units. An attempt at administrative 

coordination joined the heads of these organizations with the leaders 
313

WAYS OF COLD WAR II

of AOD, FERL, and the Industrial Engineering Division (IED) in the 

southeast wing of building 151.7

 The arsenal established the Quality Assurance Division (QAD) in 

early May 1960 with approximately 450 workers to support ordnance 

procurement activities nationwide. Its five subunits were the Plans and 

Programs and Inspection offices and the Special Weapons Inspection 

Engineering, Inspection Design, and Safety, Reliability, and Specifications 

branches.8

A perceived need for closer integration of research and industrial 

engineering prompted creation of two major elements, the Ammunition 

and Special Weapons groups, on 1 August 1960. FERL became simply the 

Feltman Research Laboratories (FRL) and part of the Special Weapons 

Group. The laboratory director doubled as group director. The group’s 

two divisions were Development and Production and Maintenance 

Engineering.

The Ammunition Group likewise had Development and Production 

and Maintenance Engineering divisions with the Ammunition 

Development Division in charge of the new Liquid Rocket Propulsion 

Laboratory, inheritor of the duties and employees of the Naval Air 

Rocket Test Station.9

A new staff element which reported directly to the Picatinny 

commander was the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Office. This 

activity had been at Aberdeen Proving Ground, but its two officers, six 

enlisted men, and two civilian employees transferred to Picatinny at the 

start of October 1960. Picatinny added three civilians. An officer in Alaska 

and an enlisted man in Korea aided it in determining requirements and 

designs for the Army’s ordnance disposal tools.10

Picatinny announced award of a $2 million construction contract for 

its Special Weapons Pilot Plant to Dean Construction Company of New 

York City in October 1958, and the company immediately started work 

with the intention of completing the job in 18 months. On 16 October 

1960, Picatinny dedicated the new building 95 to Brigadier General 

William L. Bell, Jr., a recently deceased former arsenal commander. This 

was the first arsenal building to memorialize an individual.11

The plant’s 80,000 square feet included four large operating bays 

with one assigned to mechanical assembly and another to electrical 

assembly of components and final items. A third bay handled adaptation, 

modification, and repair of specialized metal structures while the fourth 

did environmental testing. Other areas housed electronic calibration 

facilities, an electronic tester fabrication and assembly room, and a 

training and display room. The plant was the part of a sectioned-off 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

314

nuclear weapons area which had its own guard booth and parking lot 

and included the Nuclear Weapons Engineering Laboratory in building 

64 and the Nuclear Engineering Directorate offices in building 65, both 

conversions of storage facilities erected in 1942.12

A high profile nuclear project of the OSWAC years was the Davy 

Crocket recoilless rifle. In 1957, the Atomic Energy Commission 

announced its intention to develop a “low-cost, low-weight, simple 

warhead and delivery system for use by front-line troops.” Picatinny’s 

two tasks were studying how to develop the system and supervising a 

committee drawn from across the Ordnance Corps to study adapting 

the warhead for tactical use. The initial goal was a system able to send a 

35-pound warhead to ranges from 2,000 to 11,000 yards. The warhead 

was to be 12 inches in diameter with a yield between 0.1 and 0.01 kilotons. 

Their work on the project earned Schwartz, Milton E. Epton, and Irving 

Mayer a total of $25,000.00 in Government Employees’ Incentive Awards 

Program money. Mayer’s award was posthumous.13

Other nuclear projects included the atomic demolition munition 

(ADM), an adaptation of the Davy Crockett warhead to a prepositioned 

munition set off by a remote firing device, and the scaling down of the 

nuclear artillery round from 280mm to 8-inch and, finally, 155mm.14

Proliferation of strategic and tactical nuclear munitions raised 

concerns about control, especially, who had authority to detonate them 

Bell Building (B-95) and Entrance to Nuclear Research Area
315

WAYS OF COLD WAR II

and how to restrict access to those with authority. Concepts for locking 

devices appeared throughout the 1950s, but the matter did not draw 

concentrated attention until President John F. Kennedy made development 

of a prescribed action link, later called the permissive action link (PAL), a 

national priority in 1961. Private industry tried to make one, but this high 

technology combination lock did not become a reality until Picatinny 

took over the design and manufacturing work. The design used a special 

steel developed by Watertown Arsenal to withstand rifle firing. Wilfred 

“Bricky” Hosking’s AOD developed special machining techniques for 

this steel, doing part of the work electrically under a liquid medium. The 

link had to pass 100 settings without a failure, but human error prevented 

this until Picatinny designed and built tape-controlled equipment to do 

the setting.15

Not all projects were nuclear. Some did not even deal with live 

ammunition. In 1958, found the Army faced an urgent need for 

dependable blank ammunition for 75, 76, 90, and 105mm guns. Picatinny 

did not develop a new item but renovated an existing one. Actually, it 

corrected the results of a previous change, the replacement of a paper 

closing cup with a polyethylene one.

The effort benefitted from a case of bureaucratic indecision. The 

Army had initiated a project to develop a new 76mm blank cartridge but 

then terminated all 76mm ammunition requirements and began phasing 

out 76mm guns. Picatinny developers used features from the scrapped 

design, especially a fiberglass wad and polystyrene closing cup closure 

system, to renovate the tank gun rounds.16

Arsenal chemists received new facilities when Picatinny remodeled 

a 1942 structure. One wing was ready by February 1959, the rest of 

the building by early 1962. The one-story, square structure surrounded 

an open courtyard and boasted several novel safety feature. The chief 

innovation was to locate the hoods, glass-enclosed bins for mixing 

chemical formulas, along outer walls which would give way under blast 

pressure and so direct the explosive force away from other chemicals 

and the chemists. Testing saw one of the hoods survive two explosions 

involving 100 grams of explosives each. The hoods’ canopies were of 

transparent, shatterproof Lucite. Essentially, each hood was a one-person 

laboratory. Having the hoods along the outer walls while electrical and 

plumbing lines ran through the building meant maintenance and repair 

work did not disturb laboratory activities.

Another innovation was the use of sniffing devices instead of bulky, 

explosion-proof electrical fixtures. These air monitors set off an alarm 

when explosive content exceeded a preset danger point and shut down all 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

316

electrical power except to the fans in the vacuum system which drew the 

explosive from the building. Picatinny dedicated building 407 to its late 

chief chemist, George C. Hale, on 27 April 1962.17

A 1961 Army report on its arsenals portrayed Picatinny at the start 

of a new decade. It listed the arsenal’s missions as research, development, 

maintenance engineering, product and process engineering, and pilot plant 

production of artillery and mortar ammunition, mines, grenades, missile 

warheads, impact fuzes, bombs, demolition devices, and recoilless rifle 

ammunition as well as all of the above except maintenance engineering 

on explosives. The arsenal conducted basic research into plastics, 

adhesives, and non-metal materials and did work from development to 

pilot plant production on jet-assisted take-off (JAT0) engines and pilot 

plant production on rockets. Research, development, and maintenance, 

product, and process engineering made up 66 percent of the workload, 

pilot production 25 percent, and “other” 9 percent.18

The report singled out the new Special Weapons Pilot Plant for its ability 

to assist research and development with experimental models and small 

quantities of desired items, to serve as a source of production knowledge, to 

perform work for retrofit programs, to assemble and manufacture special 

weapons components, and to provide increased production capacity 

during an emergency. The plant had technical facilities which “may be 

individually available in certain industrial plants but nowhere else can it 

all be found in one place....” These included an explosive lens plant able 

Hale Building (B-407)
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WAYS OF COLD WAR II

to produce high explosive charges to close tolerances in unique geometric 

shapes and facilities for loading, assembling, and packing special weapons 

from small percussion components to Honest John rocket warheads. The 

report recognized Picatinny justified itself, not by turning out a few bigticket items, but by being a technical base for developing and improving 

many and varied items.19

Picatinny knew its strengths and emphasized them when contesting 

a proposal to house all research in one laboratory. “The construction of 

an all-purpose laboratory is considered unfeasible at this time for the 

reasons that safety limits alone dictate separation of activities rather than 

the centralization into a single laboratory. Present facilities have flexibility 

and are operated on a basis to provide minimum quantities required for 

prototypes, pre-production evaluation, and, where necessary, quantity.” 

The flexibility of it plants meant Picatinny could maintain only a few 

facilities specifically designated for mobilization production and still be 

ready to expand production when necessary.20

The 1961 arsenal owned 5,098.44 acres in fee simple, had restrictive 

easements on another 639.24 acres, and leased 3.74 acres. The 

replacement value of the owned land was $5,098,440.00. The arsenal’s 

1006 buildings and 124 other structures took up 3,493,853 square feet 

and had a replacement value of $122,124,524. The replacement value 

of production equipment was $48,400,942.00, of other equipment, 

$22,579,914.00. The replacement value of 62 miles of improved 

roads and 35 miles of railroad track was $27,539,875.00. Yearly base 

maintenance costs ran in the area of $5 million.21

The workforce totaled 6,326. More than half, 3,247, were wage 

board employees with 519 foremen for 2,728 workers. The wage-board 

workforce split 22 percent in machine shops, 28 percent on ammunition 

and explosives lines, 11 percent doing installation and maintenance work, 

27 percent manufacturing and repair, 7 percent labor, and 5 percent 

other.22

Picatinny’s 1,057 scientists and engineers included 156 chemists, 6 

metallurgists, 59 physicists, 2 physical scientists, 24 mathematicians, 

and 2 aeronautical, 110 chemical, 3 civil, 1 construction, 16 electrical, 

75 electronic, 21 general, 80 industrial, 10 internal, 16 materials, 466 

mechanical, 7 safety, and 3 structural engineers.23

There were over 300 handicapped employees in 1958 with 

impairments ranging from hearing loss to multiple amputations. This 

figure neared 400 in 1960. Impetus came from the top levels of the 

Federal government, but Picatinny took pains to hire these workers and 

appointed a special coordinator to match people with jobs and to support 

them after hiring.24
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

318

The arsenal was not keeping statistics on minority and female 

workers at this point, but there was at least one African-American woman 

among its scientist. Joyce Haley joined the Warheads and Special Projects 

Laboratory in 1963 as a 22-year old with a degree from Hampton 

Institute. A piece in the base newspaper showed a taint of sexism by 

stressing her winning of college beauty titles along with her academic 

achievements. The latter included course work in radioactive isotopes at 

Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies. In 1961 and 1962, Picatinny ran 

its own beauty contests. Signs of minor progress were discontinuance 

of the contests and an article on Haley a couple of years later which 

shunned the beauty theme in favor of professional accomplishements.25

One woman who left Picatinny in this period was Lenora Van Sickles. 

When she retired from powder bag sewing in 1962, there were only about 

20 women working in a unit which had employed 1,200 during World 

War II. The reduced force could still turn out 3,500 bags per day with the 

aid of automated machinery.26

A woman was the first of three work related fatalities under OSWAC. 

An explosion on 12 September 1961 killed Helen Bolotto, a Loading 

Branch employee with almost 30 years at the arsenal, and injured 17 

others. Most of the injuries were not critical, but Wilbur M. Hunt and 

John J. Ruddy needed treatment at Dover General Hospital. One report 

put the explosive amount at the size of a golf ball.27

Lenora Van Sickles
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WAYS OF COLD WAR II

Ignition of a flare during loading on 27 November 1962 quickly killed 

Bela Harbula, a 63 old explosives operator who had been at Picatinny 

for 29 years, and burned the face, arms, and legs of Jennie Bayles, who 

had spent 26 of her 56 years at Picatinny. She died at the hospital three 

days later. Separate bays divided by reinforced concrete walls prevented 

workers in adjoining cubicles from suffering more than minor shock.28

OSWAC was not fully in place before the Army began studying 

how to replace it. Spurring change was dissatisfaction with the basic 

structure of Army logistics, especially divisions of responsibility. At DA 

level, there was a Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics who tried to oversee 

production, supply, storage, distribution, and maintenance and a chief 

of research and development, an arrangement prone to “cause difficulty 

in the integration of effort in the materiel area.” Under the deputy chief 

were seven technical services on which field units had to rely for their 

supply and maintenance needs. “Varying policies and procedures of 

the technical services increase the difficulty in standardizing procedures 

within the organizations supported.”29

Creation of the deputy chief position in 1954 had been a start toward 

an integrated logistic system, but the technical services remained “nearly 

self-sufficient entities within the over-all Army structure. Their divergent 

views and interests do not always coincide with over-all Army aims and 

objectives. In a sense, the Army has seven separate supply services.” 

Technological advances and more complex weapon systems aggravated 

the problem in the research and development area.30

The prescribed cure was a single organization responsible for the 

development and logistics responsibilities of all seven services. The 

Army Materiel Command (AMC) stood up on 1 August 1962. Under 

its umbrella were five commodity commands responsible for weapons, 

munitions, missiles, communications and electronics, and tanks and other 

vehicles. The same date witnessed activation of Munitions Command 

(MUCOM) at Picatinny and its armament counterpart, Weapons 

Command (WECOM) at Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois. In addition to 

having charge of conventional and atomic large-caliber munitions 

activities at Picatinny, MUCOM oversaw small-arms munitions work 

at Frankford Arsenal in Pennsylvania, and chemical munitions work 

at Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland. General Ghormley continued as 

commander, and headquarters remained in Picatinny building 171.31

Another feature of the logistics reorganization was project 

management, an attempt to cut across conflicting lines of authority by 

assigning a major program to a single person or group. While practiced 

before the establishment of AMC, it came into widespread use with the 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

320

new command. Thirty program management efforts started at the same 

time as AMC.32

The first of many such offices at Picatinny, the Project Manager 

for Selected Ammunition, predated AMC. It was one of nine efforts 

Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara ordered under project managers 

in 1961. Under Colonel John A. Ulrich, previously head of Picatinny’s 

Ammunition Group, as project manager, the office was responsible for 

a variety of munitions, but emphasis through the 1960s was on items 

adaptable to anti-guerilla warfare. This fit with Ulrich’s experience as a 

senior advisor with the Military Assistance Advisory Group in Vietnam 

during 1959 and 1960. The office went under AMC in August 1962. The 

Army established two more PM offices at Picatinny in January 1967, but 

it disestablished PM-Artillery Ammunition in December 1969 and PMMortar Ammunition in October 1969. PM-Sentinel Munition, later PMSafeguard Munition was at Picatinny from June 1968 until disestablished 

in December 1976.33

The coming of MUCOM meant more reorganization at the local 

level. To insure the changes sufficiently confused people, the command 

turned most of the divisions under the old offices into offices running new 

divisions. The Services Division became the Staff Services Office with 

divisions for Administrative Services, Civilian Personnel, Data Processing 

Operations, Safety, and Security and Intelligence. The office also oversaw 

the Special Staff, a group comprised of the adjutant, the sergeant 

major, the legal counsel, the historian and the Post Restaurant, Public 

Information, and Industrial Labor Relations officers. The Comptroller 

Office expanded into the Comptroller and Programs Office and went 

under Special Staff.

The Support Division became the Installation Support Office with 

responsibility for the Plant Engineering, Supply and Transportation, and 

Arsenal Facilities and Equipment divisions. It lost its purchasing duties 

to the Procurement and Production Directorate. This new organization 

controlled Procurement Services, Procurement Control, and Procurement 

Operations divisions plus a small business/labor surplus advisor and a 

price analyst.

Other new offices were Management Science and Data Processing 

Systems and Commodity Management. The EOD Office expanded 

its mission when the Army reversed a 13-year policy of relying on the 

Navy to research and develop EOD equipment and methods. On 1 July 

1964, the Army began developing its own tools and procedures, including 

render safe procedures, with MUCOM’s EOD Office leading the effort. 

As home to the Army EOD Center, Picatinny guided weapon systems 

developers in devising EOD procedures for new items and created a quick 
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WAYS OF COLD WAR II

reaction capability to cope with new enemy munitions and with North 

Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) standardization of EOD tools and 

procedures. DOD returned tools development, except for nuclear items, 

to the Navy in 1971.34

The arsenal’s computer revolution was still in the aperture card stage, 

but it was proceeding fast enough to require organizational change. The 

Management Science and Data Processing Systems Office split into 

separate Management and Data Processing offices in 1965 with the latter 

absorbing the duties of the Data Processing Division of the Staff Services 

Office. The Data Processing Systems Office became the Management 

Information Systems Directorate in 1971.35

Picatinny dropped the Ammunition and Special Weapons groups and 

assigned research and development work to FRL and the Ammunition 

Engineering (AED) and the Nuclear Engineering directorates (NED). 

FRL now had Pyrotechnics, Plastics and Packaging, Explosives, 

Propellants, and Engineering Services laboratories supported by Long 

Range Technical Forecasting and Plans and Programs divisions and a 

safety engineer.36

The Explosives Laboratory had one section for Nucleonics Research 

and another for Explosives Research. The former had its Isotopes Unit at 

Picatinny, but, because the arsenal lacked a reactor, the Solid State Unit 

was at Brookhaven National Laboratory on New York’s Long Island.

The Explosive Research Section’s one remote element, the Basic 

Research Unit, consisted of two physicists assigned to Watertown Arsenal 

in Massachusetts so they could use the Army Materials Research Reactor. 

The other four units, all in the Hale Building, were Synthesis Research, 

Detonation Research, Explosives and Inert Materials, and Applied 

Research.

FRL concentrated on basic research. For example, the Explosives 

Laboratory worked to correlate the intrinsic crystalline properties of very 

sensitive explosives with their chemical, physical, and explosive ones. In 

the early 1960s, fundamental parameters of most explosives were still 

unknown, but such techniques as neutron diffraction, inelastic neutron 

scattering, and nuclear and electronic radiation promised to change 

this. Study focused on lead and barium azides. Other areas investigated 

included radium reactions, photolysis, thermolysis, and detonation 

processes. While this research was at the basic level, it supported practical 

work by giving “the engineer an exact analytical basis for utilizing 

explosives for specific jobs.37

The Explosive Laboratory was both an educated and a cosmopolitan 

organization. In October 1963, 95.9 percent of its 46 people had degrees. 

There were nine PhDs, 19 masters of science, and 18 bachelors of arts or 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

322

science. The workforce included people from Canada, England, France, 

Germany, Goa, India, and South Africa.38

Development of new items fell to AED and NED. Each had a 

lieutenant colonel as director with civilian technical assistants and safety 

engineers, and both directorates had Plans and Programs, Development, 

and Production and Maintenance Engineering divisions, but AED added 

Mission Coordination and Special Projects Control divisions and a 

NATO Engineering Liaison Office.39

NED divided its work among three laboratories responsible for 

tactical and long-range atomic warheads and atomic ammunition. AED’s 

Ammunition Development Division split into National Development 

Mission and Plans and Programs branches and Artillery Ammunition, 

Solid Rocket Propulsion, Liquid Rocket Propulsion, Technical Services, 

and Warheads and Special Projects laboratories. Its Ammunition 

Production and Maintenance Engineering Division had Ammunition 

Engineering, Applications Engineering, and Process Engineering 

laboratories plus a Plans and Programs Branch.40

Picatinny’s hopes for its own nuclear reactor survived into the early 

1960s but could not surmount the barrier of estimated costs, $15 million 

construction and $2 million to $3 million annual operations.41

QAD now stood for the Quality Assurance Directorate. Its five 

offices and branches became four divisions named Plans and Programs, 

Nuclear Engineering Reliability, Ammunition Reliability, and Inspection 

Operations. The Inspection Operations Division had charge of Picatinny’s 

new Quality Evaluation Laboratory, a million-dollar facility whose 29,000 

square feet housed 150 workers and equipment for examining and testing 

inert components and assemblies of assigned items. The laboratory area 

used 20,000 square feet while 1,500 went to a utilities room and the 

remaining 7,500 to administrative, access, and service areas. Work began 

in April 1963 with a target completion date of May 1964. The dedication 

ceremony for building 92 took place on 25 September 1964.

The building carried the name of Brigadier General Norman F. 

Ramsey, commander of the arsenal during the 1926 explosion. After 

commanding Rock Island Arsenal and Springfield Armory during World 

War II, he spent his retirement in the Picatinny area and was active 

with local civic and charitable organizations, especially Dover General 

Hospital, until his death in 11 April 1963. Attending the ceremony was Dr. 

Norman F. Ramsey, Jr. His youthful association with Picatinny scientists 

and experience of the 1926 explosion may have sparked the interests 

which led to his playing a leading role in the Manhattan Project and 

to sharing the 1989 Nobel Prize for Physics for his work on the cesium 

atomic clock.42
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WAYS OF COLD WAR II

Most of the duties of the Industrial Engineering Division fell to 

the new Industrial Services Directorate headed by “Bricky” Hosking. 

Its Methods Engineering, Quality Control, Management Services, and 

Coordination and Planning divisions stood alone while the directorate 

grouped other divisions in two operations areas. Operations Area A had 

the Experimental Explosives Components, Loading, and Propellants 

and Explosives divisions while Operations Area B was over the Inert 

Components and Nuclear Weapons divisions.43

Picatinny now had the mission, facilities, and overarching structural 

arrangements it would maintain through the Vietnam Era, a period 

in which the arsenal supported Army missions worldwide while giving 

special attention to problems associated with the unexpectedly major 

conflict in Southeast Asia.

Picatinny realized how rapidly the nation’s commitment to the conflict 

in Vietnam was escalating at the start of 1965 when AED received orders 

to support a conventional ammunition buildup. February saw completion 

of a study of the problem, appointment of an action officer for Southeast 

Asian needs, and establishment of a critical control item center to 

support this officer. The action officer ranked above the laboratory chiefs 

and was the single point of contact with MUCOM headquarters, the 

project managers for aircraft weaponization and selected ammunition, 

other services, the Army Ammunition Procurement and Supply Agency, 

Aberdeen, Jefferson, and Yuma proving grounds, and other agencies 

Ramsey Building (B-92)
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

324

involved with individual projects. The directorate assigned production 

engineers as on-site problem solvers at key plants, and trips to contractor 

plants increased 122 percent in both number and duration from 1964 to 

1966 because accelerating production multiplied problems. In addition, 

several Picatinny engineers went to Vietnam to determine needs and 

solve field problems.44

Indicative of the increased workload was the number of technical 

data packages. In four months, the arsenal prepared or updated 380 

packages for Vietnam items, a year’s work prewar. AED realized almost 

all its projects would involve fuze work and established a fuze work shop 

in the Ammunition Engineering Laboratory.45

More work required more employees. AED began by reassigning 

people from lesser priority work and raiding other arsenal organizations, 

but it still had to hire new people, 359 between January 1965 and July 

1966. About half came from a crash recruiting program. This brought the 

directorate total to 1,509, but, in the same period, AED lost 186 workers 

to MUCOM headquarters, other government organizations, and private 

industry, all in need of more help for their Vietnam projects. The higher 

wage scales of private industry aggravated the problem. Picatinnyans 

assigned to Vietnam priority projects often found themselves working 

six-day weeks and earning large amounts of overtime. Total monthly 

overtime hours went from 1,607 in January 1965 to 19,764 in May 1966.46

DA’s Scientific and Engineering Assistant Program, a revival of the 

Korean War’s Science and Professional Personnel Program, assigned 

service men to Picatinny to relieve the employee crunch. By early 1968, 

there were 97 working in technical areas. They included 13 electrical 

engineers, 28 mechanical engineers, 9 chemical engineers, 9 physicists, 

and 28 mathematicians. All had, at minimum, bachelor degrees, and the 

total represented 425 years of undergraduate and graduate study and 

100 years of technical experience.47

The Critical Item Control Center kept current a data bank on all 

Vietnam items, evaluated and alerted the action officer to potential 

problem areas, and served as a management center for daily discussion 

and resolution of engineering problems.48

Much of the initial work fell on the Ammunition Production and 

Maintenance Engineering Division’s laboratories and targeted existing 

items in short supply. The role of the United States prior to the deployment 

of large ground units in 1965 had emphasized air support of ground 

operations, mostly by Vietnamese troops, so Picatinny concentrated 

on 2.75-inch rockets, Mk24 flares, 40mm M384 and M385 rounds for 

helicopter guns, and aircraft dispensed munitions.49
325

WAYS OF COLD WAR II

Requirements for the 2.75-inch rocket, whose XM151 warhead 

had an AED improved design using pearlitic malleable iron, went from 

417,000 in fiscal year 1965 to one million in fiscal year 1966 with seven 

million to follow. A single procurement action of this size needed the 

services of about 30 plants, each with a Picatinny engineer on site. 

Back at Picatinny, AED split the Ammunition Engineering Laboratory’s 

Warhead and Rocket Section into separate Warhead and Rocket sections 

with 2.75-inch items going to the Rocket Section.

The improved design allowed the Army to make extensive use of a 

system it initially regarded as temporary. Production of XM151 metal 

parts, zero in January 1965, reached 250,000 per month in June 1965. 

The number of prime contractors went from four to 15, with two 

Picatinny engineers assigned to each contractor.50

Normally, the Army bought 205,000 40mm M384 high explosive 

rounds for helicopter guns annually. Its fiscal year 1966 order for 31 

million 40mm rounds covered M384s, M385 proof rounds, and M406 

and M407 rounds for the M79 grenade launcher. This meant a rapid 

increase in fuze production and a new Fuze Section. Picatinny helped 

a line at Honeywell Corporation go from 250,000 fuzes monthly to 

1.75 million while a quickly added second source, Martin-Orlando, 

contributed 250,000 fuzes per month.51

Increasing production quantities of munitions for cluster bombs 

(CBU) and air delivery units (ADU) for Sadeye and Hayes dispensers was a 

slower process due to lack of adequate facilities, competing requirements, 

and product defects. Besides needing to bring additional facilities on line, 

AED had to redesign components and supply both the Air Force and the 

Navy with modification kits, adapter cables, ballast rings, and salvo plugs. 

The CBU-3A required engineering design work to improve functioning 

on soft surfaces while production of the CBU-12 white phosphorus 

dispenser had to stop because debris damaged the aircraft. It resumed 

after an engineering change to the orientation of the bombs in the tube 

directed debris away from the aircraft.52

Air Force needs pushed the Army to develop a bomb production 

capability of 100,000 per month. In July 1965, the Ammunition 

Engineering Laboratory added a new Bomb and Bomb Fuze Laboratory 

with 70 people, 40 reassigned from other AED efforts and 30 hired 

from industry. The new organization mostly worked with old bombs not 

manufactured in years.53

The Air Force wanted deliveries of new 750-pound M117 bombs to 

begin in February 1966, but, because there were no active manufacturers 

and previous producers had disposed of their government furnished 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

326

equipment in the 1950s, the earliest possible date was August 1966. After 

the government awarded three production contracts, the Bomb Section 

helped the new producers set up lines and suggested alternate materials 

and engineering changes to improve production.54

Stockpiles of other bombs would not last until production reached 

desired rates. An interim solution lay in 26,000 500-pound M78 and 

58,000 1,000-pound M79 chemical bombs awaiting demilitarization and 

disposal. AED determined it could convert these to carry high explosive 

loads at an approximate cost of $150.00 per bomb for the smaller item 

and $200.00 per bomb for the larger. Deliveries began in January 1966 

for the converted M78s and in April 1966 for the M79s. The total cost of 

the two efforts was $8 million.55

Fiscal year 1966 saw AED support procurement of 652,000 flechette 

or beehive rounds, including 106mm XM581 antipersonnel (APERS) and 

90mm XM590 canister cartridges for recoilless rifles, 105mm XM546 

rounds for howitzers, and 90mm XM580 and M37 canister cartridges for 

tank guns. The Army had shown little interest until testing at Quantico 

Marine Base and Fort A. P. Hill in Virginia showed flechettes more 

effective for jungle warfare than high explosive rounds and machine gun 

bullets because the flechettes’ fin-stabilized geometry maintained lowdrag flight characteristics and stability in thick foliage which deflected 

larger projectiles.

Prior to Vietnam, the normal time from the start of development 

to first production for beehive rounds was five and one-half years. 

Picatinny moved the 106mm M40A1 round from development to 

limited production in six months, immediately after safety release. Full 

production began three months later. Development of the XM590 began 

in September 1965, and 200 rounds went to Vietnam in February 1966. 

Limited production began in May 1966. Meeting these demands meant 

Picatinny’s beehive program went from a few engineers to 28 engineers 

and technicians divided into two units under the Rocket Section.56

The Artillery Section had 17 people prior to the Vietnam escalation. 

It quickly went to 25 but wanted to reach 33. Of the approximately 

80 mortar and artillery items in its charge, 31 were for Southeast Asia 

use. The section spread its technical staff thin to provide technical data 

packages and engineering support for crash procurements.57

The 60mm M83A3 illuminating cartridge had been out of production 

for over a decade when Picatinny received a request for an updated 

technical data package on 16 March 1965. The package was ready by 6 

April, and production began in June. Then, the problems started.

Candles failing to ignite during ballistic firing of pilot lots and 

faulty tube assemblies causing fuze separations forced rejection of the 
327

WAYS OF COLD WAR II

first production lot. After correction of these defects, the next lot’s tail 

cones collapsed in the gun tubes. A harder steel corrected this, but the 

following lot experienced excessive parachute malfunctions whose 

remedy required replacing split cups with cardboard discs. Even worse 

was a recurring problem with erratic propelling charges producing high 

chamber pressures and low velocities which caused low burst heights and 

short burning times. Picatinny’s solution was a new propelling charge, the 

XM182.58

The 105mm XM314A2E1 illuminating cartridge’s litany of woes 

included parachutes failing to deploy, short burning times, and ignition 

and separation failures. The schedule was too tight to allow product 

improvement tests prior to production, so Picatinny engineers had to 

make design changes based on their experience with similar items. Major 

alterations included adding anti-rotation brakes to reduce the effect 

of spin on burning time and redesigning the propellant charge using 

polyethylene to eliminate voiding of the charge on spin and to increase 

moisture resistance.59

Other items under the Artillery Section were the 60mm M302E1 

white phosphorous (WP) and M49A2 high explosive cartridges and the 

175mm M437A2 high explosive projectile. The section’s improvements 

for all calibers of illuminating rounds raised overall performance 30 to 40 

percent and reliability levels to the 95 to 98 percent range.60

60mm M83 Illumination Cartridge
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

328

Every demand for more or newer munitions placed demands on fuze 

workers. Before the Southeast Asian escalation, the Fuze Section had 

employed 25 engineers and technicians. In 1966, 30 people worked on 

bomb fuzes alone. Most came from other fuze projects, forcing those to 

make do with inexperienced people. The decision to reactivate the 60mm 

mortar forced fuze workers to consult drawings which were often the 

intellectual property of defunct companies and convert them to newer 

formats. The sudden need for beehive round forced the section to test 

fuzes during production.61

Causing the most difficulties for the Mine and Demolition Section 

were the M26 fragmentation hand grenade and the M18A1 Claymore 

mine, two foot-soldier standbys. Fuze shortages limited the initial order 

of M26A2s, and the Army had to continue shipping M26A1s, whose fuze 

was readily available, through September 1966. Soldiers learned to use 

the new item using practice grenades the section manufactured.62

The Claymore was an example of industry and government 

partnership. The Continental Army Command (CONARC) directed 

improvement of the Marine Corps T48 Claymore in 1955 and assigned 

overall project supervision to Picatinny. Aerojet was the development 

contractor while Harry Diamond Ordnance Fuze Laboratories had the 

job of designing the new initiation system. The team finalized the new 

configuration in June 1957. Picatinny reentered the picture when the 

Vietnam fighting required increased quantities. Its engineers had to work 

closely with private components manufactures to produce the extra items 

60mm M302 White Phosphorous Cartridge
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WAYS OF COLD WAR II

for direct shipment to the combat zone until Louisiana Army Ammunition 

Plant was able to handle the additional manufacturing burden. Claymore 

loading halted for a short time due to a shortage of bandoleers. When it 

resumed, the mines went to Vietnam without test sets and firing devices 

until section personnel and contractors could solve the problems.63

The Warhead Section lost 11 of its 31 people to the rapidly expanded 

Bomb Section and two others to the Rocket Section. This left 18 employees, 

two nontechnical. Other units could borrow its people almost at will 

because it had only one Vietnam priority project, the M72 light antitank 

weapon (LAW). Projects on the back burner included renovations to the 

3.5-inch bazooka and support to M3 JATO, Honest John, and Little John 

rocket engines. Non-Vietnam projects demanding attention included a 

Hawk improvement program, rocket assisted artillery projectiles, and 

precision shape charge components, and the Army continued to assign 

the section’s work on warheads for Redeye, Shillelagh, and other missiles 

high priority.64

The Maintenance Engineering Section investigated varied 

malfunctions on ammunition of all calibers while seeking solutions 

to such problems as converting rounds of one type to a more needed 

kind, cannibalizing components of obsolete items, and reviewing lots of 

suspended rounds for possible release to Vietnam. The section also had 

to develop and publish render safe procedures for all new conventional 

munitions. Accomplishing these missions required sending people to 

M18 Antipersonnel Mine (Claymore)
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

330

Europe, Japan, and Korea as well as to Vietnam. The arsenal increased 

the section’s personnel from 38 in January 1965 to 54 in June 1966, but 

this meant a third of its workers had less than a year’s experience.65

Feeling Vietnam’s impact most in the Process Engineering Laboratory 

were the 18 members of the Propellants and Pyrotechnics Section. 

They had to support new production of M125A1 handheld signals and 

M112A1 photoflash cartridges and increased production of M37 aircraft 

signals while doing product improvement studies on the Mk24 flare and 

the M19A2 signal and correcting problems with in-house production of 

the AN/ALA-17 flare set. In addition, the section resolved production 

problems on the M142 atomic simulator, the M116A1 simulator, and the 

M49A1 trip flare and gave direct engineering support to nine contractors 

handling 30 items. More fortunate than other organizations, this 

laboratory was able to increase its workforce 60 percent, from 18 to 31.66

Artillery Ammunition Division units continually juggled Vietnam 

and non-Vietnam projects. Its Artillery Ammunition Laboratory felt the 

pinch in all sections, even though the Vietnam buildup allowed it to add 

two engineers. Antiarmor projectile developers could schedule neither 

loading of research and development rounds nor testing at proving 

grounds, and the Explosive Applications Section met long delays in the 

shops and the explosive lens facility. The Mine and Fuze Section pined 

for attention until it devised a concept for an unmanned Claymore.67

The Artillery and Mortar Fuze Section had two Vietnam priority 

projects, the XM571E1 and XM592 multi-time fuzes for beehive rounds. 

The demand was such as to permit only the most essential tests prior 

to limited production. Development of the XM571 multi-time fuze 

for 105mm tank gun rounds was not a Vietnam priority effort, but it 

progressed by piggy backing on work for fuzes with priority designations. 

Not so fortunate projects, including an arm and disarm study for rocket 

assisted projectiles, languished.68

The Warheads and Special Projects Laboratory had charge of 

developing new types of 40mm ammunition. AMC, inspired by the 

interest of the Chief of Staff of the Army, inquired about a WP round 

in December 1964. This moved MUCOM, chemical researchers at 

Edgewood Arsenal, and PM-Selected Ammunition to formulate several 

development plans and to choose one which gave overall responsibility 

to AED. The first 5,500 rounds went to Vietnam in May and June 1966, 

but they had a problem. When fired in temperatures over 1100F, WP 

liquefied and caused the round to fall short, a hazard to friendly troops. 

The 5,500 rounds which went to Vietnam in May and June 1966 carried 

a restriction against firing in too hot temperatures.69
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40mm shot had a smoother history. AED had expected the assignment 

as early as December 1963 and alerted Frankford Arsenal. Although 

Frankford was the primary developer, AED had overall responsibility 

and worked closely with Frankford to handle engineering problems as 

they arose and to reduce a development schedule initially projected at 

18 months to nine. Helping reduce development time was a $600,000.00 

emergency appropriation. March 1966 saw delivery of the first 4,536 

rounds to Vietnam.70

Picatinny had begun researching 40mm white star and cluster 

signaling rounds for the M79 grenade launcher in the late 1950s and 

had demonstrated experimental versions to Special Forces and high- level 

officials in 1962. A research and development contract went to Avco 

Corporation in June 1963, but MUCOM suspended the low priority 

effort in October 1964 due to lack of guidance and funds. The Air Force 

rejuvenated the effort when it sought rounds for the launcher attachment 

planned for the new M16 rifle, then of more interest to the Air Force 

than the Army. The XM583 and XM585 proved suitable, and the Air 

Force ordered 2,000 of both. The Army followed with an order for 5,000 

XM583s in October 1965. The 173rd Infantry Brigade found it had an 

urgent requirement for 6,000 of each round, but the $240,000.00 to buy 

them did not materialize until May 1966.71

Fielding the family of 40mm rounds became one of Picatinny’s 

proudest boasts of the Vietnam Era.72
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332

Other Warheads and Special Projects Laboratory projects were 

developing a new warhead and two new fuzes for 2.75-inch rockets, 

improving the 750-pound M117 bomb, and supplying the Honest John 

rocket’s M57 warhead with an air burst fuze. The Honest John effort 

required the services of the tube operated, optically tracked wire guided 

(TOW) missile’s project engineer for three months and, so, delayed the 

latter effort. Assignments of personnel to Vietnam projects hampered 

work on non-nuclear warhead, aircraft weaponization, multipurpose 

assault weapon (MAW), and surface-to-air missile-development (SAM-D) 

efforts.73

The Technical Services Laboratory’s role in every Vietnam related 

program at Picatinny gave it an excellent view of how the accelerated 

pace affected equipment and people. It could recommend a financial fix 

for equipment problems by advising planners to budget for replacement 

machines as well as for new equipment when assigning projects. People 

were a different matter. The laboratory had 243 people in January 1965 

and quickly received authorization to hire another 25. The special 

requirements of the positions and civil service hiring practices allowed 

it to fill only 13 of the slots. As in other units, employee shortages meant 

extensive overtime and six-day weeks. Prior to the Vietnam escalation, 

laboratory workers averaged 4.2 hours overtime in a two-week pay 

periods. This rose to 19.9 hours, and the laboratory found “over-tired 

personnel in combination with experimental and investigative types of 

tests on ‘live’ ammunition, cause the Operating Risk factor to escalate 

disproportionately to the number of hours worked.”74

The accelerated pace seems to have played a role in the fatal accident 

of 9 March 1966 in building 800. The aircraft bomb assembly plant had 

been going 24-hours, and the two fatalities, Amedeo Rosa, and Bernard 

F. Swedberg were new. Rosa had been on the job for six month, Swedberg 

four days. There were no other injuries because the building had separate 

compartments with concrete dividing walls.75

A year to the day later, at 12:20pm on 9 March 1967, a pyrotechnic 

composition ignited and started a fire which killed James Johnson, Jr., 

Robert L. Ridner, Willis Johnson, and Robert Braverman and severely 

burned George J. Haffner and Clyde H. Patterson. Although labeled 

a fire and not an explosion, the event was violent enough to blow out 

window glass 50 feet away and to burn holes through a corrugated 

asbestos roof. There might have been more fatalities if half the 18 people 

in the building had not been at lunch and if the building had not had two 

rooms divided by a cinderblock firewall.76

Just two months later, on 19 May 1967, the explosion of an 

experimental munition considered too “secret” to name killed technician 
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C. Richard Sechrist and hospitalized explosives operator Julio Lopes. 

Sechrist had only transferred to Picatinny four months earlier, but he had 

11 years of Federal Service. Lopes had 14 years.77

In October 1967, Picatinny faced danger from its history. Clearing 

land for a parking lot near building 3002 uncovered unexploded ordnance 

from the 1926 explosion. The rounds were about 1,500 feet from the gate 

which had separated the Army and Navy installations.78

In addition to home front dangers, many Picatinny employees faced 

the hazards of Vietnam when duty required. Julian B. Johnson’s work as 

a new equipment instructor for munitions led to his instructing troops on 

the 2.75-inch rocket system’s WDU-4A/A flechette warhead and earned 

him a Certificate of Achievement from the theater commander, General 

Creighton Abrams.79

Not all the expertise Picatinny sent to Vietnam was in science and 

engineering areas. Anthony Hall, a personnel staffing specialist, arrived in 

Vin Dinh Province on Easter Sunday 1966 to set up a civilian personnel 

office and lived in a six-man hut until July 1967. His work covered 

contractors, technicians, and entertainers. In January 1967, he survived a 

shelling which killed six and wounded 40.80

Despite the considerable resources diverted to the immediate needs 

of Southeast Asia combat, AED found time for other projects. The Solid 

Rocket Propulsion Laboratory designed, developed and flight tested the 

electronic jammer delivery system and delivered it to the United States 

Army Electronic Command in 18 months. This system used time phased 

ejection technology and a parachute system to disperse multiple payloads 

over a target.

The laboratory’s combining of rocket-assisted projectile (RAP) 

technology with a Picatinny developed recoilless charge reduced backblast 

pressures to a point where mounting 105mm weapons on helicopters 

became feasible. The laboratory designed and developed RAPs ranging 

from 40mm to 155mm and worked with Watervliet Arsenal to design the 

105mm XM628 RAP/XM193 baseplate howitzer. The last item achieved 

the standard range of 105mm howitzers and the maximum range of 4.2-

inch mortars with one-third the weight of a standard howitzer.81

The Liquid Rocket Propulsion Laboratory concentrated on packaged 

liquid propellant systems which used new lightweight components, the 

latest ignition and pressurization systems, and the concept of propellant 

management. The last required researching new concepts of propellant 

injection, uncooled chambers and nozzles, positive expulsion techniques, 

and gas generators. This work proved the feasibility of using these systems 

as sustainers for gun-fired projectiles and in rockets aimed at land targets 

and low level aircraft.
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Investigation of feed systems for liquid propellants covered such 

novel methods as pistons, bladders, and direct hot gas impingement with 

propellant combinations using halogen or nitric acid oxidizers. Adapting 

a staged-combustion-cycle, turbopump-fed engine concept eliminated 

the excessive tank weight usually found with such systems while still 

delivering high performance.82

The laboratory applied its knowledge to developing highly active 

liquids able to ignite organic compounds and liquid monopropellants 

able to detonate and destroy ammunition storage facilities and tunnels 

and to demonstrating the suitability of liquid linear shaped charges in 

missile destruct systems and in creating emergency exits in aircrafts. 

Other studies covered fuel air explosives, chemical and restricted fuel 

timers, chemical-mechanical mines, automated high explosive loading, 

and pollution control.83

In the period 1960-1972, Picatinny developed and put into service 110 

nuclear items. The majority, about 65, were components for warheads in 

the Hercules, Pershing, Honest John, Sergeant, Safeguard, and Lance 

missile systems. Another line of research focused on reducing the size 

of nuclear warheads to where they were usable by Army ground forces 

closer to front lines. Work on the atomic demolition munition required 

developing 33 items.84

One benefit from this activity spurt was a new edifice. Picatinny 

dedicated building 94 to its World War II commander as part of its 

Armed Forces Day celebration on 29 May 1967. The two-story W. E. 

Larned Building (B-94)
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WAYS OF COLD WAR II

Larned Building was 325 feet long and 150 feet wide, cost $1.5 million, 

and could hold 455 employees doing accelerated research, development, 

and pre-production evaluation of special and conventional munitions.85

The needs of the present did not stifle interest in the future. FRL 

continued an active basic research program, as its 1969 activities 

show. The Explosives Laboratory worked on crystal growth, explosive 

characterization, azide decomposition, thermal initiation of explosives, 

fast reaction kinetics, TNT synthesis, spontaneous detonation of 

initiating devices, composition B and alternate explosive fills, fast neutron 

moderation measurement of moisture, and radioactive tracer inspection 

of hand grenade fuzes. A Materials Engineering Laboratory, established 

in 1969, kept busy developing a polypropylene time clock, composite 

nonmetallic rotating bands, a test to check for deterioration of plastic 

moldings during the molding cycle, composite armor, an underwater 

adhesive, methods for producing high adhesive bond strength, predicting 

the useful life of adhesive bonds, and analyzing the effectiveness of foams 

in shaped-charge liners. Plastics workers studied polyurethane foams and 

compiled an index of plastics specifications and standards.86

The Propellants Laboratory applied thermal analysis to a wide variety 

of formulae and the fast Fourier transform algorithm to gel-permeation 

chromatograms, studied the use of nitryl chloride as a nitrating agent for 

amines and borazines, and observed volume contraction in command 

casting solvents at low temperatures. Other studies covered diluted 

nitrocellulose solutions, black powder ignition, ballistic modifiers for 

rocket propellants, and cross-linked plastisol propellants.87

Problems of interest to the Engineering Sciences Laboratory involved 

studying shaped charge instabilities with hydrodynamic analysis, finding 

a method of halting an expanding cylinder prior to breakup as a means 

of understating the fragmentation behavior of different metals, and 

finding numerical techniques for analyzing muzzle blast regions and the 

dynamics of grazing shells. Moreover, the laboratory developed new 

Lagrangian two-dimensional codes, compared free-flight data-reduction 

methods, and studied amorphous semiconductors.88

The Pyrotechnics Laboratory pursued product improvement by 

studying thermal degradation of dyes, developing a spectrophotometric 

procedure to detect trace amounts of chlorates, and conducting sensitivity 

testing on flash, flare, and delay compositions. Other work developed new 

ground signals and adapted the Navy’s Mk45 mod 0 parachute flare for 

use with dispensers on Army aircraft.89

The Munitions Packaging Laboratory, another organization created 

in 1969, investigated new methods to measure humidity in ammunition 

containers, developed better fiber containers, and solved problems 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

336

peculiar to loading 152mm ammunition and separate loaded artillery 

projectiles.90

Byproducts of Picatinny’s technical work from 1960 through 1972 

included 530 papers, 2,620 technical reports and memoranda, and 1,498 

technical manuals and catalogs. In 1961, Picatinny published the first 

volume of its Encyclopedia of Explosives and Related Items. The 800-page 

volume edited by Dr. Basil T. Federoff covered A to Azoxy. Reaching 

Z-salz would take another nine volumes and 23 years, but Federoff and 

his co-authors produced a major reference work still not duplicated and 

did it as a sideline.91

Vietnam priorities did not deter Picatinny from helping elsewhere. 

For example, Joe Rossi and Frank Reilly of the Safety Division went to 

Taiwan in August 1965 to help AMC’s Military Assistance Group train 

the Nationalist Chinese in explosive handling.92

Despite its significant contributions to an increasingly unpopular 

war effort, Picatinny was rarely the focus of antiwar sentiment. The plan 

sponsored by a local antiwar group for mothers to distribute flowers at 

the 1967 Armed Forces Day celebration while saying the word “peace” 

did not interfere with the crowd’s fun. Photos show visitors, especially 

children, taking the same delight in military hardware as in other years.93

During World War II, Picatinny had regularly invited combat veterans 

to give morale raising speeches. It did not do so with any frequency during 

the Vietnam Era, but, on 20 March 1973, it threw a welcome home 

ceremony for Air Force Captain Joseph Crecca, a survivor of six years as 

a prisoner of war. The captain had worked in AED as a civilian and had 

saved the life of a fellow worker who suffered an aneurism on the job in 

1964. The appearance of the saved employee was the official highlight of 

the day. An unofficial one was a plane dropping antiwar leaflets.94

An earlier protest, on Moratorium Day, 4 May 1972, occurred at 

ground level with employee and demonstrator interaction. Rockaway 

Township and Wharton supplying extra security and the arsenal 

stringing barbed concertina wire on the hills flanking the Main Gate 

showed people were on edge, but the event stayed, mostly, low key. The 

demonstrators included students from northern New Jersey schools, 

especially Drew University, and members of the Morris County Center 

for Peace and Human Rights and New Jersey SANE. They appeared 

late in the afternoon to hand out pamphlets to employees on the way 

home. Most employees stared straight ahead as they drove though, but 

some gunned their engines or drove close to the protestors. One seemed 

ready to leave his car and fight, but a Rockaway Township police captain 

stopped him. Several, described in the press as “notably women, blacks, 
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WAYS OF COLD WAR II

and young employees,” accepted the pamphlets, as did an Army officer 

who gave the peace sign.95

Suggestive of the era’s confusion was the second theme of the 

demonstration, a protest against planned layoffs of Picatinny workers 

due to de-escalation of the war under protest. The main organizer, the 

Drew University Political Action Collective, attacked the layoffs in hopes 

of attracting employees to join the students. A candidate for Congress 

joined the demonstration on this issue and promised to have the Federal 

Bureau of the Budget study measures to turn the arsenal’s knowledge 

and efforts toward peacetime needs, especially in the environmental area. 

Congressional candidates not at the demonstration echoed this theme, as 

did antiwar presidential candidate George McGovern.96

The proposed layoffs promised hardship for many because the arsenal 

had recruited aggressively to meet the initial escalation, even running 

radio announcements by such media personalities as Ed Sullivan, Lowell 

Thomas, and John Daly. The installation reached 9,010 employees, the 

highest point since World War II, in 1968, but started dropping within a 

year. The ceasefire negotiations in Paris limped into 1974, but Picatinny 

received intimations of the end much earlier as the payroll dropped to 

8,204 in 1969, 7,485 in 1970, 6,906 in 1971, and 6,645 in 1972.97

Layoffs after World Wars I and II had involved people who had not 

expected to stay once shooting stopped. This one targeted people the 

arsenal had lured with promises of careers. The layoffs planned for 1972 

threatened 800 people and exposed splits within the workforce. Nonveterans’ troubles with veterans’ preference centered on laws beyond the 

arsenal’s control, but the complaints of experienced technicians alleging 

Picatinny was firing them while it hired degreed engineers to do the same 

work arose from policies the installation pursued with vigor.98

The arsenal had shared in the accelerating professionalization and 

specialization of the engineering profession. This meant the career 

progression of a “Bricky” Hosking was no longer possible. The man who 

had started as a laborer boy just out of high school and had risen to 

oversee planning for World War II production, the emergency gearing 

up of 3.5-inch bazooka production, and development of PAL had taken 

only a couple of college-level night courses. His final job was as deputy 

commander of the arsenal. Hosking was not on post when this debate 

erupted, having retired in 1968. “On a pleasant April morning, while 

driving to work and admiring the beauty of the Arsenal, the thought 

occurred that soon I would no longer be coming this way. Driving in, I 

decided to retire at once and do any worrying after rather than before 

retirement.”99
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338

One employee slated for layoff in 1972 had started at age 18 as a 

GS-3 and risen to GS-12. This was not a bad career progression, but 

he complained he could go no further because he did not have an 

engineering degree. After18 years, the 36-year old faced reentering a 

job market filled with younger, degreed candidates. Another accused the 

arsenal of planning to get rid of all technicians in three to five years in 

order to promote itself as an all-professional organizatin.100

The intended layoffs did target non-degree employees, but Picatinny 

took steps to protect them. It saved some by moving them into a new area 

for manufacturing technicians. Moving supply workers and equipment 

caretakers into the Headquarters and Installation Support Activity 

(HISA), an organization started the previous year as an element separate 

from the rest of Picatinny, removed them from the layoff pool.101

The nine employees with doctorates in October 1963 had risen 666 

percent, to 62, by July 1972. Another 316 had master’s degrees, and the 

total 1,861 professionals comprised the largest segment of the workforce, 

36.5 percent. Next came administrative and clerical at 28.2 percent. 

Percentages for other groups were sub-professionals 28.2, skilled workers 

10.3, semi-skilled workers 5.5, and unskilled 0.9.

The largest occupational group among the professionals was 854 

mechanical and general engineers. There were 128 chemists, 160 

chemical engineers, 242 electronic engineers, 130 industrial engineers, 

137 physicists and physical scientists, 42 mathematicians, 3 safety 

engineers, and 57 aerospace engineers along with a miscellaneous group 

Wilfred “Bricky” Hosking
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WAYS OF COLD WAR II

of 37 which included metallurgists, ceramicists, and materials and ceramic 

engineers. Classed as professionals were one statistician, 24 mathematical 

statisticians, 4 psychologists in the Human Engineering Laboratory, 5 

patent advisors, 9 librarians, 2 museum curators, 20 accountants, and 5 

attorneys.102

The technically demanding nature of most positions made for an 

expensive workforce. In 1969, 39 percent of Picatinny employees held 

grades of GS-9 or above and the average salary, excluding benefits, was 

$8,989.00. This meant a total payroll of $80,982,806.00. Although the 

workforce fell to 8,204 in 1969, the payroll rose to $83,800.850.00, with the 

average individual salary at $10,215.00. By 1973, there were only 5,918 

workers, but inflation had raised the total payroll to $93,798.723.00.103

The $67.7 million Picatinny received for advanced and engineering 

development programs in fiscal year 1968 became $48.1 million in fiscal 

year 1969. This figure rose to $62.2 million in fiscal year 1971 and to 

$79.4 million in fiscal year 1972, but funding fell to $62.8 million the 

next year and to $51.7 in fiscal year 1974. Total funding peaked at $394.1 

million in fiscal year 1969 and fell to $259.1 million in fiscal year 1971. 

After a rise to $312.7 million the next year, it fell to $254.2 million.104

The Army knew the end of the war and the persistence of the 

antimilitary feelings the war had nurtured would mean less money and 

fewer people and planed accordingly. On 11 January 1973, it announced 

a number of major changes “to modernize, reorient and streamline the 

Army’s organization within the continental United States.” One was 

combining MUCOM and WECOM into the new Armaments Command 

(ARMCOM). This sent 635 civilian positions and 50 military personnel 

from MUCOM Headquarters and project management offices to the 

new headquarters at Rock Island Arsenal. The new command structure 

became effective 1 July 1973.105

Picatinny had been making changes prior to the coming of 

ARMCOM. In January 1970, MUCOM formed the Technical Services 

Directorate to provide engineering services for all Picatinny segments as 

well as assuming the duties of the Technical Services Laboratory. Its first 

director was Karl Ottoson. On 25 June 1971, MUCOM set up HISA 

with divisions covering facilities engineering, security, administrative 

services, morale and welfare, communications electronics, equipment 

management, post transportation, and supply and stock control and 

approximately 1,200 workers. Research and development work remained 

under Picatinny Arsenal, but its commander, Colonel William A. Walker, 

wore two hats and had two separate command staffs. The technical 

director, a military executive officer, and a civilian executive assistant 

supported him as commander of Picatinny while a civilian executive 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

340

officer and a program manager supported him as commander of 

HISA. Creation of the technical director position was part of an effort 

to centralize planning. Another part was formation of a Plans Office in 

April 1972 as a Special Staff element for technical and resource planning 

and for dealing with special studies and problems. In mid-1971, AED and 

NED both expanded their titles and became the Ammunition (ADED) 

and Nuclear development and engineering (NDED) directorates. Later 

the same year, Picatinny established the Manufacturing Technology 

Directorate to handle all phases of process engineering. QAD became 

the Product Assurance Directorate (PAD), and the Technical Services 

Directorate became the Technical Support Directorate (TSD) with little 

internal change in either.106

Titles and missions of elements in the NDEC were the same as in its 

predecessor, but the laboratories of AED became branches under ADED. 

The Solid and Liquid Rocket Propulsion laboratories disappeared from 

organizational charts and a Rocket Assisted Projectiles and Pyrotechnics 

Branch appeared. The end of the Liquid Rocket Propulsion Laboratory 

was a sign of the declining interest in its subject. Its own chief, John D. 

Clark, thought the subject exhausted by the 1970s. Thiokol, unwilling to 

invest in new lines of liquid propellant research, shut down its Reaction 

Motors Division, including the testing facilities at Picatinny, in June 1972. 

The company and Picatinny shared concerns about damage claims from 

neighbors and realized the testing would need to go to wide open spaces 

such as found around White Sands, New Mexico.107

Relocation of the National Bomb Data Center from its original home 

in Gaithersburg, Maryland, to Picatinny, responded to a Department of 

Justice proposal coupled with a request from the Secretary of the Army. 

The center, which provided data on bombings and advice on bomb 

disposal to over 4,000 public safety agencies nationwide, was under 

the arsenal and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. When the Israeli 

Embassy in London and an Israeli diplomat in New York received letter 

bombs in September 1972, the center sent the technical information to 

3,200 law enforcement agencies only 26 hours after receiving photos 

of the bomb from the New York police. The Army closed this center 

after three years in an effort to rid itself of responsibilities in the area of 

dissident activities.108

The ARMCOM years saw Picatinny join the nationwide move 

away from railroads. Closure of area iron mines beginning in the 1950s 

combined with Rockaway Township’s desire to remove obstacles to road 

traffic moved the parent company of the Wharton and Northern line 

to shut down the line in 1971. DOD protested this would render useless 

the arsenal’s railroad and hinder its receipt of supplies, especially coal. 
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Picatinny received 498 carloads of coal in 1971. Service to the arsenal 

continued as a temporary measure with the track above it destroyed. The 

powerhouse’s shift to oil in 1973 eliminated this justification while the 

loss of production work set Picatinny to putting its railroad equipment in 

storage and to ripping up track. When oil prices led the arsenal to consider 

returning to coal late in the decade, it rebuilt some of the destroyed track 

to heavy-duty standards. This was wasted effort as neither the fuel change 

nor the railroad resuscitation occurred.109

As if to emphasize it was still the same Picatinny, fatal blasts bracketed 

the change of commands. On 29 March 1973, five millwrights were 

doing disassembly work on a building vacant for six years. The last known 

use was poaching nitrocellulose. When a worker took a portable electric 

band saw to a pipe which had previously carried propellant, there was 

an explosion. Building damage was minimal, but Joseph Sassano and 

Theodore Stevens died. Injured were William Long, Emmitt Mann and 

Jack Norman. Sassano was running the saw while Stevens and Long 

held the pipe. Norman earned a Decoration for Exceptional Civilian 

Service by remaining in the building and trying to treat the others. Fred 

Bruno rushed from outside the building to give first aid while James Warr, 

Jr., came from the powerhouse to help. Both received decorations. An 

investigation noted lapses in safety procedures, especially not properly 

understanding the work before starting, not having an explosives safety 

specialist at the site during the work, and using electric tools in a building 

with possible propellant remnants. The investigation could not find who 

had determined the pipes needed removing.110

On 15 August 1973, a laboratory explosion killed physical science 

technicians Frank Arentowicz and Richard Ashby. Elry Hayes, J. Wendell 

Leach, and Theodore Mott earned decoration for risking the own lives 

to try saving the other two. All six honorees from the two events received 

their awards on the same day two years later.111

In June 1973, the arsenal acquired a new tenant organization when 

the Army established the Office of the Project Manager Munitions 

Production Base Modernization and Expansion as the result of a study 

MUCOM completed in 1970. The office oversaw the updating of 

ammunition manufacture and directed efforts toward areas deemed most 

vital to the defense effort. It became the Production Base Modernization 

Agency (PBMA) in 1979 and remained at Picatinny until its deactivation 

in 1991.112

Population continued to decline under ARMCOM, but not drastically. 

The 5,918 of June 1973 was down to 5,000 by 1976. Total funding rose 

from $201.2 million in fiscal year 1974 to $213.1 million in fiscal year 

1975, a year with an 11 percent inflation rate, and to $214.4 million a 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

342

year later. Research, development, test, and evaluation (RDTE) amounts 

for the same years were $68.6 million, $67.7 million, and $85.4 million.113

Despite reduced staffs and budgets, Picatinny stayed productive. Items 

contributed to the national arsenal while under ARMCOM included 

the 8-inch M509 improved conventional munition (ICM) projectile, the 

105mm M546E2 antipersonnel cartridge with the M564E4 fuze, the 

M180 demolition kit for cratering, the M616 fuze for antitank mines, 

the M56 mine dispensing subsystem, the 40mm M397A1 HE and 

M407A2 practice cartridges, the 81mm M374 A3 HE and M375A3 WP 

cartridges, the 81mm mortar training device, the 4.2-inch M329A2 HE 

cartridge, the M739 point detonating (PD) fuze, the M250 HE warhead 

for the Chaparral guided missile, Spartan and Sprint warhead sections 

for the Safeguard antiballistic missile (ABM) system, the M201 training 

warhead section for Lance, the XM29 countermeasure flare dispenser, 

the 90mm M764 target practice-tracer (TP-T) cartridge, the 152mm 

high explosive antitank (HEAT)-T-multipurpose (MP) cartridge, the M34 

blasting machine, the fuze for the 2.75-inch M439 rocket, the M63 fuze 

setter, and the 40mm M661, M662, M676, M680, M682, M714, M715, 

and M716 signal cartridges.114

The spread of occupations was not significantly different from the late 

MUCOM period. Of 5,000 employees in June 1976, 1,632 were scientists 

and engineers. These included 102 chemists, 133 chemical engineers, 220, 

electrical and electronic engineers, 63 industrial engineers, 145 physicists 

and physical scientists, 30 mathematicians, 14 aerospace engineers, 863 

mechanical and general engineers, and 29 in the combined category of 

metallurgists, material engineers, technologists and ceramic engineers.115

In December 1975, female scientists and engineers numbered 20. 

FRL had the most, six chemists, a physicist, and a mathematician. The 

Management Information Services Directorate had two mathematicians 

while NDED had one physicist, a mathematician, and a mechanical 

engineer. In PAD were a mathematical statistician and a mechanical 

and an electronic engineer. ADED had the same plus a physicist. The 

average general service grade for these women was 11.45 compared to 

12.10 for all scientists and engineers. This resulted in an average annual 

wage difference of $1,512.00. The women averaged about three years 

younger with about three years less experience than the total scientist and 

engineer force.116

As in World War II, the 1970s saw accelerated entry of women into 

crafts. The numbers were smaller than in the 1940s but the effects longer 

lasting. When Picatinny implemented a new Department of Labor 

program apprenticeship program in 1976, a woman was one of the first 

nine to take advantage. Nancy Jaksetic joined the carpenter apprentice 
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program in 1976 in hopes of going from earning $8,800.00 a year as a 

clerk to $14,800 when she finished her four-year apprenticeship.117

In 1971, an Equal Employment Officer began appearing on 

organizational charts as an advisor to the arsenal commander. Helping 

this officer were employees who acted as equal employment opportunity 

examiners in addition to their regular duties. One was engineer Renee 

Stone, an immigrant from Rumania who had been one of two women 

in her engineering classes at New York University in 1941. Her work 

in her field rated inclusion in Who is Who in American Women while her 

commitment to women’s rights led to her lecturing to an international 

conference of women scientists and engineers and to high school and 

college students around the United States.118

Picatinny welcomed its first member of the Women’s Army Corps 

(WAC) in September 1975, Specialist Fourth Grade Lillian Salvador, 

an assistant computer programmer. The next month brought Private 

First Class Norma Werbinski, a nuclear weapons technician. Both were 

beneficiaries of the Army’s opening of new career opportunities to 

enlisted women, partly due to the spirit of the times and partly owing 

to the lack of qualified men in the post-draft armed forces. Salvador, 

who had a geography degree from the State University of New York in 

Albany, joined up after failing to find work in the civilian world. An added 

incentive for Werbinski’s enlistment was a fiancée stationed in Germany. 

The two women roomed together in building 3050 along with unmarried 

male enlisted personnel.119

Bachelor officers lived in building 3220, a remodeled Navy structure 

which had housed WAVES during World War II. There were 33 single 

homes available to general and field grade officers, 29 single and fourfamily homes for company grade officers, and 25 single and four-family 

homes for enlisted people. The arsenal commander still lived in building 

112 with the next highest ranking officers using 113, 114, and 115 on 

Farley Avenue and 3250, the former Navy commander’s home, on Navy 

Hill. The houses in the old Spicertown area were still in use, but most 

family housing was on Navy Hill. Most family services activities, including 

commissary and post exchange, were near the latter area. A Child Care 

Center and the Nursery School shared 3220 and gave the bachelor 

officers a look at family life. Opening the commissary in building 3225 on 

5 September 1975 relieved Picatinny military and area military retirees 

of the need to travel to Fort Monmouth.120

In 1975, the arsenal transformed building 3221, constructed by 

the Navy in 1911 for inert storage and later converted to a blacksmith 

shop, into a chapel for Protestant worship and Sunday school. It took the 

name Olde Forge Chapel from remaining parts of the blacksmith’s forge. 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

344

The Command Auditorium hosted Catholic masses when holydays of 

obligation fell on duty days. Jewish services were by arrangement with 

local congregations, ecumenical Bible study groups met at lunch hour on 

different days in various buildings, and religious literature was available 

at several sites. The second Friday of every month heard hymns sung in 

the chapel.121

For secular socializing, active and retired enlisted military and 

active and retired civilian employees grade GS-8 or below could use the 

Non-Commissioned Officers’ (NCO) Club in building 3228 for $10.00 

per year. Bar service started at 10:00am, but only beer and wine were 

available before 4:00pm. Higher ranks, both military and civilian, used 

the Officers’ Club in building 121 by the Golf Course. It had live music 

and dancing every Friday and one Saturday a month.

Club members could use the Golf Course. Greens fees for guests 

were $7.00 on weekdays and $10.00 on Saturdays and holidays. Hand 

carts rented for a dollar, power carts for ten. A pro recognized by the 

Professional Golfers Association provided lessons at $10.00 the halfhour.122

The Rod and Gun Club controlled hunting and fishing on post from 

its office in building 337, the former officers’ club built by the Works 

Progress Administration. It first restricted membership to active duty 

military but expanded it to military retirees and civilian employees. Dues 

Converting B-3221 to Chapel
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WAYS OF COLD WAR II

in the 1970s ran $18.00 a year with military able to add dependents at 

$9.00 each. The membership limit was 200.123

Athletic facilities included a pool, a gymnasium with weight rooms, 

and a four-lane bowling alley. The latter two were in building 3150. A 

12-team basketball league was active during the winter. Non-athletic 

recreational activities included ceramics, woodworking, and auto hobby 

shops and a theater showing movies carrying all ratings except X. In 

1974, Picatinny set up a travel camp with trailers and tent sites as part a 

network the Army was establishing nationwide.124

A choral group with military and civilian members built a solid local 

reputation performing both on post and for local groups, especially schools 

and senior citizen organizations, and cut, at least, one stereo album.125

ARMCOM was still taking its baby steps, the Army began taking 

steps to replace it. In December 1973, it appointed Dr. Wendell B. Sell, 

president and chief executive officer of Packard Bell Electronics to the 

Army Materiel Acquisition Review Committee (AMARC) and gave the 

committee of private sector leaders 100 days to conduct an “independent 

review of the Army’s total materiel acquisition process.”126

Most portentous for Picatinny were recommendations from the 

committee’s Science and Technology Team to separate development from 

other logistic functions and to “create a new Armaments Development 

Center at a single location, through an evolutionary process, by 

consolidating selected elements of Frankford, Picatinny, Rock Island, and 

Enlisted Barracks (B-3050)
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

346

Watervliet Arsenal RD&E activities together with the Ballistic Research 

Laboratory and portions of the ARMCOM RD&E Directorate.”127

Criteria included “attractiveness to high-caliber professionals, 

availability of adequate facilities and real estate, proximity to academic 

institutions, and accessibility to transportation.” On 28 May 1974, AMC 

formed a committee chaired by Brigadier General Bennett L. Lewis to 

devise a concept plan. While all AMC sites and several DOD ones were 

initially in the candidate pool, most quickly fell out of contention and 

only twelve rated committee visits.128

Frankford and Watervliet arsenals were too small while Rock 

Island Arsenal had little unused space and was too close to urban 

areas. Closeness to a large urban area also worked against the National 

Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Pine Brook Station, 

an otherwise attractive 5,600-acre facility 55 miles west of Cleveland, 

Ohio. In contrast, its isolated location, especially during winter, ruled out 

Dugway Proving Ground in Utah. Jefferson Proving Ground in Indiana 

and Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona lacked unused facilities.129

Fort Irwin in Southern California’s high desert was very appealing. Its 

600,000 acres provided ample testing space, and its community support 

facilities were of recent construction. Closeness to other Army and DOD 

facilities, including the Laguna Niguel Facility, and the Los Angeles area 

offset the need to construct new laboratories.130

The committee considered one, two, and three-site options, with 

Aberdeen, Irwin, and Picatinny as the one-site possibilities. Multi-site 

plans saw Picatinny sharing the armament research and development 

mission either with Aberdeen or with Aberdeen and Rock Island.131

The committee’s first choice, put forth in its December 1974 report, 

was a two-site arrangement with the center’s headquarters and work 

on both large and small caliber systems at Picatinny and the ballistic 

research and chemical systems work at Aberdeen. A key argument for this 

arrangement was limited dislocation. BRL was already at Aberdeen with 

Chemical Systems Laboratory (CSL) next door at Edgewood Arsenal. 

Large-caliber weapons workers from Benet Weapons Laboratories at 

Watervliet and Thomas Rodman Laboratory at Rock Island and smallcaliber and fire-control people from Frankford would join the large caliber 

munitions personnel at Picatinny. Benet took its name from the Chief of 

Ordnance who had approved the name Picatinny in 1880.132

Picatinny 6,000 acres made it “feasible” despite lack of space for 

long-range weapons testing. The committee found 1,850,000 square 

feet of administrative, shop, and laboratory space adaptable to the new 

center’s needs but rated this a liability because “properly designed new 

construction and equipment would be more attractive and efficient.”133
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WAYS OF COLD WAR II

Picatinny employees showed an understandable interest in the 

discussion. Hundreds attended Lewis’s speech to the Picatinny chapter 

of the American Defense Preparedness Association on the evening of 11 

April 1975 and heard him decline to predict which site the Secretary of 

the Army would choose. Employees were still concerned in November 

when Lewis returned as a major general and commander of ARMCOM. 

Lewis insisted he had no personal preference but merely wanted ‘to get 

the hardware to the troops.” The new Picatinny commander, Colonel 

Kilbert E. Lockwood spent his first months on base telling doubting 

employees he had no secret knowledge of the decision making process. 

He installed closed circuit television monitors in eleven buildings so 

workers could learn the decision as soon as possible.134

This committee’s task differed from the work of the one which had 

sought a site for a powder depot in 1879 and 1880 because it involved 

existing government sites with on-going operations, employees wishing 

to stay employed, and communities drawing economic sustenance from 

the installations. As Picatinny awaited the final decision, New Jersey 

politicians, newspapers, citizens’ groups, and a television station joined the 

act. Both the state senate and the assembly passed resolutions urging the 

Army to favor Picatinny. Chambers of commerce and local government 

bodies followed. On 27 April 1975, Assemblywoman Rosemarie Totaro 

and State Senator James Vreeland welcomed over a hundred people to 

Picatinny’s auditorium for a briefing on the arsenal’s work. Attendees 

included United States Senator Harrison Williams, Jr, aides to members 

for the New Jersey Congressional delegation, state legislators, municipal 

officials, and union representatives.135

When Secretary of the Army Martin R. Hoffman announced 

formation of the Armament Development Command with headquarters 

at Picatinny on 2 December 1975, Colonel Lockwood immediately sent 

the news over closed circuit television. March 1976 saw establishment at 

Picatinny of the Implementation Task Force, an interim headquarters 

under Colonel Lee T. Doyle. Some 120 people worked in building 3002 to 

lay out the new command’s structure. Another 20 from the Comptroller’s 

staff assisted. The task force drew members from Watervliet, Edgewood, 

Frankford, and Rock Island arsenals as well as from Picatinny. Dr. Robert 

Weigle, then chief scientist of Watervliet Arsenal and director of Benet 

Weapons Laboratory, became technical director of the new organization. 

The target date to have the new command functioning was 1 October 

1976, but concerns regarding orderly transfers of personnel moved this 

to 1 January 1977. The group had teams mirroring the basic structure. 

Picatinny would have Large and Small Caliber Weapons System 

laboratories while the Benet, Chemical Systems (CSL), and Ballistics 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

348

Research laboratories stayed at, respectively, Watervliet, Edgewood, 

and Aberdeen. In April 1976, AMC announced Major General Lewis 

would command the United States Army Armament Research and 

Development Command (ARRADCOM). The first element to come 

to Picatinny was Project Manager-Cannon Artillery Weapons Systems 

(CAWS) from Rock Island.136

The concerned workforce stood at 5,143 in December 1975. 

Scientists and engineers numbered 1,625, with another 504 classified 

as scientist and engineer technicians. The 498 production workers had 

little reason to welcome the ARRADCOM since both AMARC and the 

AMC committee had emphasized separating production from research 

and development.

This group was both the oldest, averaging 51.6 years against 47.3 

for the entire arsenal and 44.8 for scientists and engineers, and the one 

with the largest time investment in Federal service, averaging 22.26 years 

against 18.15 for the arsenal and 15.72 for scientists and engineers. Only 

one of the 498 had a college degree, and only 259 had finished high 

school. The remaining 238 constituted the highest concentration of nonhigh school graduates at Picatinny. Indicative of the arsenal’s plans in this 

area was its failure to hire even one person in this skill family during all 

of 1975 even though it lost 22 to retirement and two to death. There had 

been 87 hirings of scientists and engineers during the previous calendar 

year.137

The Civilian Personnel Office sent out 60-day notices of separation 

or of new job offers on 28 November 1976, but political concerns pushed 

the effective date from January to March 1977.138 

The political concerns arose from a promise made by vice presidential 

candidate Walter Mondale to prevent the closure of Frankford. Since 

Pennsylvania had given the Carter-Mondale ticket 27 electoral votes, 

Vice President Elect Mondale felt obligated to redeem his pledge. Still, 

he had to walk a fine line. When Representative Helen S. Meyner, the 

Democratic congresswoman whose district included Picatinny and many 

of its employees, questioned him, Mondale told her he did not want to 

upset plans for the new armaments command but merely intended to find 

other work to keep the Frankford people on the government’s rolls. The 

division transcended party lines. Morris County Freeholder S. Charles 

Garafalo, a Republican, pushed the Carter transition team for a promise 

not to reverse the Armament Development Center decision. Republican 

Senator Elect John Heinz of Pennsylvania asked outgoing Secretary of 

Defense Donald Rumsfeld to stop the Frankford shutdown while Garafalo 

organized a petition drive to offset the pressure Philadelphia area officials 

were putting on the incoming administration. Philadelphia filed quickly 
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WAYS OF COLD WAR II

dismissed lawsuits challenging the Army’s right to close the arsenal. It 

even alleged the decision was racially discriminatory.139

The parties paid lip service to defense needs, but their main arguments 

were economic. Northern New Jersey politicians wanted new jobs in 

an area of high unemployment while Heinz bluntly told Rumsfeld, 

“Whatever measure of efficiency is gained by transferring the Frankford 

Arsenal’s functions cannot offset the terribly destructive human and 

economic impact that the closing will have.”140

The Frankford defenders were fighting a done deal. On 30 September 

1976, the Army Materiel Development and Readiness Command 

(DARCOM), a new name for AMC, issued an order disestablishing 

ARMCOM and establishing ARRADCOM as of 31 January 1977.141

On 22 September 1976, the House of Representatives subcommittee 

overseeing military construction authorized $7.3 million to redo 

Picatinny to handle its new missions and the new headquarters but the 

corresponding Senate subcommittee voted to delay action until it could 

hold hearings. Picatinny had been anticipating this money and planning 

how to spend it since July.142

The hearing session of 13 January 1977 heard politicians, local 

officials, and employees’ representatives from both the Frankford and 

Rock Island areas attack the AMARC report and DA’s cost analyses while 

praising the workers and facilities at their home installations. In rebuttal, 

Victor Lindner, an associate technical director at Picatinny, extolled his 

arsenal’s laboratories. Despite the rhetorical onslaught, the Army insisted 

it would go through with the work even if it did not get the money because, 

as Acting Secretary of the Army Edward Greiner testified, “People and 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

350

equipment have already moved.” He dodged a question about giving 

the Senate a fait accompli while stating only a direct order from the new 

Secretary of Defense would cancel the move from Frankford. The chief 

architect of the realignment, Major General Lewis, thought lack of the 

$7.3 million would make conditions at Picatinny more crowded and 

upset carefully made plans already in progress but the effort could still go 

forward.143

It did not go forward as fast as planned because the Philadelphia 

regional office of the United States Civil Service Commission found the 

transfer and removal procedures inconsistent with regulations. Despite 

the hopes of Frankford supporters, this delay was temporary as the Army 

stated it would have revised portions of its action plan ready within two 

weeks. The man designated as the next Secretary of the Army, Harold 

Brown, asked for a review of the realignment for its economic hurt to 

the Philadelphia area but thought the savings from the moves appeared 

substantial. The Senate subcommittee voted to release the money on 3 

February 1977, emphasizing the inadvisability of changing plans so late 

in the process, and the Civil Service Commission at the national level 

allowed the actions.144

The order establishing ARRADCOM gave it charge of Picatinny, 

BRL, CSL, and the project managers for selected ammunition and 

the division air defense gun. Picatinny stopped being Picatinny on 

30 September 1977. Picatinny had appointed a memorialization 

committee to consider new names and the installation historian, Manny 

Meyers, suggested five possibilities. In addition to Fort Picatinny, the 

board considered honoring either President and General of the Army 

Dwight D. Eisenhower, inventor Thomas Alva Edison, Revolutionary 

War General William Alexander, Lord Stirling, or William Livingston, 

Revolutionary War Governor of New Jersey and signer of the United 

Sates Constitution.145 In 1880, the Ordnance Department decided on 

the name Picatinny in four days. The 1977 committee never resolved 

the issue. The installation newspaper’s search for a new title was slightly 

more productive. It became the ARRADCOM Voice. The paper and 

other documents referred to ARRADCOM or the Dover installation, but 

employees and locals never broke the habit of calling the place Picatinny.

The ARRADCOM commander and his administrative support 

organizations took up residence in the former Picatinny headquarters, 

building 151. The latter included the Personnel and Force Development 

Directorate, the Office of the Comptroller, and the Armament Systems 

Concepts, Systems Evaluation, and Program Management Support 

Offices. The major suborganizations followed the scheme outlined by the 

AMC Armament Committee in December 1974 with four laboratories. 
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WAYS OF COLD WAR II

Two were BRL at Aberdeen and CSL at Edgewood. Benet Weapons 

Laboratory continued at Watervliet but as a subunit of the new Large 

Caliber Weapon Systems Laboratory (LCWSL) at Picatinny. This 

organization absorbed all the research and development work of the 

Feltman Laboratories, while Frankford activities went under the Fire 

Control and Small Caliber Weapon Systems Laboratory (FCSCWSL). 

Both of the new organizations had Weapons Divisions which took on 

missions and some of the personnel of the disestablished Rodman 

Laboratory. All organizations worried over losing scientist and engineers 

to the higher wages of private industry, but FCSCWSL, hiring for 

missions new to the area, faced the most serious recruitment problems.146

Project Manager-Selected Ammunition continued at Picatinny, but 

DARCOM downgraded it to a development project office reporting 

to the ARRADCOM commander on 1 October 1987. It remained 

responsible for such major munitions efforts as the 155mm M718 and 

M741 remote antiarmor mine projectiles, such new land mines systems as 

GATOR and the modular pack mine system (MOPMS), and important 

improved conventional munition projects including sense and destroy 

armor (SADARM).147

PM-CAWS arrived from Rock Island to Picatinny on 1 July 1976, 

but its entire Logistics Management Division refused to relocate. The 

division continued operations at Rock Island for six months until the 

headquarters site had hired and trained replacements. The office’s 

work included improvement efforts for the 155mm M109 series of selfpropelled howitzers, rocket propelled projectiles, the 155mm M198 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

352

towed howitzer, and the XM712 Copperhead cannon-launched guided 

projectile. The Copperhead had sufficient success for Congress to order 

a parts commonality effort for it and the Navy’s 5-inch and 8-inch semiactive laser (SAL) guided projectiles. DOD made the Army the executive 

service for this effort while appointing a Navy joint project manager 

under PM-CAWS.148

Arriving from Rock Island in July 1977 was the Office of the Project 

Manager Army Gun Air Defense System. In later years this effort would 

attract much attention, even notoriety, under the name of the Sergeant 

York Air Defense Gun System.149

Assignment of the total Army fuze mission to ARRADCOM on 

13 October 1976 led DARCOM to approve the concept of a product 

manager for fuzes, and a staff of one secretary and four technical people 

was in place by 30 September 1977. On 10 January 1978, DARCOM 

decided not to establish this office. Instead, the ARRADCOM 

commander established the Army Fuze Management Project Office to 

handle the mission.150

TSD and PAD remained at Picatinny but had to adapt to supporting 

more varied missions. TSD’s most noticeable changes were forming an 

Experimental Fabrication Division from elements of the disestablished 

Industrial Operations Division and a Technical Data/Configuration 

Management Division from Rock Island, Frankford, and Picatinny 

elements. In addition, it added divisions at Aberdeen and Edgewood to 

support BRL and CSL.151

PAD had Artillery, Tank, and Selected Armament, Nuclear, 

Chemical, and Fire Control systems divisions plus an Evaluation and 

Metrology division and Plans and Resource Management and Systems 

Concepts and Assessment offices at Picatinny. Systems Concepts and 

Assessment became the Technology Assessment Division on 15 March 

1978. Its Chemical Systems Division was at Edgewood and had 94 people 

compared to 418 in the other division.152

One way reorganizations justify their costs is by reducing personnel, 

and all PAD units complained of shortages in skilled employees. The 

transfer of small caliber weapons and ammunition work from Rock 

Island and Frankford measurably increased the workload in the Selected 

Armament Systems Division, but the number of product assurance 

positions to do the work was less than the three arsenals had prior to the 

reorganization. Furthermore, few experienced engineers and technicians 

transferred with the work. The Fire Control Systems Division faced similar 

problems and had to arrange for training both on the job and at local 

universities. The Nuclear Systems Division’s mission was a long standing 

one at Picatinny, but it still had problems when it lost 60 percent of its 
353

WAYS OF COLD WAR II

inspection equipment personnel in the reorganization. Despite not having 

to move, the Chemical Systems Division saw its calibration people drop 

from ten to seven and two resources and management personnel move 

under the Comptroller. Evaluation and Metrology’s Quality Evaluation 

Branch took on responsibility for four major efforts from Rock Island 

and seven from Frankford without receiving the necessary experienced 

workers. Delays or failures to receive inspection equipment designs from 

Rodman and Frankford further impeded the branch’s work.153

A compensation was a construction boom at Picatinny. Small and 

large caliber prototype facilities from Frankford moved into a redesigned 

section of Picatinny building 3150. Although now housing work which 

had used three buildings at Frankford, remodeling did not encroach on 

the gymnasium and other recreational facilities. Building 31, the machine 

shop, absorbed much of Frankford’s metal parts work, and the command 

redesigned building 61 to handle the remainder. Fire control activities 

went into building 95, the Bell Building, while work in physical sciences 

became the main activity in the 350 area. Building 354 compounded and 

processed rubber while 355 housed a metal-forming laboratory. Building 

323, a 1906 sodium nitrate magazine turned powder processing plant, 

gained simulators for 5.56mm bullet-and-case and metal-parts heattreatment processing as well as the capability to process small caliber 

bullet-and-case components in limited quantities. Building 183, the 1945 

Metals Testing Laboratory, received machines for molding thermoplastic 

components.154

The need for a new center able to handle the technical data and 

configuration management needs of both ARRADCOM and the 

Armament Materiel Readiness Command (ARRCOM) at Rock Island 

forced destruction of building 8 and transfer of the greenhouse to building 

3317 on Navy Hill. Major General Lewis turned the first shovelful of 

earth at building 12’s ground breaking in June 1977 and was still around 

to preside over the dedication ceremony on 21 November 1978. The 

33,800-square foot, structural-steel facility housed 42 rooms. These 

included a computer terminal room with a direct link to the Northeast 

Computer Center at Fort Monmouth and six camera rooms for processing 

35mm films of technical data packages to facilitate storage on microfilm 

aperture cards. Another camera room produced 16mm exposures and 

70mm microfiche film. The automated storage and retrieval equipment 

room had five sets of machines able to store 200,000 aperture cards 

each.155

Work on a new energetics research laboratory began in March 

1977. The project turned two 1928 storage buildings into one building 

numbered 3022. Dedicated on 29 June 1979, it cost $3 million, held 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

354

90 people, and had 25 laboratories, over 40 offices, and several special 

use rooms. Movable partitions allowed easy rearrangement of facilities. 

Having disestablished the organization which had commemorated him, 

ARRADCOM named the new building after Samuel Feltman. This was 

one part of a project to transform several buildings in the same area 

into a complex housing almost all energetics research on the installation. 

Building 3028, a 1900 storage building, became a chemistry laboratory, 

assumed the work done in building 407, and, in 1986, became the George 

C. Hale Building.156 At this writing, Picatinny has not removed Hale’s 

name from building 407.

A third construction to spring from establishment of the new 

command was ARRADCOM Headquarters. The New York District of 

the Corps of Engineers awarded the contract for a structure between the 

Ramsey and Larned buildings to Solart Builders of Monroe, New York, 

the winner among ten bidders, in April 1979. The initial contract was for 

$7,737,000, but the building dedicated on 11 May 1982 cost $11 million. 

Its four stories and 152,500 square feet could shelter 900 employees.157

The discussion of whose name was to grace the building considered 

three possibilities, Major General Leslie E. Simon, Colonel John P. 

Harris, and Lieutenant Colonel Francis H. Parker. Command historian 

Meyers clearly favored Harris but had to rule out both him and Simon 

on a technicality. They were still living, and Army regulations insisted 

on commemorating only the deceased. ARRADCOM ignored the 

Feltman Building (B-3022)
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WAYS OF COLD WAR II

historian’s suggestion to defer naming the building until Harris’s age and 

frail health resolved the issue, and what was then building 1 and is now 

building 93 took the name of the installation’s first commander.158

The only ceremony marking the establishment of the Dover Powder 

Depot on 6 September 1880 was for the Ordnance Department’s 

issuance of an order saying it existed and putting Parker in charge. The 

celebration held one hundred years later was a more elaborate affair. A 

crowd estimated at 5,000 attended the Picatinny Centennial Open House 

on Saturday, 6 September 1980 and watched a Black Knights parachute 

jump, a pageant with Soldiers in Army uniforms between 1776 and 1980, 

a demonstration by the United States Army Drill Team, a baton twirling 

exhibition, and the dedication of a time capsule intended for opening 

at the installation’s bicentennial. A fireworks display in Dover the same 

evening shot off more explosives than would have been on base a hundred 

years earlier.159

The century had seen the installation grow from 1,800 acres to 

6,550, and a workforce of 82 workers, almost all manual laborers, rise 

to 7,458 persons, 39.3 percent of whom were scientists and engineers. 

The installation budget for its first fiscal year was $50,000 dollars. For 

fiscal year 1980, it was home to a command with a budget of $474.435 

million.160

Those who had, in 1880, looked to the new installation for a financial 

lift to the local economy and those who later fought to keep it open after 

the 1926 explosion and World War II would have found validation in the 

189 contracts with a value of $14.8 million awarded in New Jersey. The 

bulk of the money, 128 contracts worth $10.65 million, went to Morris 

County concerns. These were in addition to a $6,417.00 small purchase 

action which pumped $4.9 million into the county economy.161

Picatinny items approved for Army use in fiscal year 1980 included 

the 25mm M242 automatic gun, the .50-caliber M1A1 blank cartridge, 

the.50-caliber M19 blank firing attachment, the 155mm M458A1E2 

HEAT-T-MP Cartridge, and the ground emplaced mine scattering 

system (GEMSS). Other work involved SADARM and smart targetactivated fire-and-forget (STAFF) rounds, long-rod and depleted 

uranium penetrators, corrosion studies, advanced radars, fire control 

for combat vehicles and mortars, chromium plating systems, mine 

scattering projectiles, the Patriot missile, mine deploying artillery rounds, 

and tank ammunition.162 No longer a manufacturing arsenal, Picatinny 

still investigated and evaluated production processes for the full range 

of armaments, munitions and explosives. The place was not the singlemission depot of a century earlier.
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

356

Major General Allen H. Light, Jr., 

ARRADCOM Commander, Seals Time Capsule
357

WAYS OF COLD WAR II

NOTES

1 “Sputnick I’s Rocket Due Over Area,” “Dover Unit Won’t Seek U.S. Moon,” 

and “Colonel Drewry Says Arsenal Won’t Close,” Daily Record (Morristown 

NJ), 24 November, 4, 11 December 1957, and “Denies Newspaper Story of 

Arsenal Shutdown,” The Picatinny News, 18 December 1957. For formation 

of the Moonwatch Team, see “Organize Team Here to Track Satellites,” 

and “Moonwatchers Get receiver,” The Picatinny News, 24 April 1957, 

30 August 1958.

2 “Schwartz Appointed Associate Director,” The Picatinny News, 29 May 1957.

3 “PA is Army’s Candidate as Plastics Center,” The Picatinny News, 28 May 1958.

4 “Reorganization of AOD Seen Enhancing Over-all Defense Role,” The 

Picatinny News, 30 April 1958.

5 “Picatinny Arsenal Becomes Headquarters For Special Weapons-Ammunition 

Command,” The Picatinny News, 3 September 1958.

6 “Picatinny Arsenal Becomes Headquarters For Special Weapons-Ammunition 

Command,” “General Butler’s Forecast: SWAC ‘Operational’ Jan 1,” “July 

1st Set As New SWAC Target Date,” “Command Personnel Staff Taking 

Shape,’ “Production Engineering Work Is Transferred to Picatinny,””OSWAC 

Staff Made up Chiefly Of Former PA, OAC Employees,” “Gen. Ghormley 

to Take SWAC Reins July 1st,” and “Public to View New OSWAC Building,” 

The Picatinny News., 3, 17 September,, 10 December 1958, 28 January, 15, 29 

April, 24 June 1959, 5 May 1960, and Introduction to the United States Army 

Ordnance Ammunition Command (Joliet, Illinois, December 1961), p. 13.

7 “Col. Buck Establishes New Managerial Headquarters,” The Picatinny News, 

14 January 1959.

8 “Establish New Quality Assurance Division,” The Picatinny News, 5 May 1960.

9 “Arsenal Division Combined To Form 2 Major Segments,” The Picatinny News, 

11 August 1960.

10 “Ammuniton Disposal Mission Transferred from Aberdeen,” The Picatinny 

News, 6 October 1960.

11 “$5,000,000 Special Weapons Pilot Plant To be Constructed at Picatinny,” 

“Award $2,000,000 Contract for Special Weapons Plant,” “Work Started 

On New Plant,” “To Name New Plant After General Bell,” and “Dedicate 

Bell Building on October 14,” The Picatinny News, 6 August, 25, 29 October 

1958, 4 February, 6 October 1960, and Dedication of the W. L. Bell Building: 

Special Weapons Pilot Plant (Picatinny Arsenal, Dover, New Jersey), 14 

October 1960, 2:00 P.M. See also “A-Plant Dedication Set,” New York Times, 

13 October 1960.

12 Dedication of the W. L. Bell Building, and Picatinny Arsenal, Facilities 

Directory, 1 April 1963. This directory dates the presence of administrative 

functions in building 65 earlier than does Revised Draft Report: Evaluation of 

Structures Built Prior to 1946 at Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey, (Prepared for the 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

358

New York District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers by WCH Industries, 

Inc., Waltham MA, in association with Boston Affiliates, Inc., Boston MA, 

December 30, 1994), pp. E-38, E-39 (hereafter cited as Evaluation of Structures).

13 Historical Branch, Rock Island Arsenal, Project Management of the Davy 

Crockett Weapons System 1958-1962 (Rock Island, Illinois: U.S. Army 

Weapons Command, [28 October 1964], pp. 2-4, and “Army Scientists Get 

$25,000 Award For Nuclear Work,” Army Research and Development, vol. 2, no.6 

(June 1961), 1, 3.

14 “Picatinny Arsenal,” in Seymour M. Kaye, Encyclopedia of Explosives and 

Related Items, vol. 8 (Dover, New Jersey: US Army Armament Research 

and Development Command, Large Caliber Weapon Systems Laboratory, 

1978), P-272 (hereafter cites as “Picatinny Arsenal,” Encyclopedia); “New 

Development: 155mm Nuclear Projectile,” Ordnance, vol. 48, no 262 (JanuaryFebruary 1964), 405-406, and “Picatinny Develops Tiniest Nuclear Powered 

Shell,” Picatinny News, 20 January 1964.

15 Living History: Wilfred Hosking and Picatinny Arsenal, Interview, January 

1995, Wilfred Hosking Collection, ARDEC Historical Office files (hereafter 

cited as Living History: Hosking. Hosking is vague about the failure of 

private industry in this interview done when he was 95, but Colonel H. H. 

Wishart, Commander, Picatinny Arsenal to Commanding General MUCOM: 

Nomination for Decoration for Exceptional Civilian Service, 30 April 1965, in 

the Hosking Collection, says Picatinny’s success followed contractor failures. 

For a short history of the project, see “The JCAE and the Development of 

the Permissive Action Link,” Brookings, http://www.brookings.edu/projects/

archive/nucweapons/box9_2.aspx,

16 “Improvement of Blank Ammunition,” Summarized History of Picatinny 

Arsenal from 1 July 1958 to 31 December 1958, pp. 90-91.

17 “Open First 7-Lab Wing of New Chemical Building,” and “Building 

Dedicated to Honor Dr. G. C. Hale,” The Picatinny News, 11 February 1959, 

15 May 1962, and Dedication of the George C. hale Building: Explosives 

Research Laboratory, Picatinny Arsenal, Dover, New Jersey, 27 April 1962, 

2:30 P. M..

18 Reponse of the Study of the Future of the Arsenal System, n.d., but 

distributed in February 1961, Picatinny Arsenal, Tab 2, Appendix C (hereafter 

cited as Future of the Arsenal System). This report was the work of several 

task groups working under the direction of the Deputy Chief of Staff for 

Logistics.

19 Future of the Arsenal System, Picatinny Arsenal, Tab 5, Appendix C.

20 Edward J. Jordan. Response to Facilities Utilization and Requirements 

Questions Relating to Picatinny Arsenal, 1 March 1961, attached to copy 

of Future of the Arsenal System in ARDEC Historical Office. 

21 Future of the Arsenal System, Picatinny Arsenal, Tab 4, Appendix C.

22 Future of the Arsenal System, Picatinny Arsenal, Tab 3, Appendix C.
359

WAYS OF COLD WAR II

23 Future of the Arsenal System, Picatinny Arsenal, Tab 3, Appendix C.

24 “Physically handicapped Employees—320 of ‘em—Prove They Aren’t,” and 

“Almost 400 Physically Impaired Employees Further Arsenal Research Work,” 

The Picatinny News, 3 September 1958, 6 October 1960.

25 “Armed Forces Day ‘Queen,’” “‘Miss Picatinny’ will be Selected By Popular 

Vote,” “New Physicist in WASP Lab Has Both Beauty and Talent,” and 

“Outstanding Woman,” Picatinny News,” 18 May 1961, 19 April 1962, 16 

December 1963, 18 April 1966. See also “Woman Engineer Plays Part in 

Ammunition Development,” The Picatinny News, 1 April 1960.

26 “Definitely Not a ‘Man’s World’ In Propellant Charge Section,” and “Miss 

Lenora Van Sickles Plans Summer Retirement,” The Picatinny News, 15 

September 1960, 9 April 1962.

27 “OneKilled, 16 Hurt in Picatinny Blast,” and “Compact Explosive Blamed 

for Blast,” New York Times, 13, 15 September 1961, and “Mrs. Helen Bolotto 

Fatally Injured,” Picatinny News, 21 September 1961.

28 “Flash Fire Claims Lives of Two Employees,” Picatinny News, 20 December 

1962.

29 Report on the Reorganization of the Department of the Army (Washington 25, D.C.: 

Department of the Army December 1961), p. 18 (hereafter cited as Report on 

Reorganization). For thinking and activity at the higher levels, see Arsenal for the 

Brave; A History of the United States Army Materiel Command, 1962-1968 (Historical 

Office, Headquarters, U.S. Army Materiel Command, 30 September 1969), 

pp. 11-14, James E. Hewes, Jr., From Root to McNamara: Army Organization and 

Administration, 1900-1963(Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History, 

United States Army, 1975) pp. 348-359; Major Francis T. Julia, Army Staff 

Reorganization, 1903-1985 (Washington D.C.: Analysis Branch, U.S. Army 

Center of Military History, 1987), pp. 28-31, and Thomas C. Lassman, Sources 

of Weapon System innovation in the Department of Defense: The Role of In-House 

Research and Development, 1945-2000 (Washington DC: Center of Military 

History, 2008), pp. 33-36.

30 Report on Reorganization, p. 18.

31 Report on Reorganization, p. 18; Arsenal of the Brave, p. 14, and “Maj. Gen. W. K. 

Ghormley Heads Activated Munitions Command,” Picatinny News, 16 August 

1962. To compare reorganization activities at Picatinny with those at another 

research and development installation, see A History of Army Communications and 

Electronics at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, 1917-2007 (Fort Monmouth, New Jersey: 

Historical Office, U. S. Army CECOM Life Cycle Management Command, 

2008) pp. 41-42.

32 Herbert A. Leventhal, Project Management in the Army Materiel Command, 1962-

1987 (Alexandria VA: AMC Historical Office, 1992), pp. 1, 10 (hereafter cited 

as Leventhal, Project Management).

33 Leventhal, Project Management, pp. 8, 53, 108, 151; “Col. Ulrich Heads 

Ammunition Group,” “Two Arsenal Officers Receive Army Commendation 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

360

Medals,” and “Col. Crossman Succeeds Ulrich in Selected Ammo,” Picatinny 

News, 6, 20 October 1960, 15 June 1964; Ronald H. Spector, The United States 

Army in Vietnam: Advice and Support: The Early Years, 1941-1960 (Washington, 

D.C.: Center of Military History, 1983), p. 376.

34 Directory Chart: Picatinny Arsenal, 1 January 1964; U.S. Army Materiel 

Command, Historical Summary, Fiscal Year 1964, pp. 571-573, Fiscal Year 

1965, pp. 551-552, and SFC Samuel J. Hooper, comp., The History of U.S. 

Army Bomb Disposal and Explosive Ordnance Disposal 1941 thru 1980 (U.S. Army 

EOD, n.d.), pp. 34, 45-46.

35 Directory Chart: Picatinny Arsenal, 26 July 1965, and Staff Directory: 

Picatinny Arsenal and Headquarters and Installation Support Activity, 25 June 

1971. See also “Aperture Cards Tell Vital Story of Picatinny’s Munition Items, 

Picatinny News, 17 January 1966.

36 Directory Chart: Picatinny Arsenal, 1 January 1964.

37 H. J. Matsuguma, Research Capabilities of the Explosives Laboratory, 

October 1963 (Picatinny Arsenal: Feltman Research Laboratories, 4 October 

1963), unpaginated (hereafter cited as Marsuguma, Research Laboratories).

38 Marsuguma, Research Laboratories.

39 Directory Chart: Picatinny Arsenal, 1 January 1964.

40 Directory Chart: Picatinny Arsenal, 1 January 1964.

41 AMC, Historical Summary, Fiscal Year 1964, p. 296.

42 “New Lab for QAD,” “General Ramsey Passes Away,” “‘Report Progress’ 

on New QAD Laboratory,” “It’s the ‘N. F. Ramsey’ Building for QAD!,” The 

Picatinny News, 21 February, 22 April, 15 November 1963, 14 September 

1964, and Dedication of the Norman F. Ramsey Building, Picatinny Arsenal 

Dover, New Jersey, 25 September 1964, 1:30pm.

43 Directory Chart: Picatinny Arsenal, 1 January 1964.

44 B. A. Kramer and F. V. Youngblood, Ammunition Directorate, History Of 

South East Asia Program (Ammunition Engineering Directorate, Picatinny 

Arsenal, Dover, New Jersey, July 1966), pp. 3, 6, 11, 15, 47 (hereafter cited as 

AED, South East Asia History).

45 AED, South East Asia History, p. 10.

46 AED, South East Asia History, pp. 10, 11, 44-46.

47 “Military S&E Personnel Vital to Arsenal,” Picatinny News, 15 January 1968.

48 AED, South East Asia History, pp. 15, 38.

49 AED, South East Asia History, p. 15.

50 AED, South East Asia History, pp. 18, 55-57. P. 18 incorrectly refers to the 

XM51, but the other pages have the correct designation.

51 AED, South East Asia History. p. 19.

52 AED, South East Asia History, p. 20.
361

WAYS OF COLD WAR II

53 AED, South East Asia History, pp. 23, 115.

54 AED, South East Asia History, pp. 128-130.

55 AED, South East Asia History, pp. 130-131.

56 AED, South East Asia History, pp. 58-59, 106.

57 AED, South East Asia History, p. 62

58 AED, South East Asia History, pp. 63-64.

59 AED, South East Asia History, p. 65.

60 AED, South East Asia History, pp. 75-76.

61 AED, South East Asia History, pp. 77-79.

62 AED, South East Asia History, pp. 89-90

63 “APERS Mine T48E1 – An Historical Review,” Summarized History of 

Picatinny Arsenal from 1 July 1957 to 31 December 1957, pp. 45-49, and 

AED, South East Asia History, pp. 30-31, 89.

64 AED, South East Asia History, pp. 86-88.

65 AED, South East Asia History, pp. 82-85.

66 AED, South East Asia History, pp. 136-137.

67 AED, South East Asia History, pp. 104-105.

68 AED, South East Asia History, pp. 108-113.

69 AED, South East Asia History, p. 142.

70 AED, South East Asia History, pp. 142-143. 

71 AED, South East Asia History, pp. 145-146.

72 “Picatinny Arsenal,” Encyclopedia, vol. 8, P-273, and Orientation Brochure for 

COL K. E. Lockwood (Picatinny Arsenal, Dover, New Jersey, 1974), p. 19 

(hereafter cited as Orientation Brochure).

73 AED, South East Asia History, pp. 148-151.

74 AED, South East Asia History, pp. 138-139.

75 “Morristown, Franklin Men Killed in Picatinny Blast,” Daily Record, 10 March 

1966.

76 “4 Employees Die in Fire,” Picatinny News, 20 March 1967; “4 Killed, 2 

Injured in Fire at Arsenal,” New York Times, 10 March 1967, and “Probe 

Fatal Picatinny Fire” and “Meeting on Fatal Fire Slated by Arsenal Union,” 

Daily Record, 10, 11 March 1967.

77 “Explosion of Secret Munition Kills Technician in Jersey,” New York Times, 

20 May 1967, and “AED Employee Fatally Injured,” Picatinny News, 19 June 

1967. The installation paper wrongly dated the explosion, putting it on 

18 May.

78 “Discover Ammo Buried In 1926 Disaster,” Picatinny News, 16 October 1967.
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

362

79 “Praise for Vietnam Duty,” Picatinny News, 20 January 1969. See also “Cited 

for Vietnam Service,” The Picatinny News, 21 November 1966.

80 Sue Slack, “Returns to Picatinny After Tour in Vietnam,” The Picatinny News, 

21 August 1967.

81 Ammunition Engineering Directorate, 3rd edition (Dover, N.J.: Picatinny Arsenal, n.d. 

but c.1971), n.p. (hereafter cited as AED brochure).

82 AED brochure, and Liquid Propellant Capabilities (Dover, New Jersey: Liquid 

Rocket Propulsion Laboratory, Ammunition Development Division, 

Ammunition Engineering Directorate, January 1970), pp. 7-11 (hereafter 

cited as LRPL).

83 LRPL, pp. 12-16.

84 Orientation Brochure, pp. 39-41.

85 “New Building Honors Gen. Larned,” Picatinny News, 15 May 1967.

86 Feltman Research Laboratories, Activities and Accomplishments, Calendar 

Year 1969, pp. 3-21 (hereafter cited as Feltman Research Laboratories).

87 Feltman Research Laboratories, pp. 39-44.

88 Feltman Research Laboratories, pp. 49-52.

89 Feltman Research Laboratories, pp. 29-33. For the state of pyrotechnic 

research earlier in the 1960s, see Dr. Robert Evans and Samuel Sage, 

“Pyrotechnic Research,” Ordnance, vol.48, no. 261 (January-February 1964), 

450-451.

90 Feltman Research Laboratories, Activities and Accomplishments, Calendar 

Year 1969, pp. 1, 25-27.

91 Orientation, Brochure, p. 64; “Picatinny Publishes First Encyclopedia on 

Explosives,” Army Research and Development, vol. 2, no. 12 (December 1961), 

7; “Seymour Kaye of FRL writes, is a man of many, many words,” Picatinny 

News, 15 November 1965, and ARRADCOM, Annual Historical Report 

(AHR), FY1977, p. 206.

92 “Safety Men Back from Taiwan,” Picatinny News, 15 November 1965.

93 “‘Peace’ Flowers Due At Arsenal,” Daily Record, 20 May 1967. A folder with 

photos of the ARDEC Historical Office files.

94 “Captain Crecca has his day,” Picatinny News, 20 March 1973, and Patrick J. 

Owens, “Looking Back At Picatinny: POW honored in 1973” and “Letters to 

the Editor,” The Voice, 14, 28 September 2001. The first 2001 article prompted 

the letter from Joan Roff describing the leaflet drop in the second. Ms Roff 

witnessed the event the 1973 article did not mention.

95 “Workers Razz Peace Pickets At Picatinny,” Daily Record, 5 May 1972.

96 “To Protest War, Arsenal Layoff,” Enda Slack, “3 Dems Propose Peace Use 

of Picatinny Arsenal,” and “McGovern: Picatinny Layoffs Could Cost Almost 

$1 Million,” Daily Record. 3, 18 May, 5 June 1972.
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WAYS OF COLD WAR II

97 “Radio-TV Notables Assist Picatinny,” Picatinny News, 10 May 1965, and 

Picatinny Arsenal Long Term Trends: Selected Arsenal Activities, 30 June 

1976, Annual Report Prepared by Management Review and Analysis 

Division, Comptroller, p. 33 (hereafter cited as Long Term Trends).

98 “Arsenal Hiring, Worker Claims” Daily Record, 24 May 1972. See also 

“Veterans’ preference questioned,” Picatinny News, 16 August 1976 and 

“Maraziti’s Figures on Arsenal Firing Said Unfounded,” Daily Record, 

28 June 1972.

99 Living History: Wilfred Hosking and Picatinny Arsenal, Interview, January 

1995, both in Wilfred Hosking Collection, ARDEC Historical Office files.

100 “Picatinny Arsenal Employes [sic] Bitter About Layoffs,” Daily Record, 

14 June 1972.

101 “Arsenal ‘Safe,’” Daily Record, 22 May 1972. This piece had HISA’ 

name wrong.

102 Response to the AMC Task Group on Arsenals (Dover, New Jersey: Picatinny 

Arsenal, n.d. but c.1973), pp. 57- 59.

103 Long Term Trends, pp. 33, 47.

104 Long Term Trends, p. 9, 11.

105 “Next stop: Rock Island, Ill.,” Picatinny News, 15 January 1973, ARMCOM, 

Laboratory Posture Report, FY74, p. I-3.

106 “Karl Ottoson Heads News Formed Technical Services Directorate, ““MTD 

ready, willing, able,” and “HISA is new organization here,” Picatinny News, 

19 January 1970, 18 October 1971, 21 June 1972; Picatinny and the 

Headquarters and Installation Support Activity, organization chart, 25 June, 

15 November 1971, and MUCOM, Laboratory Posture Report FY-73, 

pp. 111-C-6, 111-C-10.

107 Directory Chart, 10 November 1971; John D. Clark, Ignition!: An Informal 

History of Liquid Propellant Rockets (New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers 

University Press, 1972), and Frederick I. Ordway and Frank H. Winter, 

“Pioneering Commercial Rocketry in the United States of America,” Journal 

of the British Interplanetary Society, vols. 36-40 (1983-1987), 40, 403.

108 MUCOM, Laboratory Posture Report FY73, p. III-C-6; “National Bomb 

Data Center now here,” Picatinny News, 19 February 1973, and Hooper, History 

of U.S. Army Bomb Disposal, p 46.

109 Larry Lowenthal, Iron Mine Railroads of Northern New Jersey (Dover: Tri-State 

Railroad Historical Society, 1981), pp. 131; “Historically Speaking,” and 

“Back to coal, ”ARRADCOM Voice, 18 June 1979, 20 October 1980, and 

Analysis of Existing Facilities, Environmental Assessment Report,, 1982 

Update, Master Plan Component, Picatinny Arsenal (Lake Success NY: John 

J. Kassner & Co., 1982), pp. 1-35-1-36.
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

364

110 HISA, MUCOM, Board of Inquiry: Report of Proceeding: Building 520 Explosion, 29 

March 1973 (Dover, New Jersey), pp. 3, 44, and. “Bravery earns awards for 6,” 

Picatinny News, 21 April 1975

111 “Obituaries,” and “Bravery earns awards for 6,” Picatinny News, 20 August 

1973, 21 April 1975.

112 Production Base Modernization Agency, AHR, Fiscal Year 1987, pp. 1-3, and 

Leventhal, Project Management, pp. 143-144.

113 Long Term Trends, pp. 3-5, 47.

114 ARMCOM, Laboratory Posture Report, FY47, pp. 1-24-1-30, FY75, pp. 

1-12-1-15, FY76, pp. 1-21-1-32. Cf. Picatinny Arsenal, Peer Group Review, 24 

September1975.

115 Long Term Trends, p. 49.

116 Force Development Office, Manpower Control Division, Keynote III: A 

Demographic Review of Picatinny Arsenal, December1975, pp. 58-59 

(hereafter cited as Keynote).

117 “Arsenal, apprentices sign agreements,” and “She saw carpenter opportunity, 

nailed down apprenticeship,” Picatinny News, 17 May, 21 June 1976.

118 Chart, Picatinny Arsenal and the Headquarters and Installation Support 

Activity, 25 June 1971, and “Renee Stone is an engineer, author and EEO 

examiner,” Picatinny News, 17 May 1971.

119 “What goes on at Picatinny? Boots, fatigues, bobby pins?” Picatinny News, 

16 February 1976. See also “Bldg. 3050---home away from home for many,” 

Picatinny News, 20 December 1971.

120 “Navy Hill Building Becomes BOQ,” and “”Commissary Opens Here,” 

Picatinny News, 17 November 1960, 15 September 1975, and Welcome to 

ARRADCOM: Dover, New Jersey (Toms River, New Jersey: International 

Base Publishers, n.d.), p. 18 (hereafter cited as Welcome to ARRADCOM). 

The descriptions of facilities and services in this brochure also apply to the 

ARMCOM years.

121 Wecome to ARRADCOM, p. 16, and “Olde Forge Chapel dedicated,” 

Picatinny News, 21 April 1975. Evaluation of Structures, p. E-430, has the 

building starting off as a blacksmith’s shop, but pre-1926 maps support 

the storehouse designation.

122 Welcome to ARRADCOM, p. 16.

123 Welcome to ARRADCOM, p. 24.

124 Welcome to ARRADCOM, pp. 19-20, and “Picatinny joining travel camp 

network with site in Lake Denmark Area,” Picatinny News, 16 May 1974.

125 Welcome to ARRADCOM, p. 24. The ARDEC historical office has several vinyl 

copies of Army Bicentennial 1775-1975 (Camden, M.J.: Recorded Publications 

Company, n.d. but 1975 or 1976).
365

WAYS OF COLD WAR II

126 Report of the Army Materiel Acquisition Review Committee (AMARC), vol. 

I: Precis, 1 April 1974, A-1 (hereafter cited as AMARC.

127 AMARC, I, 26, vol. II: Committee Reports, VI-21. For a view of these 

changes and proposed changes from the Watervliet angle, see Watervliet Arsenal: 

A History of the Nation’s Oldest Arsenal (Watervliet, New York: Watervliet Arsenal 

Public Affairs Office, 2013), pp. 290-293.

128 AMARC, II, VI-21; AMC, Historical Summaries, FY75, pp. 27-28, and Final 

Report of the AMC Committee-Armament, December 1974, Volume 2: 

Armament Development Center Concept Plan, II-24 (hereafter cites as Final 

Report-Armament).

129 Final Report-Armament, vol. 2, II-36-37.

130 Final Report-Armament, 2, II-36-37.

131 Final Report-Armament, 2, II-38-39.

132 Final Report-Armament, 1, 4.

133 Final Report-Armament, 2, II-35.

134 “Hundreds hear talk by General Lewis here,” “Commander tells how to 

assure arsenal’s future,” Col. Lockwood discusses ADC, other subjects,” 

“Bulletin to inform,” Picatinny News, 21 April, 21 July, 20 October, 

17 November 1975.

135 “4 months-plus to go until arsenal gets word,” Picatinny News, 19 May 1975.

136 Picatinny Saved” and “Lakelanders react,” Daily Advance, 2 December 1975; 

ARRADCOM, AHR, FY77, pp. 4-6 “AMC Delays Activation of Armament 

R&D Command Until Jan. 31,” Army Research and Development Magazine, 

September-October 1976, p. 4, and “ARRADCOM Hq plans move into new 

phase,” “New PM Office moves here - - beCAWS,” and “Col. Philipp CAWS 

PM,” Picatinny News, 17 May, 16 August 1976.

137 Keynote, December 1975, pp. 2-3, 15, 17, 37.

138 ARRADCOM, AHR, FY77, p. 17.

139 Enda Slack, “Mondale Won’t Affect Arsenal,” “Carter Team Queried on 

Arsenal,” “New Picatinny Offensive,” “Picatinny Petitions Circulating,” and 

John D. Membrino, “Mondale Escalates Bid to Salvage Frankford,” Daily 

Record, 3, 8, 15, 17, 31 December 1976, and Reprogramming Request for 

Picatinny Arsenal, Hearings Before A Subcommittee of the Committee 

on Appropriations United States Senate, 95th Congress, First Session 

(Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1977), pp. 33, 58 

(hereafter cited as Senate Reprogramming Hearings).

140 “New Picatinny Offensive,” Daily Record, 15 December 1976.

141 DARCOM, Permanent Orders 25-1, 30 September 1976.

142 Senate Reprogramming Hearings, p. 58; Membrino, “Mondale Escalates 

Bid to Salvage Frankford,” Daily Record, 31 December 1976, and “$7,363,000 

construction sought,” Picatinny News, 19 July 1976.
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

366

143 Senate Reprogramming Hearings, pp. 45, 141-192, and “Army Moving Even 

Without $,” and Enda Slack, “Sen. Williams Taking an Interest in Flap Over 

Frankford Arsenal,” Daily Record, 14 January 1977.

144 Shirley Lazarus and Howard Abramson, “ARRADCOM Hits TwoWeek Snafu,” Shirley Lazarus, “Army Goes Ahead Despite Holdup,” and 

“Frankford Arsenal Shutdown Assured,” and Membrino, “Picatinny Wins 

Support,” Daily Record, 26, 27, 30 January, 10 February 1977.

145 DARCOM Permanent Orders 81-2, 13 October 1977, paragraph 2, 

and Manny Meyers, Chief, Historical Office, Renaming of Dover Site, 

11 May 1977.

146 Final Report-Armament, vol.2, II-14, and ARRADCOM, AHR, FY80, 

pp. 214, 237.

147 Leventhal, Project Management, p. 153, and ARRADCOM, AHR, FY80, 

pp. 343-344.

148 ARRADCOM, AHR, FY77, pp. 219-226.

149 ARRADCOM, AHR, p. 232. Colonel Oleh B. Koropey, who held several 

positions at Picatinny during his Army career, managed to impose order on 

the convolutions of the Sergeant York project in his It Seemed Like a Great Idea 

at the Time: The Story of the Sergeant York Air Defense Gun (Alexandria, Virginia: 

Historical Office, AMC, 1993).

150 ARRADCOM, AHR, FY77, p. 249.

151 ARRADCOM, AHR, FY77, p. 115.

152 ARRADCOM, AHR, FY77, pp. 125-126, FY78, p. 161.

153 ARRADCOM, AHR, FY77, pp. 127-129.

154 ARRADCOM, AHR, FY80, p. 214: Evaluation of Structures, p. E-161, and 

ARRADCOM Picatinny Site Dover N.J. (n.d. but c1980), which has photos of 

both the Frankford buildings and the Picatinny replacements.

155 Historical Properties Report, Picatinny Arsenal, Dover, New Jersey, Draft 

Report, December, 1984, prepared by the Historic American Buildings 

Survey/Historic American Engineering Record of the National Park Service, 

Inventory Sheet for Building 337, and “One small spadeful...one big start,” 

“Building a solid foundation,” and “Tech data center is opened,” ARRADCOM 

Voice, 18 July, 15 August, 1977, 11 December 1988.

156 “New building for command,” ARRADCOM Voice, 16 July 1979, 

ARRADCOM, AHR, FY77, p. 159, FY78, pp. 205-206, Evaluation of 

Structures, p. E-387, and Patrick J. Owens, “Looking Back.....at Picatinny,” 

The Voice, 5 April 1996.

157 “Contract awarded for buildings,” and “Headquarters Bldg. dedicated 

May 11,” ARRADCOM Voice, 16 April 1979, 17 May 1982.

158 Manny Meyers, ARRADCOM Historian, to ARRADCOM Headquarters, 

Research: Nominations of Persons for Bldg. 1 Dedication, 21 May 1981.
367

WAYS OF COLD WAR II

159 “Happy Centennial!,” ARRADCOM Voice, 15 September 1980. The ARDEC 

Historical Office has several scrapbooks photos and programs relating to 

Centennial events.

160 ARRADCOM, AHR, FY80, p. 367, and Laboratory Posture Report, FY80, 

p. 7.

161 ARRADCOM, Laboratory Posture Report, FY80, pp. 22—23.

162 ARRADCOM, AHR, FY80, pp. 22-23.
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

368

CODA

People at Picatinny from 1980 to the present saw changes, but the 

installation remained much the same, especially in mission.

The official name of the installation at its century mark may have 

been ARRADCOM, not Picatinny, but ARRADCOM was not a 

name for the future. In 1980, the new command’s life was more than 

half gone. Immediately after putting ARRADCOM in place, the Army 

began questioning the wisdom of separating research from production. 

In 1983, the United States Army Armaments, Munitions, and Chemical 

Command (AMCCOM) replaced ARRADCOM. This new organization 

had charge of the elements of both ARRADCOM and ARRCOM. 

ARRADCOM’s Picatinny elements plus Benet became the Armament 

Research Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC). In 1986, 

Picatinny Arsenal became the installation’s mailing address.

ARDEC continues to the present day, but AMCCOM became 

administrative history in 1991. Plans had called for the ARDEC to 

become part of Missile Command (MICOM) but then shifted to Tank 

and Automotive Command (TACOM). This arrangement lasted until 

the Army placed ARDEC and similar centers under the new Research, 

Development, and Engineering Command (RDECOM) on 1 May 2003.

The next year, ARDEC became just one of several tenants as the 

Army put the site under the Installation Management Command. This 

new organization controlled garrisons at each installation. Needing a 

name other than ARDEC for the base, the Army chose Picatinny Arsenal.

Other major organizations inhabiting the arsenal beside ARDEC 

now included Program Executive Office for Ammunition and Defense 

Contract Management Agency-New Jersey. Base Realignment and 

368
369

CODA

Closure (BRAC) activities reestablished a naval presence to Navy Hill 

by moving fuze and cannon work to New Jersey from California and 

Maryland. 

A Picatinnyan of 1980 who time traveled to the present day would 

find much which was familiar. He would use the same main entrance 

to Picatinny, but the look and feel would be different. Just as the arsenal 

had to rush to build a fence when the country entered World War I, 

it scrambled to install new security measures after 11 September 2001. 

Employees now run a series of concrete barricades before and after 

the guard station. These were not ready immediately after the attack, 

so the installation excepted the loan of yellow, water-filled barricades. 

Non-employees check in at the Visitor Reception Center. This building 

21st Century creation replaced one the installation had torn down as 

unnecessary in the quiet days of the late 20th Century.

The road from the entrance, named Parker for the first commander, 

follows the strip purchased from the Spicers in 1882, but it is wider, and 

the view is different. The turn-of-the-century houses purchased in 1941 

are gone. The posts of the Cannon Gate are now three lanes apart, 

and it is impossible for the gate, open since the end of World War I, 

to close. Parker Road still goes down to building 151, now home to an 

assortment of administrative offices. Building 162 is still to the east across 

Green Pond Brook, but now houses offices instead of laboratories. The 

laboratories formerly in it and its neighbors are on Navy Hill. Many are 

in the complex around the Feltman and second Hale buildings.

Building 114, originally home to the superintendent’s family and 

the arsenal’s administrative office, remains next door to 151 and still 

houses the third ranking officer and his family. The superintendent of 

construction’s home built in 1882 is now the Guest House. The two 

highest ranking officers still use the two structures built off Farley Avenue 

in 1909. The stable and coach house built in 1885, building 117, did a 

term as officers’ family quarter but is now an administrative building. 

Next to it is the Garage with sections built in 1921 and 1933. Building 

31 is still next to the Garage, but the Machine Shop has morphed into a 

software engineering facility.

Up Farley Avenue from 162 is a Fire Station opened in 2009. The 

old Navy stable turned fire house on Navy Hill stored equipment for 

Community Recreation until reconverted to a firehouse in 2015. An Army 

officer’s family lives in building 3250, the former Navy commander’s 

residence. This building still looks as it did when rebuilt after the 1926 

explosion. Enlisted personnel, both male and female, lived in building 

3050 until its conversion to an office building in 2015.
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

370

Building 1 now denotes what was building 171 when it served 

as headquarters for the Technical Division and, later, the Munitions 

Command. It presently houses the Program Executive Officer for 

Ammunition, a general who doubles as the installation commander. 

Next door is the Garrison Commander. The largest organization on 

post, ARDEC, has headquarters in what was building 1 in 1980 and is 

now 93. The 1981 structure still stands between the Ramsey and Larned 

buildings. The former houses headquarters for the Product Assurance 

Directorate, the latter for the Munition Engineering Technology Center.

Outdoor testing still happens on the ridge to the west of Lake Picatinny, 

but Picatinny has been turning more and more to indoor testing. It 

dedicated the Marie Rossi-Cayton Center for small and medium caliber 

testing in 1995 and the Thomas Davidson Warheads facility for explosive 

testing in 1990. Rossi-Clayton was an Army helicopter pilot who died 

during Operation Desert Storm, Davidson an ARDEC technical director. 

In 2015, a new experimental propellant facility opened on the site of the 

double-base propellant plant constructed after World War II.

Troops fought Desert Storm with items developed at Picatinny, 

including “silver bullet” tank rounds, Patriot warheads, 25mm Bushmaster 

ammunition, Bradley and Abrams fire control devices, and the XM221 

demolition charge. Troops in the Global War on Terror did the same.

When doing the stonework on the Cannon Gate in 1884, Thomas 

Robinson could not have envisioned the variety of missions and 

sophistication of the equipment workers of the present take for granted. 

Nor could he and his fellow construction workers have imagined the 

ethnic diversity of both military and civilian workers a hundred years 

later. Still, workers then and now resembled each other in being able at 

tasks necessary to national defense.

The memorial Picatinny employees erected to their colleagues who 

died in World War II is still on Route 15. In recent years, Picatinny 

has planted trees at selected spots to commemorate New Jersey service 

members who died in the Global War on Terror. As wars continue, 

Picatinny continues to support those fighting them. This is the major 

constant of Picatinny history.
Bibliography

Major Sources and Acknowledgments

Official Reports and Histories

The reports from Picatinny commanders appear in the Reports of 

the Chief of Ordnance published by the Government Printing Office 

from 1879 to 1921 and in A Collection of Ordnance Reports and Other Important 

Papers Relating to the Ordnance Department taken from the Records of the Ordnance 

Office and from Other Sources, (Washington: Government Printing Office, 

1890), 3 vols. (1860-1889). Also of use was Army Ordnance, 1917-1919, 

No. 380: No. 1939: History of Artillery Projectiles (Washington: Government 

Printing Office, 1921).

Picatinny units turned out regular historical reports beginning in 

1939. Several 1939 reports reviewed events of the 1920s and 1930s. 

There was a hiatus between World War II and Korea, but the 1950-

1951 compilations gave attention to the missed period. The arsenal 

compiled and distributed these reports on a quarterly basis during World 

War II, but converted to a semi-annual basis afterwards. The coming of 

ARRADCOM brought annual command histories.

Department of the Army level studies which especially influenced 

Picatinny’s development include Report on the Reorganization of the Department 

of the Army (Washington 25, D.C.: Department of the Army December 

1961): Report of the Army Materiel Acquisition Review Committee 

(AMARC), vol. I: Precis, 1 April 1974, and Final Report of the AMC 

Committee-Armament, December 1974, Armament Development 

Center Concept Plan, II-24. The numerous reports, brochures, and 

pamphlets generated at Picatinny are in the ARDEC History Office 

371
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

372

Collection. The same is true for the cited documents from the Naval Air 

Rockets Test Station.

The National Archives and Records Administration provided a copy 

of Lake Denmark, New Jersey Explosion – 10 July, 1928: Proceedings of 

Court of Inquiry.

The indispensable work for Picatinny’s first half-century is Captain J. 

A., Rogers, Jr., comp., The History of Picatinny Arsenal (Picatinny Arsenal, 

1931). The front page attributed this to the War Plans Department of 

Picatinny’s Plant Engineering Department, but Captain Rogers was the 

sole compiler. In the introduction, Lieutenant Colonel John P. Rose, the 

arsenal commander praised Rogers for “voluntarily” taking on this extra 

work. “Voluntarily” has a special meaning in discussions between colonels 

and captains, but, whatever his motivation, students of Picatinny history 

should be very grateful the explosion of 21 March 1930 did no worse to 

Rogers than knock him down.

In 1942-43, The Picatinny News ran a series of articles on the history 

of Picatinny which had the advantage of access to employees whose 

memories ran back to the start of the Twentieth Century. Histories the 

paper ran in 1946-47 and 1954 had similar advantages. The article 

“Picatinny Arsenal,” in Seymour M. Kaye, Encyclopedia of Explosives and 

Related Items, vol. 8 (Dover, New Jersey: US Army Armament Research and 

Development Command, Large Caliber Weapon Systems Laboratory, 

1978), P-266-P-274, benefitted for access to Cold War employees.

Beginning in January 1992, the installation newspaper ran a regular 

series of short pieces on Picatinny history by this writer. This became 

as much a learning experience for him as for his audience, and he owes 

thanks to former editor “Dutch” Meier for suggesting the column and 

to later editors Myra Hess, Tonya Townsell, and Edward Lopez for 

continuing to publish it.

The Plant Engineering Group produced Plant Design, typescript, c. 

1942, a history of changes in the installation’s layout up to the start of 

World War II. Report of Work Accomplished by Agencies Assigned to 

Work with Picatinny Arsenal, typescript in ARDEC Historical Office files 

[n.d., but c.1942], and Picatinny Arsenal, W.P.A., Sept. 19, 1935–June 

30, 1938, bound typescript and photos in ARDEC Historical Office files, 

detail mid-1930s construction work. 

Histories of individual buildings are in Revised Draft Report: Evaluation of 

Structures Built Prior to 1946 at Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey, (Prepared for the 

New York District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers by WCH Industries, 

Inc., Waltham MA, in association with Boston Affiliates, Inc., Boston 

MA, December 30, 1994), and Historical Properties Report, Picatinny 

Arsenal, Dover, New Jersey, Draft Report, December, 1984, prepared by 
373

BIBLIOGRAPHY

the Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering 

Record of the National Park Service.

John Klusick, who was active in planning the golf course during his 

years as a Picatinny employee, provided copies of two works he prepared, 

Picatinny Arsenal Golf Course: A History, Dover, N. J.: Picatinny Arsenal, [c. 

1975], and “Who, How and When”: The Development of the Picatinny Arsenal 

Golf Course by Military and Civilian Volunteers, Picatinny Arsenal, 2008.

Jason Huggan, Picatinny Arsenal archaeologist, provided major 

assistance on the history of both land and buildings and in obtaining 

records and photos from the National Archive and Records Administration.

Mechanical Department, Technical Group, [Picatinny Arsenal], 

“Early History and Evolution of Artillery Ammunition and Bombs and 

Allied Materiel From World War I to June 30, 1939, typescript, ARDEC 

Historical Office files, gave important information on pre-World War II 

ammunition issues.

Picatinny Arsenal’s Accomplishments During Second World War 

(7 Dec. 1941 to 7 Sept. 1945), photocopy of typescript in ARDEC 

Historical Office Files, (no date, but compiled shortly after combat’s end), 

was helpful in organizing the war’s events.

Relevant volumes from the U.S Army in World War II series are Constance 

McLaughlin Green, Harry C. Thomson, and Peter C. Roots, The Technical 

Services: The Ordnance Department: Planning Munitions for War (Washington, D. 

C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, 1955; Harry C. Thomson 

and Lida Mayo, The Technical Services: The Ordnance Department: Procurement 

and Supply (Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, 

1960); Byron Fairchild and Jonathan Grossman, The War Department: The 

Army and Industrial Manpower (Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of 

Military History, 1959), Vincent C. Jones, Special Studies: Manhattan: The 

Army and the Atomic Bomb (Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History, 

1985), and Erna Risch and Chester L. Kieffer, The Quarter Master Corps: 

Organization, Supply and Services, Volume 2, (Washington, D.C.: Center 

of Military History, 1988). The Ordnance Department volumes are 

also valuable for the period between world wars. Order of Battle: Zone 

of the Interior: Organization and Activities of the War Department, Volume 3, 

(Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History, 1988), describes the 

World War I arsenal. Roy E. Appleman, United States Army in the Korean 

War: South to the Nakong, North to the Yalu (Washington, D.C.: Center of 

Military History, 1992), provided background on development of the 

improved bazooka rocket. On the rise of the project management offices, 

see Herbert A. Leventhal, Project Management in the Army Materiel Command, 

1962-1987 (Alexandria VA: AMC Historical Office, 1992). 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

374

Newspapers

In World War I, Picatinny Arsenal had three newspapers. One was 

The Picatinny Press, a monthly which first appeared on 26 November 1918, 

more than two weeks after the signing of the Armistice with Germany. 

This was an eight-page, two-column magazine. In April 1919 came The 

Picatinny Magazine. This monthly started out as a large four-column single 

sheet product but changed to a four-page, double-column leaflet format. 

Prior to both of these was The Palab News, a type written newssheet which 

had begun in December 1919. It only covered laboratory force subjects. 

The shut down dates for these are unknown, but they did not long survive 

the war.

The Barrage, a monthly magazine devoted to jokes and the personal 

doings of employees, first appeared in September 1929. It began as a two 

and three-page pamphlet but grew to a fair size publication. It succeeded 

something called Alley Dust, a publication which left no surviving copies. 

The ARDEC History Office has copies of scattered issues of these papers, 

many courtesy of the late Frank “Doc” D’Auria.

The first issue of The Picatinny News appeared on 5 December 1941 

and was an official publication under the supervision of the arsenal morale 

officer. It appeared weekly in 1942 and 1943, and then began appearing 

every two weeks in 1944. In alternate weeks, employees received The NewsBarrage. While the formats and the news contents were not appreciably 

different from The Picatinny News, an official arsenal publication, the 

News-Barrage was a product of the installation’s American Federation 

of Government Employees lodge. The alternating issue arrangement 

survived the war but not the cutbacks which followed it. There was only 

the Barrage from 1949 to 1951. The Picatinny News reappeared in 1952 and 

lasted, sometimes as a biweekly and sometimes as a monthly until the 

disestablishment of Picatinny Arsenal in 1977. It was a monthly at the 

time of its last issue on 16 May 1977.

From 1977 to 1983, the paper was The ARRADCOM Voice and 

covered events at Edgewood Arsenal and Ballistic Research Laboratory 

as well as at Picatinny. With the disestablishment of ARRADCOM in 

1983, it became The Voice of Picatinny Arsenal and then just The Voice. The 

issue of 18 June 2010 carried the title The Picatinny Voice, still the title at 

this writing.

Research on the 1926 explosion benefitted from scrapbooks compiled 

from New Jersey and New York papers by Arthur R. Collins, late 

president of the Wharton Historical Society. These are in the ARDEC 

Historical Office at Picatinny. Lynn Gerlach of Saint Clare’s Hospital 

presented the office with another collection of clippings kept at Saint 
375

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Clare’s predecessor, Dover General Hospital. These compilation have 

special value as many of the newspapers which speculated on Picatinny’s 

survival no longer exist.

Most relevant for Picatinny’s first half-century were the Iron Age 

and the Rockaway Record, both available on line, with lacunae, at the 

Rockaway Township Public Library website. John Dunaldo of the 

Rockaway Township Historical Society provided leads to many key 

articles in these publications and in the Iron Age’s successor, the Dover 

Advance, later the North Jersey Advance. He also provided several articles 

from http://newspapers.com. 

This work’s first citation from the Daily Record, originally the 

Morristown Daily Record, is from 1915. The paper still covers Picatinny. 

So does Newark’s Star-Ledger, the result of the 1945 merger of two 

newspapers. The author read these papers along with the New York 

Times on microfilm at the Morris County Public Library, Hanover, New 

Jersey. In addition, Ted Gabel of the arsenal’s Environmental Affairs 

Department provided copies of several Times articles on explosions and 

other events.

Periodicals

Accounts of Picatinny activities appeared frequently in Army Ordnance

up to 1946, in its successor Ordnance after 1946, and, starting in 1961, in 

Army Research Development and Acquisition, later Army RD&A. The accounts 

of various departments in Army Ordnance, vol. VII, no. 37 (July-August 

1926) not only lay out the arsenal as it was in the 1920s, but frequently 

refer to work during World War I and earlier. Later issues in the same 

year were helpful on the 1926 explosion.

Picatinny occasionally attracted attention from magazines of wide, 

national circulation, including Life and the Saturday Evening Post.

Dr. Marvin Carmack kindly provided the historian with a copy of 

his “George Clyde Hale, Hoosier Chemist and Pioneer in Ordnance 

Research and the Early Chemistry of the Explosive, RDX,” revised draft 

of paper delivered to Annual Meeting of the Indiana Academy of Science at 

Manchester College, November 2, 1990.

Frederick I. Ordway and Frank H. Winter, “Pioneering Commercial 

Rocketry in the United States of America,” Journal of the British Interplanetary 

Society, vols. 36-40 (1983-1987), is the indispensable history of Reaction 

Motors.

Documents

All documents cited in the text are in the collection of the ARDEC 

History Office at Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey. Thanks are due the many 
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

376

persons who sent documents to the office over the years, including Frank 

“Doc” D’Auria, to Clyde Hosking, nephew of Wilfred “Bricky” Hosking, 

and Marion O’Rourke, long-time Picatinny employee and daughter of 

George A. O’Rourke, chief dog handler in World War II.

Photos

Most of photos reproduced here are from the files of the ARDEC 

History Office at Picatinny Arsenal. Todd Mozes and Erin Usawicz of 

Picatinny’s Photo Shop scanned many of them, work over and above the 

call of their duties.

The photos of Army Powder Factory equipment in Chapter One are 

from Military Explosives, War Department Document No. 947 (Washington: 

Government Printing Office, 1919). The ARDEC History Office’s copy 

once belonged to Wilfred “Bricky” Hosking. The photo at the end of 

Chapter 4 is courtesy of Charlotte Kelly of the Wharton Historical 

Society who also provided information and artifacts on the railroad tour 

of the explosion area. Richard Valerio, a veteran of the Scientific and 

Professional Personnel Program provided photos and information on the 

program at Picatinny.

Other photos, mostly from ARDEC History Office files, are available 

in John W. Rae, Images of America: Picatinny Arsenal (Charleston SC: Acadia 

Publishing, 1999).

Chapter Four contains photos from the National Archives and Record 

Administration. 

Websites

Helpful websites active at the time of the research for this volume 

included http://archive.ccm.edu/rosie/EVarga.htm, a site maintained 

by County College of Morris in Randolph, New Jersey, to celebrate 

women workers in World War II, and http://bobholland.com/me/

reaction2.htm, a site maintained by Bob Holland a former Reaction 

Motors, Incorporated, employee. Helpful on the story of the permissive 

action link was the http://www.brookings.edu/projects/archive/

nucweapons/box9_2.aspx., a Brookings Institute site. Many of the above 

materials, especially arsenal histories and newspapers, were in what 

was the Technical Library and is now the Technical Resources Center 

at Picatinny. Patricia Ays was in charge of these items when this writer 

began using them. Following her retirement, Suseela Chandraseka, Liz 

Reisman, and Mimi Ng were extremely helpful.
377

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Other

Thanks are due the many listeners who endured his tours and talks 

on Picatinny, tours and talks in which he worked out many of the ideas 

presented here. Two of these talks were presentations at Center of 

Military History’s Conference of Military Historians in 2002 and Army 

Historian’s Training Symposium in 2015. Complicated reasons prevented 

the writer from attending these events, so he extends sincere appreciation 

to William T. Moye, an Army Materiel Command historian in 2003, 

and Claus Martel, holder of a similar position in 2015, for delivering the 

presentations for him. The late George Laurie of the Dover Historical 

Society helped on several issues, especially the 1926 explosion.

A major acknowledgement must go to the United States Army 

Armament Research, Development, and Engineering Center (ARDEC) 

for employing the writer as its historian long enough for him to learn what 

is in the preceding pages. He is especially grateful to former supervisor 

Peter Rowland, who put up with him for over 20 years, and present 

supervisor Timothy Rider for allowing the latitude to pursue his mission 

in a way which developed both his knowledge and his skills.

In addition to Mr. Rider, Audra Calloway, Eric Kowal, Edward 

Lopez, Cassandra Mainiero, Francis Misurelli, Lauren Poindexter, and 

Ronald Trivedi read and made corrections to chapters. All remaining 

errors, both of fact and interpretation, are the author’s fault.

Credit for design and format belong to Michelle Feingold and Michael 

Burke of Solari Creative Inc.
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

INDEX

II Corps, 153

4th Armored Division, 199

14th Coast Defense Company, 65

16th Coast Defense Company, 65

16th Infantry, 117

21st Battalion (USMCR), 297

42nd Infantry, 65

59th Ordnance Company, 186

173rd Infantry Brigade, 331

200 area, 75

800 area, 163, 281

1200 area, 232, 281

6000C4 engine, 295

9355th Technical Service Unit, 

208-209, 223

A

AT&T, 117

Abell, Frank, 139-140

Aberdeen Proving Ground, 90, 157, 

173, 209, 274, 313, 323, 346, 348, 

351, 352

Abrams, Creighton, 333

Abrams tank, 370

absenteeism, 198, 215, 223, 237

accident rates, 98, 235, 267, 284

Accounting Department, 200

Accounting Division, 178

Accounting Section, 178

Ackerman, Alexander, 45

Adaption Kit Section, 312

Adjutant Office, 312

Administration Branch, 271-272

Administration Building, 44, 64, 154, 

158, 184, 186, 221

Administration Building (Navy), 61, 123

Administration Division, 79

Administrative Division, 79, 339

Administrative Group, 178, 185, 200

Administrative Section, 84

Administrative Services Division, 

320, 339

Administrative Services Office, 

272, 312

378
379

INDEX

Advanced Atomic Weapons Systems 

Laboratory, 275, 311

Aerojet, 299, 328

Aeronautical Rocket Laboratory, 298

Aetna Explosives Company, 35, 60, 93

African-Americans at Picatinny, 209, 

214-217, 271, 318

Agriculture, Department of, 161

Air Force, 91, 205, 206, 325, 331, 336

Air Mail Service, 93

Air Service, 93

aircraft dispensed munitions, 324

Alabama, 273

Alamac Hotel, 219

alcumite, 97

Aleutians, 203

Alexander, Harold “Hap,” 182

Alexander, William (Lord Stirling), 350

Alfson, Orlando M., 137

Alinco amplifier stand, drip stand, 301

All-American Tool Company, 305

All Souls Hospital, 42

Allentown (PA), 13

Allis Chalmers, 99

Allis Corliss, 99

Allotments Section, 79, 178, 213

amatol, 58, 59, 73, 75, 82, 88, 94, 97

American (NY), 120

American Bowling Congress, 186

American Defense Preparedness 

Association, 347

American Federation of Government 

Employees (AFGE), 185, 186, 254, 255

American Federation of Labor, 185

American Medical Association, 224

American Forcite, 10

American Instrument Company, 305

American LaFrance, 184

American Legion, 118

ammonium nitrate, 58, 75, 98, 155, 189

ammonium picrate, 24, 132, 260

ammonium thiocyanate, 280

ammunition, 2.36-inch, 206, 261; 

2.75-inch, 279, 324, 325, 332, 333, 342; 

2.95-inch, 38; 3.5-inch, 1, 3, 262, 269, 

273, 329, 337; 4.2-inch, 201, 333, 342; 

4.5-inch, 260, 279; 5-inch, 117, 352; 

8-inch, 82, 314, 342, 252; 12-inch, 42, 

82, 91, 120; 16-inch, 81, 82; 25mm, 

355, 370; 37mm, 93, 175, 176, 199; 

40mm, 2, 324, 325, 330-331, 333, 342; 

.50-caliber, 276, 303, 355; 60mm, 199, 

260, 276, 326, 328; 75mm, 75, 82, 

175, 176, 177, 199, 269; 76mm, 265, 

315; 90mm, 265, 326, 342; 105mm, 

238, 260, 315, 326, 327, 330, 333, 342; 

106mm, 283, 326; 152mm, 236, 342; 

155mm, 75, 82, 173, 177, 314, 333, 

351, 355; 175mm, 327; 240mm, 265; 

280mm, 265-266, 276, 314.

Ammunition and Auxiliary Division, 

178

Ammunition and Packing Development 

Laboratory, 273, 311

Ammunition Development and 

Engineering Directorate (ADED), 

340, 342

Ammunition Development Division, 

307, 313, 322

Ammunition Development Laboratory, 

273, 311, 

Ammunition Division, 178, 254, 330

Ammunition Drafting Room, 84

Ammunition Drafting Section, 180

Ammunition Engineering Branch, 279
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

380

Ammunition Engineering Directorate 

(AED), 321

Ammunition Engineering Laboratory, 

322, 324, 325

Ammunition Group, 307, 313, 320

Ammunition Production and 

Maintenance Engineering Division, 

322, 324

Ammunition Reliability Division, 322

Ammunition School, 181

Ammunition Technical and Training 

Command, 255

AN/ALA-17, 330

Analytical Chemistry Laboratory, 

297, 298

Analytical Laboratory Subsection, 205

Analytical Section, 180

Anderson, Charles, 25, 210

Anderson, Harry L., 199

Ansell, Otto F., 26, 34

antitank mine, 206, 207, 260, 342

Apollo Theater, 214, 237

Applied Research Unit, 

Applications Engineering Laboratory, 

322

aqueous fusion, 280

Arentowicz, Frank, 341

Armament Materiel Readiness 

Command (ARRCOM), 353

Armament, Munitions, and Chemical 

Command (AMCCOM), 368

Armament Systems Division, 352

Armament Research and Development 

Command (ARRADCOM), 348

Armament Systems Concepts Office, 

(ASCO), 350

Armaments Command (ARMCOM), 

339, 340, 341, 342, 345, 346, 347, 348

Armaments Development Center, 345

Arlington (TX), 299

Armistice, 59, 61, 62, 66, 67, 72

Armstrong, H. L., 58

Army Air Force, see Air Force 

Army Ammunition Procurement and 

Supply Agency, 323

Army Fuze Management Project Office 

(AFMO), 352

Army Gun Air Defense System, 352

Army Materiel Acquisition Review 

Committee (AMARC), 345, 348, 349

Army Materiel Command (AMC), 

5, 319, 320, 330, 336, 346, 348, 349, 

350, 359 

Army Materiel Development and 

Readiness Command (DARCOM), 

349, 351, 352

Army Materials Research Reactor, 321

Army Medical Service, 223

Army Ordnance, 78, 81, 93, 101, 103

Army Ordnance Association, 78

Army Rocket and Guided Missile 

Agency, 274

Army Service Forces (ASF), 254, 255

Army War College, 78

Arsenal Facilities and Equipment 

Division, 320

Arsenal Operations Division (AOD), 

275, 312, 315

Art Deco, 233, 234

Arthur D. Little, Incorporated, 275

Artillery Ammunition Development 

Laboratory, 311

Artillery Ammunition and Packing 

Development Laboratory, 273

Artillery Ammunition Division, 330

Artillery Ammunition Laboratory, 330
381

INDEX

Artillery Fuze and Primer Section, 

326, 327

Artillery Primer Section, 182

Artillery Section, 326, 327

Artillery Systems Division, 

Ashby, Richard, 341

Assistant Secretary of the Army for 

Logistics, 266

Associate Director for Development, 

272

Associate Director for Special Weapons, 

275, 311

Athletic Officer, 178

athletics, 66, 162, 186, 217, 345

Atlantic Dynamite Works, 10

Atlantic Powder Depot, 11

Atlas missile 299

Atlas powder, 140

“Atomic Annie,” 1, 266

Atomic Ammunition Branch, 312

Atomic Ammunition Laboratory, 322 

Atomic Applications Laboratory, 275

Atomic Branch, 280

atomic clock, 322

Atomic Energy Commission, 314

Atomic Engineering Branch, 279

Atomic Munitions Branch, 276

atomic simulator, 330

Australia, 202

auto hobby shop, 345

automotive shop, 162

Auxiliary Department, 200, 213

Auxiliary Division, 178

Avco, 331

B 

Babcock, H. A., 7, 11

Babbitt, E. B., 23

Babbitt, L. S., 23

Bachelor’s Officer’s Club, 67

Bag loading, 75, 121, 156

Bag sewing, 60, 63, 255, 318

Bag Sewing Section, 183

Bain, C. J., 85

Baker, Augustus Lynn Landon, 102, 

138, 154, 184

Ballistics Research Laboratories, 274

Ballistics Section, 266, 357-348

banquets, 185, 186

Barbato, Jerry, 266, 269

barium azide, 321

barium chromate, 205

Barnes, Albert, 225

Baron, M. A., 121

barracks, 111, 113, 115, 123, 294, 

295, 306, 345

Barrage, The, 187

Barris, William, 111

baseball, 66, 79, 118, 186, 284

basketball, 345

Basic Research Unit, 321

Bassett, Thomas O., 140

Bassett, William J., 140

Bates, J. F., 61

Battery, The, 20

Bayles, Jennie, 319

Baylor, T. G., 7

bazooka, 1, 3, 206, 261-265, 269, 

273, 276, 329, 337, 373

Beach Glen (NJ), 135
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

382

Beatty, Zenora, 269

Beckman, 298

beehive ammunition, 326, 328, 330

Beeman, John Henry, 189, 231

Bell Building (B-95), 313, 314, 353

Bell, Howard Lee, 299

Bell Laboratories, 173

Bell, William L., Jr., 313

Bellevue Hospital Medical College, 213

Belvedere (NJ), 218

Benet, Stephen V., 6, 8, 18, 21, 346

Benet Weapons Laboratories, 346, 347, 

351, 368

Benton, Willie R., 269

Berkshire Valley, 15, 119, 189

Berry, R. L., 121

Bertrand’s Island, 185

betatron, 257, 259, 280

Bible study, 344

Birnie, Rogers, 23

Black Knights, 355

black powder, 10, 19, 41, 81, 97, 156, 

274, 277, 335

Black, William, 161

blacksmith, 14, 37, 39, 41, 210, 221, 

281, 315, 343, 355

blank ammunition, 39, 41, 315, 355

blender, powder, 33, 58, 129, 160, 284

Blending and Packing Section, 79

Bloomingdale (NJ), 117

Board of Aldermen (Dover), 139

Board of Civil Service Examiners, 271

Board of Fish and Game 

Commissioners, 227

Boardman, Bernard, 269

boat house, 37, 68

Bockhorst, John A., 121

Bolotto, Helen, 318

Bomarc, 273

Bomb and Bomb Fuze Laboratory, 325

Bomb and Grenade Section, 180

bombs, 500-pound, 326; 750-pound, 

325, 332; 1,000-pound, 326

Bomb Section, 326, 329

Boonton (NJ), 111, 228

Booster Section, 79, 181

Booth, L. D., 178

Bott, George W., Jr., 136

Borcher, “Pop,” 67

bowling, 186, 284, 345

Bradley fighting vehicle, 370

Braverman, Robert, 332

Brayton, H. M., 89

Breakneck Valley (NJ), 7

Bricksburg (NJ), 7

bromates, 85

Bronx, The (NY), 1, 218

Brookhaven National Laboratory, 321

Brooklyn (NY), 115, 118, 121, 127, 

140, 218

Brooklyn Navy Yard, 115, 118, 140

Brown, Edward, 113, 120

Brown, Edward L., 284

Brown, Harold, 250

Brown, Mrs. Edward, 113, 137

Brown, Harry C., 137

Browning automatic rifle, 83

Bruceton (PA), 97

Bruno, Fred, 341

Buck, Mrs George R., 118
383

INDEX

Buckley sisters, 116

Buchanan, T. R., 138

Buffington, Adelbert R., 23, 44 

buildings, No. 1, 15, 355, 370; No. 8, 

353; No. 12, 353; No. 13, 233; No. 24, 

256; No. 31, 158, 199, 228, 229, 256, 

353, 369; No. 34, 211, 220, 233; No. 

49, 131; No. 61, 353; No. 64, 314; No. 

65, 314; No. 92 (Ramsey Building), 

322; No. 93 (Parker Building), 355; No. 

94 (Larned Building), 334; No. 95 (Bell 

Building), 313, 353; No. 99, 282, 305; 

No. 110, 14; No. 112 (Commander’s 

House), 37, 343; No. 113, 37, 343; No. 

114, 18, 37, 343, 369; No. 115, 18, 45, 

170, 343, No. 117, 18, 167, 179, 369; 

No. 119, 25, 77, 102, 131; No. 121, 

186, 283, 344; No. 151,158, 184, 200, 

224, 312, 313, 350, 369; No. 162. 159, 

187, 232, 369; No. 171, 161, 312, 319, 

370; No. 183, 232, 233, 353; No. 191, 

75; No. 235, 75, 236; No. 241, 76; No. 

244, 73, 239; No. 256, 243; No. 266, 

229, 256; No. 281D, 281; No. 302, 

183, 163, 269, 281; No. 302D, 262; 

No. 307 (first magazine), 13-14; No. 

320, 282; No. 323, 353; No. 337, 344; 

No. 345, 76; No. 354, 353; No. 355, 

353; No. 407 (first Hale Building), 316, 

354; No. 445, 243; No. 506 (see also 

Powerhouse), 282; No. 559, 269; No. 

810, 243; No. 823, 243; No. 3002, 333, 

347; No. 3022 (Feltman Building), 353, 

354; No. 3050, 269 306, 343, 345, 369; 

No. 3100, 305; No. 3150, 305, 345, 

353; No. 3220, 343; No. 3221 Chapel), 

343-344; No. 3225, 343; No. 3227, 306; 

No. 3228 (second Hale Building), 344; 

No. 3250, 110, 343, 369; No. 3316, 

110; No. 3317, 353

Buildings and Roads Branch, 281

Bulge, Battle of, 206, 221

Bullpup, 299

Buono, Harriet, 220

Bureau of Aeronautics, 296

Bureau of Mines, 96

Bureau of Naval Weapons, 296, 306

Bureau of Ordnance, 141, 296

Bureau of the Budget, 337

Bureau of Weapons, 297

Burklow, Ralph, 100, 101

burning ground, 79, 99, 229, 231, 

235, 282

Burns, James F., 255

Burns, Julia M., 213

Burnt Meadow Inn, 120

Burrows, Edgar, 190

Burwell family, 66

Bush, George J. G., 115, 137

Bushmaster, 370

Butler (NJ), 117, 170

Butler, Edward, 73

Butler, R. G., 312

C 

C-4, 1, 260

cafeterias, 67, 185, 196, 218, 220

Caldwell (NJ), 120

Caliber Board, 175, 176

Camp Benning, 92

Canada, 202, 322

canister, 203, 204, 326

Cannon Artillery Weapons Systems 

(CAWS), 348, 351, 352

Cannon Gate, 16, 17, 25, 44, 65, 135, 

231, 369, 370

cannon powder, 34, 35, 38, 39, 40, 41, 

58, 160

carbon, 89, 94

Carl, Leroy R., 181
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

384

Carney’s Point, 59

Carpenter Division, 79

Carpenter Shop, 14, 37, 132, 170, 

182, 233

Carpentry Unit, 282

Carpentry Section, 281

Carson, Alfred, 185

Carter, James E., 248

Case, Clifford, 306

Casey, Daniel J., 284

Casey, E. V., 254

Cashen, T., 38

Cast Propellant Plant, 276

castable tertiary explosives, 207

castor oil, 86

Catholic services, 344

Cavalry Service, 92

CBU-3A, 325

CBU-12, 325

celluloid, 38

cellulose nitrate, 27

Central Planning Section, 79

Central Railroad of New Jersey, 21-22

Central Tool Room, 240, 281

ceramics, 339, 342, 345

cesium, 322

Chance Vought, 299

Chapel (B-3221), 343-344

Chaparral, 342

Charleston Ordnance Reserve 

Depot, 95

Chavin, Ralph S., 178

Chief of Ordnance, 6, 7, 11, 15, 18, 

19, 21, 23, 24, 26, 30, 36, 39, 42, 73, 

138, 178, 190, 254, 311, 312, 346

Chief of Staff of the Army, 266, 330

Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, 141

Chemical Branch, 230

Chemical Department, 180, 200, 204

Chemical Laboratories, 29, 34, 180, 

181

Chemical Laboratory, 38, 40, 66, 72, 

79, 84, 85, 100, 159, 180, 184, 205

Chemical Systems Division, 352, 353

Chemical Systems Laboratory (CSL), 

346, 347

Chile, 42

China Lake (CA), 306

China Relief Expedition, 1, 22

choral group, 345

Churn, Bill, 44

chromium, 185, 355

City College of New York, 265, 267

Civil Service, 19, 185, 271, 332, 350

Civil War, 7

Civil Service Commission, 210, 250, 

350

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), 

170, 215

Civilian Personnel Branch, 272

Civilian Personnel Division, 320

Civilian Personnel Office, 312, 348

Civilian Personnel Section, 79

Civilian Works Administration (CWA), 

161 

Clark, John D., 297, 303, 340

Clarke, Burrel H., 113, 137

Clarke, Laura, J., 113, 137

Clarke, Lawrence T., 120

Claymore, 328-329, 330

Clement, John Kay, 180
385

INDEX

Clerical Section, 181

Clifford’s Pond, 9, 24

Clothier, R. L., 178, 189

cluster bombs, 325

coal, 26, 62, 78, 125, 162, 174, 207, 

233, 282, 340-341

Coghlan, J. B., 20

Collins, J. Lawton, 266

Colonial Revival, 37, 158, 159, 161

Colt, 183

Columbia University, 187, 189, 213

Columbiad cannon, 16

Committee for Wartime Care of 

Children, 214

Commodity Management Office, 320

Complete Round Area, 277

Complete Round Assembling and 

Packing Section, 182

Complete Round Section, 79, 180

Complete Rounds Division, 182, 198

composition B, 207, 335

Comptroller, 347, 350, 353

Comptroller and Program Office, 320

Comptroller Office, 312, 320, 35

Congress (US), 7, 11, 18, 21, 23, 25, 39, 

40, 80, 138, 153, 254, 256, 337, 347, 

348, 352

Consolidated Electrodynamics 

Corporation, 304

Container Division, 200

Container Testing Laboratories, 

Incorporated, 94

Continental Army, 9, 66

Continental Army Command 

(CONARC), 328

continuous dry method, 27, 30

Control and Special Planning Branch, 

271

Cook, A. C., 122

Cook, Maude Catherine Lyon, 45

Cook, Myron H., 7, 11, 19-20

Cook, Mrs. Myron, 22

Coontz, Robert E., 140

Coordination and Planning Division, 

323

Coordination and Planning Office, 281

Copperas Mountain, 9

Copperhead, 352

Cornell Iron Works, 16

Cornell University, 182, 214

Corporal, 274

Corps of Engineers, 199, 256, 354

Cost Section, 163

Cost, Voucher, and Property Section, 

76

Costello, Daniel H., 269

Council of Church Women, 220

cows, 45, 102, 122

Coxing Kill Valley (NJ), 7

Cozy Lake, 219

Crain, Jesse K., 153, 186

Crawford burning rate bomb, 298

Crecca, Joseph, 336

cricket, 316

Crispin, Silas, 7

Critical item Control Center, 324

Crozier, William, 26, 39-40, 59

Crump, Ira A., 91, 120

Crusader, 299

Cuba, 23

Cummings, Alfred L., 269
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

386

Cummings, Emerson L., 311

Curry, William, 61

Curtis Bay Ordnance Reserve Depot, 

95

Curtis, R. T., 254

cyclonite (see also RDX) , 86, 88, 174

D 

Dahlgren (VA), 306

Daily Record (Morristown), 42

Daly, John, 337

dances, 181, 186, 215

Danielson, Tekla “Ma.” 185, 220

Dart, 274

Data Processing Division, 320

Data Processing Systems Office, 321

Date, Reuben, 160

D’Auria, Frank “Doc,” 189

Davenport, Elizabeth, 42

Davis, Dwight F., 120

Davy Crockett, 314

day care, 214, 200

Dean Construction Company, 313

Deck, H. S., 96, 98, 102

Deck, Howard B., 160

Deevy, Stephen D., 160

De Havilland, 118

Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western 

Railroad, 21

DelCampo, Angelo R., 265

Delehanty Institute, 218

Dellecker, William, 290

Democrat, 20, 140, 220, 348

Denmark Tract, 65

Denville (NJ), 117

Department of Labor, 96, 295, 342

Department of Public Works, 228

depleted uranium, 355

Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, 319

Detonation Research Unit, 321

detonators, 72, 74, 75, 94, 122, 134, 

160, 189, 203, 204, 206, 238, 242, 277

Detroit Ordnance District, 209

Development and Production Division, 

313, 322

Diamond, Leo J., 235

dicyandiamide, 85

dimethylaniline, 86-87, 204

dinitromethylenzene, 277

dinitrophenol, 88

dinitroxylene, 86, 88, 204

disciplinary barracks, 294

division air defense gun, 350

Dnieper River, 205

Dodge car, 42

Dodge, Geraldine R., 118

dogs, 122, 224-225

Doland family, 65

Doland, Henry, 9

Doland, Peter, 66

double-base propellant, 174, 216, 232, 

256, 258, 260, 370, 276, 277, 282

Dover (NJ), 2, 18, 10, 11, 18, 19, 22, 44, 

45, 78, 116, 117, 118, 127, 138, 139, 

140, 161, 174, 186, 189, 211, 213, 215, 

218, 219, 220, 235, 254, 269, 350, 355

Dover Business College, 270

Dover General Hospital, 73, 102, 115, 

137, 190, 215, 225, 284, 318, 322

Dover High School, 189, 210

Dover Ministerial Association, 220
387

INDEX

Dover Powder Depot, 11, 355

Dover Twilight League, 284

Dowling, Dora, 115, 124, 133

Dowling, Otto C., 113, 115, 118, 121, 

133, 137-138, 140-141, 143

Doyle, James E., 269

Doyle, Lee T., 347

Drawing and Specification File Section, 

180

Drew University, 336-337

Drucker, Harry, 120

Dugway Proving Ground, 346

Duke University, 214

Dunn, Beverly W., 23, 24, 26

Dunnite, 24

DuPont, 27, 35, 59, 60, 61, 81, 85, 172, 

174, 207

DuPont mechanical dipper process, 27

Dutch elm disease, 161

Dyer, Alexander B., 7

E 

Earle Ammunition Depot, 294

East Orange (NJ), 120, 269, 270

Eaton, Charles A., 255

Edison, Thomas Alva, 350

Edge, Walter, 138, 295

Edgewood Arsenal, 319, 330, 346, 347, 

348, 351, 352

EDNA (ethylenedinitramine), 175, 207

Ednatol, 207

Edwards, Edward I., 139, 142

Ehrentraut, David S., 369

Eidson, Mason D., 137

Eisenhower, Dwight D., 350

Electrical and Electronic Section, 282

Electrical Division, 79

Electrical Section, 282

Electrical Shop, 158, 182

electronic radiation, 321

Electronic Command, 333

Elks’ Club, 118

Elliot, Arthur D., 183

Ellis Island, 20

Emergency Relief Administration, 161

Emporium (PA), 60

E. M. Waldron Company, 302

Encyclopedia of Explosives and Related Items, 

336

Engineering Department, 181, 199

Engineering Division, 271, 281, 292

Engineering Research Center, 270

Engineering Research Section, 275

Engineering Sciences Laboratory, 

321, 335

Engineering Services Branch, 281

Engineering Services Laboratory, 221

Engineering Staff, 83

England, 205, 322

Environmental Test Building, 305

EOD Center (Army), 320

Epton, Milton E., 314

Erie Railroad, 7, 22

Ervin, Ephraim P., 115

Essex County (NJ), 218

Eugene F. Wogan & Sons, 283

Evening Graphic (New York), 120

Evening World (New York), 120

everdur, 97

Experimental Explosives Division, 323

Experimental Fuze Plant, 161, 162, 181
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

388

Experimental High Explosives 

Manufacturing Plant, 85

Experimental High Explosives Plant, 

180

Experimental Laboratory, 79

Experimental Loading Section, 79, 101

Experimental Propellant Plant, 180, 

370

Experimental Shell and Booster Plant, 

180

explosions, 2, 3, 37-38, 40, 42, 59, 73, 

78, 99-101, 101-143, 154, 155, 159-

161, 187, 189, 180, 254, 268, 269-270, 

281, 284, 294, 299, 306, 315, 318, 322, 

332, 333, 341, 355

explosive D, 1, 24, 25, 36, 39, 58, 59, 

75, 76, 81, 83, 85, 127, 155

Explosive Lens Branch, 276

Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) 

Office, 313, 320

Explosive Section, 79, 84

Explosives Property Division, 79

Explosives and Inert Materials Unit, 

321

Explosives and Propellants Laboratory, 

311

Explosive Applications Section, 330

Explosives Department, 79, 138, 181, 

214

Explosives Laboratory, 321, 335

Explosives Research Section, 321

External Traffic Section, 178

Equal Employment Officer, 343

Equipment Installation Section, 281

Evaluation and Metrology Division, 

353, 353

F 

Faesch, John Jacob, 66

Fairview Sanitarium, 214

Falcon, 273

Farley, Joseph P., 15-16, 18, 19, 20, 

21, 22

Farm Credit Administration, 186

Farmer, C. H., 183

Farmer, C. H. Jr., 183

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), 

340

Federal Bureau of the Budget, 337

Federal Housing Authority (FHA), 219

Federoff, Basil T., 336

Feeney, Amato E., 138

Feeney, Francis, 137

Feltman Building, 353-354

Feltman Engineering and Research 

Laboratories, 311, 321

Feltman Laboratories, 272, 275, 321

Feltman Research Laboratories, 272, 

313

Feltman, Samuel, 266, 272, 354, 369

Fichter, Katherine, 22

Fidlar, John B., 160

Field Director of Ammunition Plants, 

241

Field Service, 93-96, 171, 178, 180

Fielder, Edward C., 19

Fielder, Ernest, 65

Fields, Maggie, 214-215

Finance Branch, 267, 272

Finance Officer, 178

finance Section, 163, 178

Fire Control and Small Caliber 

Weapons Systems Laboratory, 351
389

INDEX

Fire Control Systems Division, 352

Fire Department, 62, 180, 182

Fire Marshal, 281

Fire Prevention and Protection Branch, 

281

fires, 23, 33, 62, 95, 99, 100, 111

First Methodist Episcopal Church, 117, 

136

Fisher electrophonometer and 

electroanalyzer, 298

flares (see pyrotechnics), 

flashless nonhydroscopic (FNH) 

powders, 81, 96, 173, 174, 207

flechette, 326, 333

flooding, 168-169, 229

Floyd, Richard, 235

Foote, Herbert E., 99

Ford ambulance, 184

Ford plant, 209

Ford, Stanley H., 117

Fordham family, 66

Fort A. P. Hill, 326

Fort Devens, 275

Fort Irwin, 346

Fort Montgomery, 26

Fortification Appropriations Act, 20

Fourier transform algorithm, 335

Fox Movie News, 154

foxes, 226

France, 39, 78, 177, 188, 322

Frankford Arsenal, 38, 75, 76, 202, 319, 

331, 345, 346-353

Frank Grad and Sons, 302

Franklin, C. R., 61

Frenchman Flat, 266

Fritts, Fletcher L., 140

Fritzi, 225

Fry, Robert, 118

Fulton-Irgon, 297

Futch, Grady, 269

Fuze, Booster, and Primer Section, 79

Fuze Development Laboratory, 273

Fuze Laboratory, 325

Fuze Powder Plant, 79

Fuze Section, 89, 325, 328

G 

Gaffney, Dorothy, 211

Gage Design Laboratory, 199

Gage Design Section, 201

Gaithersburg (MD), 340

Garage, 44, 61, 62, 79, 189, 229

Garage Maintenance Section, 178

Garage Operation Section, 178

Garden City (NY), 118

Garrison, Lindley M., 35, 39, 142

Gately, Gertrude, 111, 137, 138, 142

Gately, Joseph Matin, 137, 142

GATOR, 351

Gavin, James M., 262

Gehrig, Eleanor, 224

Gehrig, Lou, 224

Geisik, Joseph, 383-384

General Electric, 280

General Field Section, 281

General Labor Section, 79

General Stores Division, 79

General Stores Section, 178

General Supply Ordnance Depot 

(GSOD), 62

Georgian Revival, 159, 233
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

390

Garafalo, Charles, 348

Gerard’s Drug Store, 117

Gerardo, Jimmy, 226-227

Germany, 66, 83, 177, 188, 205, 

322, 343

Ghormley, William Kerr, 312, 319

Giant Powder Company, 10

Gill, John, 140

Gillespie, James B., 181

Glenwild Lake (NJ), 117

Goettingen, University of, 180

Golf Club, 154, 186, 283

Golf Course, 77, 78, 79, 120, 133, 

184, 208, 283, 284, 344

Gonas, 225

Goodwin, John E., 190

Goss, William, 115

Governor’s Island (NY), 100, 117

Graham, Ralph V. P., 137

graining press, 29

Granger, Warren Laise, 135, 137

granulating process, 27, 29

Great Britain, 58

Greater New York Safety Council, 235

Green, Paul A., 73

Green Pond, 11, 22

Green Pond Brook, 9, 158, 187, 229, 

230, 283, 369

Green Pond conglomerate, 10

Green Pond Mountain, 9, 25, 45, 100, 

161, 163, 185

Green Pond Valley, 10

greenhouse, 168, 184-185, 199, 283, 

353

Gregory, Nelson, 270

Greiner, Edward, 349

grenades, 1, 58, 61, 82, 92, 100, 201, 

260, 273, 316, 328

Grosse, G. R., 38

ground emplaced mine scattering 

system (GEMSS), 355

Grounds Branch, 281, 283

guanidine nitrate, 85

guanidine picrate, 86

Guard Force, 62, 80, 214, 224, 267, 369

Guest House, 14, 369

Gunther, John H., 101, 283

gymnasium, 345, 353

H 

Hackettstown (NJ), 215, 216

Haffner, George J., 332

Hale Building, 316, 321, 354, 369

Hale, George C., 84, 88, 89, 174, 175, 

180, 183, 185, 207, 256, 316 

Haleite, 204, 207, 232, 277

Haley, Joyce, 318

Hall, Anthony, 333

halogen, 334

Hance, Harry, 60

handicapped employees, 317

Harbula, Bela, 319

Hardaker, Maurice, 111, 112, 113, 137

Harris, Francis N., 138

Harris, John P., 81, 83, 137, 138, 143, 

188, 202, 256, 257, 265, 266, 354-355 

Harry Diamond Ordnance Fuze 

Laboratories, 328

Harvard, 178

Haskell plant, 59

Hartrick, 77

Hawk, 273, 274, 329
391

INDEX

Hawkes, Albert W., 255

Hawthorne Ammunition Depot, 294

Hayes dispenser, 325

Hayes, Elry, 341

Headly, Helen, 118

Headquarters and Installation Support 

Activity (HISA), 338, 339, 340

Hearshman, Verlie Ann, 213

Heavenly Rest Cemetery, 216

Heavy Equipment Section, 281

Heilman, W. O., 236, 238, 240, 241

Heinz, John, 348, 349

Herald Tribune (New York), 120

Hercules Corporation, 59, 60, 66, 73, 

186, 198, 218, 219

Hercules missile, 334

Hessians, 66

hexamethylene-tetramine, 89

hexamine, 89

Hibernia (NJ), 135, 136, 140, 295

Hickory Hill, 9, 20, 21

High Bridge Branch, 21

High Explosive and Loading Section, 

180

High Explosive Control Laboratory, 

129

High Explosives Manufacturing 

Division, 79, 85, 211

high explosives plant, 232, 277

High Explosives Unit, 270

Hirt, Joseph, 269

historian, 3, 4, 5, 9, 67, 262, 320, 350, 

354, 355

Hoffman, Marvin R., 347

Hogan, Randall J., 178

Holland, Bob, 304-305

Holmes, Joel G., 138, 186

Holt Trenton tractor, 102

Honest John, 274, 279, 317, 329, 332, 

334

Honeywell, 325

Hooper, Arthur, 284

Hopewell (VA), 60

Horney, Odus C., 26, 33, 35, 37, 38, 

39, 41

horses, 15, 19, 25, 26, 44, 45, 62, 78, 

101, 102, 114, 122, 178

Horticultural Section, 184, 283

Hosking, Wilfred “Bricky,” 45-46, 60, 

116, 122, 153, 183, 187, 264-265, 275, 

283, 315, 323, 337, 338

House Committee on Un-American 

Activities, 190

House of Representatives, 349

housing, 14, 65, 101, 157, 219-220, 

222, 178

Hughes, Everett Strait, 181

Hughes, Robert, 7, 11, 19

Hunt, Wilbur M., 318

Hunter, Alton J., 113

hunting, 78, 226, 227, 344

hydraulic pressing plant, 25

HYGE 3416, 304

I 

identify-friend-or-foe systems, 206

Illinois, University of, 215

Imhoff digester, 282

immigration station, 20

Indian Head (MD), 59, 306

Increased Facilities Project, 73, 77

Industrial Division, 271, 275, 278
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

392

Industrial Engineering Division (IED), 

278, 313, 323

industrial hygiene, 224, 239

Industrial Labor Relations Officer, 320

Industrial Operations Division, 352

Industrial Relations Department, 200

Industrial Services Directorate, 323

Industrial Stores Division, 271

Inelastic neutron scattering, 321

Inert Components Branch, 277, 312, 

322

Inert Components Division, 323

infirmary, 102, 131, 154

Infantry Service, 92

influenza, 67 102

inoculations, 224

Inspection Department, 183, 189, 199

Inspection Design Branch, 313

Inspection Division, 79, 271, 279, 280

Inspection Engineering Branch, 279

Inspection Group, 199, 201

Inspection Office, 313

Inspection Operations Division, 322

Inspection Section, 61, 202

Inspection Unit, 312

Installation Support Office, 320

Internal Revenue Service (IRS), 222

International Newsreel, 120, 121

International Smokeless Powder and 

Chemical Company, 35

Inventory Control, 200

Isotopes Unit, 321

Israel, 340

Ivey, Evelyn P., 214

J 

Jaksetic, Nancy, 342-343

Jamaican workers, 215-216, 217,

218, 271

James, Thomas E., 101, 138

Japan, 138, 235, 330

JATO (jet-assisted take-off), 260, 267, 

269, 273, 274, 276, 277, 279, 301, 

302, 329

JATO Exhaust Temperature and Blast 

Pressure Facility, 302

Jefferson Barracks, 7, 26

Jefferson Proving Ground, 323, 346

Jefferson Township (NJ), 219

Jersey City, 116, 140, 228, 229, 230

Jewish services, 344

Johns Hopkins University, 214

Johnson, James, Jr., 332

Johnson, Julian B., 333

Johnson, Willis, 332

Joliet (IL), 272, 312

Jolt and jumble testing, 89, 94, 242

Jones, Genevieve, 214

Jordan beater, 99

Journal of the American Medical Association, 

224

Joyce, P. W., 43

Joyes, John W., 43, 58

K 

Kavalic, Joseph J., 268

KBR, 298

Kennedy, John F., 315

Kensick, Casimir, 113-114, 137, 141

Kenvil (NJ), 10, 59, 100, 156, 198
393

INDEX

Kibler, Anton L., 61

Kim, 224, 225

Kimberling, Mark O., 117

Kimbrough, Kenneth O., 269

Kindred, John E., 9

King, Georgiana, 217

Kirkpatrick, Murray B., 117

Knights of Columbus, 67

Kock, A. J., 122

Korean War, 3, 256, 261-267, 270, 271, 

272, 324

Kuizenga, see Gaffney, 

Kusma, Alexander, 269

L 

Labor Section, 182

LaDuke, Orril Louis, 235

Laflin and Rand Powder Company, 35, 

96

Laguna Niguel Facility, 346

Laidlaw, Waldo Eugene, 180

Lake Denmark, 154, 208, 227, 231, 281

Lake Denmark Naval Ammunition 

Depot, 2, 67, 73, 100, 110-152, 153, 

230, 294, 295, 303

Lake Hopatcong, 10, 24, 117, 185, 219

Lake Placid, 235

Lake Swannanoa, 219

Lance, 334, 342

Large Caliber Weapon Systems 

Laboratory, 351

Lark, 260

Larned Building (B-94), 334-335, 354, 

370

Larned, William E., 199, 200, 256, 334

Larsen, H., 43

Lawrence, Elias, 190

Lawrence, Lovell, 295

layoffs, 20, 66, 77, 223, 254, 255, 298, 

337-338

Leach, J. Wendell, 341

lead azide, 97

League Island (PA), 21

legal counsel, 320

Legislature, (New Jersey), 8, 239, 140, 

220

Lenape, 11

Lend Lease, 207

Lewis, Bennett L., 346, 347, 348, 250, 

353

Lewis, Leontine D., 224

Lewis, Marvin, 115, 137

Liberty trucks, 62

Lidgerwood Tract, 65, 231

Light Allen H., Jr., 356

light antitank weapon (LAW) , 329

Lincoln, Robert Todd, 21

Linder, Victor, 349

Line Section, 282

linseed oil, 86

Little John, 329

Little, John M., 137

Liquid Propulsion Research Laboratory, 

307

Liquid Rocket Propulsion Laboratory, 

313, 322, 333, 340

Livingston, William, 350

Lloyd, Birtill, 215, 270

Loading Branch, 213, 216, 277, 236-

243, 318

Loading Department, 79, 81, 83, 173, 

181, 200, 201, 210, 217, 223, 242, 262
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

394

Loading Department Office, 182

Loading Division, 181, 236

Loading Facilities Section, 238, 240, 

241

Loading Section, 61, 180

Lockwood, Kilbert E., 347

Long, Lou, 187

Long Island (NY), 116, 118, 120, 321

Long Range Atomic Missile Warhead 

Systems Laboratory, 275

Long Range Atomic Warheads 

Laboratory, 322

Long Range Technical Forecasting 

Division, 321

long-rod penetrators, 355

Long, William, 341

Longwood Lake, 219

Lookout, E. E., 118

Lopez, Julio, 333

Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant, 

329

Lowry, T. Martin, 58

LR-58 (Bullpup), 299

Luce, Paul, 73

Lucite, 315

LXR-99, 299

Lyon, Maude Catherine, 45

M

M1A1, 355

M2, 206, 260

M3, 260, 329

M4A1, 241

M16, 260, 331

M18A1 (Claymore), 328

M19, 355

M19A2, 330

M20, 261

M26, 328

M28, 263, 279

M29, 279

M34, 342

M37, 326, 330

M39, 176, 177

M40A1, 326

M49A1, 330

M49A2, 227

M51, 176

M56, 242, 342

M57, 330, 332

M63, 342

M72 (LAW), 329

M78, 326

M79, 325, 326, 331

M83, 260, 326, 327

M89, 256

M90, 256

M109, 351

M112A1, 330

M116A1, 330

M117, 325, 332

M125A1, 330

M130, 260

M142, 330

M180, 342

M198, 351-352

M201, 342

M242, 355

M250, 342

M302E1, 327, 328
395

INDEX

M329A2, 342

M374A3, 232

M375A3, 342

M384, 324, 325

M385, 324, 325

M404A1, 279 

M406, 325

M407, 325, 342

M437A2, 327

M439, 342

M458A1E2, 355

M509, 342

M546, 326

M564E4, 342

M583, 331

M616, 342

M662, 342

M676, 342

M680, 342

M682, 342

M714, 342

M715, 342

M716, 342

M718, 351

M739, 342

M741, 351

M764, 342

MacDonald, W. H., 254

Machine Division, 323

Machine Section, 79

Machine Shop, 37, 77, 91, 132, 199, 

256, 281, 317, 369

Machine and Tool Design Branch, 278

Machine and Tool Design Section, 188, 

241, 242

Mack truck, 62, 102

Mackert, Henry D., Jr., 137

Macy, Paul F., 268

Macy, R. H. and Company, 22

Madison (NJ), 140, 269

magazine keeper, 18, 19, 22, 37

magazines, No. 1, 12-13, 14, 19; No. 2, 

15-16, 19, 31, 159, 312; No. 3, 16 19; 

No. 4, 16, 18, 19; No. 5, 19

magnesium aluminum, 205

Magruder, Richard A. C., 220

Mail and Records Section, 79, 270

Main Gate, 112, 231, 305, 336

Maine, 23

Maintenance Branch, 239, 240, 241

Maintenance Department, 199

Maintenance Engineering Division, 

313, 322, 324

Maintenance Engineering Section, 329

Maintenance Section, 178, 182, 281

Management Information Systems 

Directorate, 321, 342

Management Science and Data 

Processing Systems Office, 320, 321

Management Services Division, 323

Manhattan, 20, 121, 218

Manhattan Project, 190, 322

Mann, Emmitt, 314

Manufacturing Division, 84, 201, 

206, 242, 264, 271

Manufacturing Group, 178, 181, 

199, 202

Manufacturing Service, 93, 178

Manufacturing Technology Directorate, 

340

Marcella (NJ), 111
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

396

Marines, 21, 73, 110-153, 295, 297, 

306, 328

Marine Corps Hill, 307

Marine Hospital, 267

Mark III, 159

Mark VI, 206

Materials Engineering Laboratory, 335

Martin, Katherine, 60, 210

Martin, Venia, 236

Martin-Orlando, 325

Mase, William R., 284

Massachusetts Institute of Technology 

(MIT), 173

Matador, 273, 274, 279

Mathematics for Junior Draftsmen, 211

Matheson Chemical Corporation, 298

Maude, 25

Mayer, Irving, 314

Maynard Ordnance Test Station, 275

MB Manufacturing Company, 305

McCainville (NJ), 10

McCormick, Oliver, 73

McCullough, John H., 117

McKee, Amanda, 214

McGovern, George, 337

McMenamy, Mary E., 213

McMillan, Laura B., 214

McNamara, Robert, 320

McPeck, Frank, 99

Mechanical Department, 180, 200, 

203-204

Medical Branch, 242, 272

Medical Corps Reserve, 102

Medwick, Joe “Ducky,” 187

melt loading plant, 75, 82, 100, 101, 

155, 238

Melt Loading Section, 79, 182

mercury fulminate, 40, 75, 88, 97, 98, 

99, 134, 190

Metal Components Branch, 216, 240, 

241

Metal Components Department, 79, 

181, 182, 199, 209, 210, 270

Metal Components Section, 79

Metal Components Shop, 170, 228

Metals Testing Building (B-183), 232, 

233

Metals Testing Laboratory, 180, 232, 

353

Metalwork Unit, 281

Methods Engineering Branch, 278

Methods Engineering Division, 323

Methods Planning Division, 183

Mexican Punitive Expedition, 1, 181

Meyers, J. H., 59

Meyers, Manny, 350, 354

Meyner, Helen S., 348

Middle Atlantic Corps, 153

Middle Forge, 8, 9, 11

Miles, Francis H., Jr., 79, 80, 81, 84, 

101

Military Assistance Advisory Group, 

Vietnam (MACV), 320

Military Assistance Group (AMC), 336

military at Picatinny, 37, 58, 61, 62, 79, 

102, 137, 181, 208-209, 271-272, 312, 

339, 343, 344, 345, 370

Military Explosives, 26, 30

Military Personnel Branch, 272

Miller duplex beater, 28, 99

Miller, Isadore, 40
397

INDEX

Miller, Sadiman, 216

Miller, William S., 284

Millwright Division, 79

Millwright Shop, 73, 125, 158, 161, 

182, 199, 281

Milwaukee (WI), 203

Mine and Demolition Section, 328

Mine and Fuze Section, 330

Mine Hill, 44, 140, 219

Mines, Bureau of, 96

Ministry of Munitions (Great Britain), 

58

Minnesota, University of, 178

Mitcham, O. B., 23, 24, 25

Mk24, 324, 330

Mk45, 335

modular pack mine system (MOPMS), 

351

Moglia. Peter A., 180, 187

Moltane, Ann, 190

Mondale, Walter, 348

monel-metal, 97

mononitroxylene, 86

Monroe (NY), 354

Monroe, John, W., 137

Montclair (NJ), 269

Moody, William Barclay, 178, 179

Moonwatch Team, 311

Moore, A. Harry, 139, 140

Mora touting car, 45

Moratorium Day, 336

Morris Canal, 10, 21

Morris County, 9, 10, 43, 117, 118, 

139, 140, 218, 355

Morris County Board of Freeholders, 

139, 140, 254

Morris County Center for Peace and 

Human Rights, 336

Morris County Engineers Club, 186

Morris County Officials’ Association, 

254

Morris County Railroad, 21

Morris County Tennis League, 186

Morris, Mary, 215

Morristown (NJ), 18, 22, 44, 73, 116, 

117, 118, 119, 137, 140, 216

Morristown Memorial Hospital, 42, 

43, 116

mortars, 60mm, 199, 260, 276, 326, 

327, 328; 81mm, 199, 232, 276, 342; 

4.2-inch, 201, 333, 342

Moss, Alan M., 267, 268

Mott, Theodore, 341

Mount Arlington (NJ), 140

Mount Freedom (NJ), 219

Mount Hope (NJ), 9, 10, 21, 45, 114, 

116, 120

Mount Hope Board of Education, 271

Mount Hope Mine, 10, 135

Mount Hope Mineral Railroad 

Company, 21

Mount Hope Road, 15, 25, 45, 135, 

163, 221

Mount Pleasant, 44, 187

Mount Pleasant Road, 15

Mountain Lakes (NJ), 117, 173

movie theater, 215, 219, 345

mules, 12, 44, 45, 114, 154

multipurpose assault weapon 

(MAW), 332

Mund, M. H., 224

Munitions Command (MUCOM), 311, 

319, 320, 323, 324, 330, 339, 341, 370
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

398

Munitions Packaging Laboratory, 335

Murmansk, 203

Museum, 84, 339

N 

NATO Engineering Liaison Office, 322

National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration (NASA), 346

National Association for the 

Advancement of Colored People 

(NAACP), 218

National Bomb Data Center, 340

National Development Mission Branch, 

322

National Federation of Federal 

Employees (NFFE), 67, 185

National Guard, 117, 182

National Industrial Development 

Commission, 271

National Industrial Engineering 

Mission for Ammunition, 272

National Safety Council, 283

Naval Ordnance Test Station, 306

Naval Propellant Plant, 306

Naval Weapons Laboratory, 306

Naval Air Rocket Test Station 

(NARTS), 2, 294-310

Navy, 3, 20, 25, 39, 110-152, 172, 203, 

231, 242, 255, 265, 282, 294-310, 320, 

321, 325, 333, 335, 342, 343, 352, 353, 

369

Navy Hill, 343, 369

Navy commander’s house (B-3250), 

110, 343, 369

Navy Department, 118, 142, 306

Navy yards, Brooklyn, 115, 118, 140; 

League Island, 20-21; New York, 21

nephritis, 224

nuclear radiation, 321

neutron diffraction, 321

Nevada, 266, 294

New Deal, 3, 161-170

New Brunswick (NJ), 117

New Durham (NJ), 143

New Jersey Power and Light Company, 

282

New Jersey SANE, 336

New Jersey State Police, 117, 190

New York (NY), 1, 7, 8, 11, 13, 16, 20, 

21, 22, 78, 100, 113, 115, 117, 118, 

120, 214, 218, 220, 231, 235, 237, 238, 

265, 267, 313, 321, 340

New York American, 120

New York Daily News, 121

New York District Corps of Engineers, 

354

New York Fireworks Plant, 143

New York National Guard, 162

New York University, 213, 343

New York Yankees, 224

Newfoundland (NJ), 117

Newark (NJ), 111, 121, 163, 186, 206, 

218, 269, 270, 302

Newark College of Engineering, 265

Newark Sunday Call, 119

Newton (NJ), 218

Nicholls, Jesse C., 33, 44, 58, 59

Nike, 273, 274, 279

nitric acid, 39, 42, 86, 87, 89, 189, 334

Nitro plant, 60

nitrocellulose,28, 33, 94, 96, 99, 125, 

126, 133, 188, 212, 276, 280, 335, 341

nitroguanidine, 85, 277, 280

nitroglycerin, 22, 33, 40, 277
399

INDEX

Nixon Nitrating Company, 60

Nobel Prize, 79, 322

Non-Commissioned Officers’ (NCO) 

Club, 344

Norden bombsight, 206

Norman, Jack, 341

Normandy, 262

North Atlantic Treaty Organization 

(NATO), 321

North Tract, 65, 154

Nuclear Development and Engineering 

Directorate (NDED), 340

Nuclear Engineering Directorate 

(NED), 

Nuclear Engineering Reliability 

Division, 322

Nuclear Systems Division, 352

Nuclear Weapons Division, 323

Nuclear Weapons Engineering 

Laboratory, 314

Nucleonics Research Section, 321

O

Oak Ridge (NJ), 113

Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies, 

318

O’Brien, Philip, 46, 233

Office of Administrative Services, 272

Office Services Branch, 272

Office of the Comptroller, 350

Officers’ Club,162, 344

Old Hickory Ordnance Plant, 30, 60, 

95

Old Maude, 25

Olde Forge Chapel, 343

Olin Industries, 298

Olin-Matheson, 298

Olsen, Fred, 93, 94

Operating Branch, 281

Operating Department, 163, 213, 233

Operations Area A, 323

Operations Area B, 323

Orange (NJ), 270

Ordnance Ammunition Command 

(OAC), 272, 278, 312

Ordnance Committee, 84, 90

Ordnance Corps, 272, 279, 280, 314

Ordnance Department, 7, 20, 23, 34, 

35, 40, 41, 61, 62, 72, 76, 80, 85, 89, 

90, 93, 120, 171, 173, 174, 175, 176, 

180, 183, 187, 189, 201, 202, 204, 

208, 235, 254, 255, 256, 262, 263, 

266, 350, 355

Ordnance Department Field Service, 

171

Ordnance Special WeaponsAmmunition Command (OSWAC), 

306, 312, 314, 318, 319

Ordnance Stores, 36-40, 41, 79

O’Rourke, George, 224-225

Osan, 261

Oswald, Marlin, 281

Ottoson, Karl, 260, 261, 339

Overland, 45

oxanilin, 61

P 

Package Testing Laboratory, 265

Packard Bell Electronics, 345

Packer pulping screen, 29

Paint Section, 79

Paint Shop, 37, 73, 182

Painting and Carpentry Section, 281

Painting Unit, 282
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

400

PAlab News, 66

Paris negotiations, 337 

Parker Building, 254

Parker, Francis H., 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, 

15, 16, 18, 21, 22, 354-355, 369

Parker Road, 44, 102, 221, 369

Parker, Yancey, 214

Parlin plant, 59-60

Parmelee, H. C., 141-142

Passaic-Rolling Mill Company, 16

Patriot, 355, 370

Patterson (NJ), 16

Patterson, Clyde H., 332

Patterson General Hospital, 113

Patterson, Robert P., 254, 255

pay rates, 7, 11, 25, 138, 208, 221-222, 

284

Pearl Harbor, 174, 198, 202, 210, 214, 

221, 224, 235, 255

pearlity malleable iron, 325

Peck, Mrs. L. R., 118

Peekskill (NY), 7, 142

Pelot, J. H., 77

pentaterythrite tetranitrate (PETN), 85

permissive action link (PAL), 315

Pennsylvania, 13, 60, 97, 135, 218, 319, 

348

Perkin-Elmer spectrophotometer, 398 

Pershing missile, 334

Personnel and Force Development 

Directorate, 350

Personnel and Training Division, 271

Personnel Division, 213

Personnel Section, 79, 178, 270

Peterson family, 116, 135, 137, 138, 281 

Philadelphia, 1, 21, 75, 348, 350

Philippine Expedition, 1, 23

Phipps, Frank H., 16, 18, 20

Phipps Road, 221

photoflash bomb, 203, 205, 206, 268, 

274, 330

Photographic Studio, 180, 187, 200

Physical Chemistry Laboratory, 297, 

298

Picatinny, origin of name, 11

Picatinny Arsenal Railroad (PARR), 

179

Picatinny Arsenal: Famous Powder Factory, 

36

Picatinny Federal Credit Union, 185-

186

Picatinny Magazine, 66

Picatinny News, 216, 219, 294

Picatinny Ordnance Detachment 

(9355th Technical Service Unit), 208

Picatinny Peak, 11, 68

Picatinny Press, 66, 121

Picatinny Project, 72

Picatinny Welfare Association, 283

picker house, 27

Pine Brook Station, 346

Pipe Division, 79

Pipe Fitting and Refrigeration Section, 

282

Pipe Shop, 37, 77, 158, 182

Pittsburg, University of, 214

Planning Branch, 240, 241

Planning Department, 200

Planning Division, 79, 81, 181, 183, 

199, 323

Planning Section, 79, 181, 182

Plans and Programs Branch, 313, 322

Plans and Programs Division, 321, 322
401

INDEX

Plans and Resource Management 

Office, 352

Plans Office, 340

Plant Design Section, 79

Plant Engineering and Maintenance 

Office, 281

Plant Engineering Division, 79, 320

Plant Engineering Unit, 189, 231, 234, 

312

Plant Safety Section, 240, 241, 242

Plant Services Branch, 281

Plastics and Packaging Laboratory, 311, 

321

Plastics Information Center, 311

Plastics Laboratory, 200, 274

Plating Division, 182

Plating Section, 79

Ploesti, 205

Plumbing Shop, 182

Plunkett, Charles P., 118, 121, 140

PM-Artillery Ammunition, 320

PM-Cannon Artillery Weapons Systems 

(CAWS), 348, 351, 352

PM-Division Air Defense Gun, 350

PM-Mortar Ammunition, 320

PM-Safeguard Munition, 320

PM-Selected Ammunition, 330, 350, 

351

PM-Sentinel Munition, 320

poaching house, 28, 29, 101

Point Detonating and Percussion Fuze 

Section, 181

pollution, 230, 334

polypropylene, 335

polyurethane, 335

Pompton Plains (NJ), 294, 295

Port Oram, 10, 11, 15, 21, 22

Post, Charles, 231

Post Engineer, 199

Post Farm, 231

Post Hospital, 184, 224, 240

Post Restaurant, 185, 186, 320

Post Surgeon, 184, 224

potassium chlorate, 85

potassium knitrobenzofuroxzn 

(KDNBF), 277

powder bags, 26, 42, 62, 82, 204, 

270, 318

powder dry house, 38

Powder Records, 62

Powell, Ernest, 137

Powell, John, 38

Power Division, 79

Power House Gate, 44

Power House Section, 182

Power Line Section, 79

Powerhouse, 44, 46, 62, 72, 74, 77, 

99, 111, 114, 123, 125, 229,, 233, 234, 

282, 341

prescribed action link (PAL), 315

Press Loading Section, 79, 182

Preventive Maintenance and Standby 

Facilities Branch, 281

price analyst, 320

Primer Loading, 101

Print Shop, 79, 189

Probst, E. W., 224

Process Development Branch, 279

Process Engineering Laboratory, 322, 

330

Process Inspection Branch, 210

Process Inspection Section, 240
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

402

Procurement Department, 200

Procured Stores Section, 79

Procurement Division, 271

Procurement and Production 

Directorate, 320

Procurement Control Division, 320

Procurement Operations Division, 320

Procurement Section, 241

Procurement Services Division, 320

Product Assurance Directorate (PAD), 

340, 370

Product Engineering,183, 278

Product Engineering Branch, 183, 278

Product Manager for Fuzes, 352

Product Planning, 183

Production Engineering Division, 200

Production Engineering Section, 240

Professional Golfers Association (PGA), 

344

Project Manager Munitions Production 

Base Modernization, and Expansion, 

341

Project Manager for Selected 

Ammunition, 320, 323, 330, 350, 351

Projectile Section, 79, 84, 180

Propellant Branch, 61

propellant charge loading plant, 155, 

156

Propellant Division, 181, 210, 297

Propellant Section, 180

Propellants and Explosives Branch, 276

Propellants and Explosives Division, 

323

Propellants and Explosives Engineering 

Section, 270

Propellants and Explosives Laboratory, 

273

Propellants Laboratory, 321, 335

Propellent [sic] Charge Division, 79

Propellent [sic] Manufacturing 

Division, 79

Property Accounting Division, 178

Property Disposal Unit, 312

Propulsion and Propellants Laboratory, 

311

Protestant services, 343

proving grounds (Picatinny), 61, 90, 98, 

160, 190 

psychiatric help, 214, 223

Picatinny tertiary explosive (PTX)-2, 

207

Public Health Service, 223

Public Information Office, 312

Public Information Officer, 320

Purchase Section, 79, 178

Purchasing Unit, 312

pyrocellulose, 39

Pyrocellulose Section, 79

Pyrotechnic and Trench Warfare 

Division, 79

Pyrotechnic Board, 91, 92

Pyrotechnic Division, 182, 198

Pyrotechnic Section, 84, 180, 330

Pyrotechnic Unit, 91

Pyrotechnics Laboratory, 274, 321, 335

Q 

Quality Assurance Directorate (QAD), 

322

Quality Assurance Division, 313

quality control, 173, 278

Quality Control Division, 313

Quality Evaluation Branch, 353
403

INDEX

Quality Evaluation Laboratory, 322

Quantico, 118, 326

Quartermaster Corps, 199

R 

Rachford, Frederick J., 137

radar, 206, 265, 355

Radiant Energy Board, 271

Radiographic Laboratory, 280

Radiographic Unit, 270

Rail and Cranes Unit 79

Railroad Operation Section, 178

Railroad Rolling Stock Section, 79

Railroad Section, 281

Railroad Track Maintenance Section, 

79

railroads, 6, 7, 8, 10, 15, 21-22, 24, 25, 

26, 36, 45, 62, 72, 77, 125, 132, 142, 

143, 154, 162, 165-166, 178, 179, 199, 

226, 228, 232, 272, 281-282, 294, 317, 

340-341

Ramsey Building, 322, 323, 354, 370

Ramsey, Norman F., 78, 80, 100, 101, 

133, 138, 143, 322

Ramsey, Norman F., Jr., 78, 322

Randall, William V., 182

Randolph Township (NJ), 10, 219, 220

Raritan Arsenal, 138

RDX, 174, 175, 205, 206, 207, 263, 

277

Reaction Motors, 294, 298, 299, 302, 

240

recoilless rifles, 203, 255, 261, 269, 273, 

314, 316, 326

Red Cross, 67, 118, 138

Red Star sewing machine, 22

Redeye, 329

Redi-Dry, 229

Redstone Arsenal, 273, 278-279

Regino, William C., 284

Rehabilitation Project, 153

Reilley, Jack, 121, 124

Reilly, Frank, 236

Reilly, J. E., 20

Reproduction Division, 178

Republican, 20, 220, 348

Research and Development Division 

(Ordnance Department), 266

Research and Development Division 

(Picatinny), 272

Research and Development Planning 

Board, 272

Research Section, 61, 180

Revere, Paul, 135

Revolution (American), 9, 66, 255, 350

Rice, H. W., 116

Ridner, Robert L., 332

Riemel, Stella, 236

Righter, George, 9

Rinkenbach, William H., 34, 180

Ripel, James, 284

Roach, John, Jr., 254, 255

Roach, Thomas M. 101, 255

Roberts, Edward, 115

Robinson, Elizabeth, 65

Robinson, T. Douglas, 141

Robinson, Thomas, 16, 17, 65, 370

rock crushing plant, 24, 25, 162

Rock Island Arsenal, 26, 177, 257, 319, 

322, 339, 345, 346, 347, 348, 349, 351, 

352, 353

Rockaway Borough (NJ), 117, 120, 136, 

137, 295
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

404

Rockaway River, 9, 10

Rockaway Township (NJ), 9, 10, 11, 45, 

94, 117, 140, 154, 187, 219, 336, 340

Rocket and JATO Propellant Plant, 276

Rocket and JATO Section, 267

rocket assisted projectiles, 329, 330, 340

Rocket Assisted Projectiles and Pyro 

Technologies Branch, 340

Rocket Engines Division, 297

Rocket Propulsion Laboratory, 297, 

306, 307

Rocket Section, 325, 326, 329

Rod and Gun Club, 344

Rodman Laboratory, 346, 351, 353

Roff, Earl, 268

Rogalo, William, 267-268

Rogers, J. A., 160

Roman, C. M.. 63

Rosa, Amedeo, 332

Rosenberg, Anna, 216

Rosevear, E. W., 340

Roselle (NJ), 76

Rossi, Joe, 336

Rossi-Cayton, Marie, 370

Rowe, William C., 268

Ruddy, John J., 318

Rumania, 205, 343

rumors, 20, 119, 198, 207, 217, 223, 

306, 311

Rumsfeld, Donald, 348, 349

Russell, George, 227

Rutgers University, 210, 270

Ruth, Babe, 187

Ryan, Betty, 42

Ryan, Bridget, 42

S 

“S” mine, 206

SADARM, 351, 355

Sadeye, 325

Safeguard, 320, 334, 342

Safety and Security Branch, 225

Safety Division, 183, 210, 320, 336 

safety engineer, 79, 80, 101, 183, 272, 

321, 322, 338

Safety, Reliability, and Specifications 

Branch, 313

Safety, Security, and Intelligence Office, 

312

Saint Catherine (Jamaica), 216

Saint Mary’s Roman Catholic Church, 

117

Sally, 227, 228

Salvador, Lillian, 343

Samuel Feltman Ammunition 

Laboratories, 272, 275

Sanders, Russell C., 270

Sandy Hook Proving Ground, 26, 38, 

65, 161

Saratoga, 203

Sargent Model 21, 298

Sassano, Joseph, 341

Saturday Evening Post, 283

Sayles, William R., 118

Schaevitz, Company, 305

school at Picatinny, 36, 45-46, 209, 

211, 270

Schlutter, G. A., 254

Schrader, Francis, 111

Schrader, Herman C., 111

Schrader, Sophie, 111, 137, 140, 142

Schull, Walter, 178
405

INDEX

Schwartz, Robert, 265-266, 275, 311, 

314

Scientific and Engineering Assistant 

(SEA) Program, 324

Scientific and Professional Personnel 

(SSP) Program, 267, 268

Scott, W. W., Jr., 118

Second Empire style, 18, 37

Sergeant York Air Defense Gun, 352

Security and Intelligence Branch, 272

Security and Intelligence Division, 320

Seeing Eye, The, 224, 225

Selected Armament Systems Division, 

352

Selective Service, 207

Sell, Wendell B., 345

Senate (US), 20, 349, 350

sense and destroy armor (SADARM), 

351, 355

sergeant major, 320

Sergeant missile, 334

Serrem, Mark M., 178

servants, 78

Service Department, 79, 182, 199

Services Division, 320

Sewer Line Section, 79

shaped charge, 203, 260, 265, 275, 334, 

335

Sheet Metal Shop, 182

Shell and Bomb Division, 79

Shewhart, Walter, 173

Shillelagh, 329

Shinkle, Edward M., 178

shotguns, 184

“silent soldier,” 206

Simon, Leslie Earl, 173, 202, 354

Sisco, Harold F., 270

Skews, William, 111, 140

Slattery, Wilfred S., 284

Sloatsburg (NY), 7

small arms powder, 29, 30, 34, 35, 38, 

40, 58

small business/labor surplus advisor, 

320

Small Business Office, 312

smart target-activated fire-and-forget 

(STAFF), 355

Smith, Duncan, 190

Smith, H. Alexander, 255

smokeless powder, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 

34, 35, 39, 41, 58, 59, 60, 61, 63, 79, 

81, 93, 122, 156, 160, 170, 174, 180, 

181, 188, 189, 198, 270

Smokeless Powder Section, 61, 79

sodium nitrate, 42, 61, 353

Solart Builders, 354

Solid Rocket Propulsion Laboratory, 

322, 333

Solid State Unit, 321

Southern Department, 35

Soviet Union, 266, 311

Spanish-American War, 1, 19, 22-23, 

78

Spargo, Marion Emma, 26, 213, 243, 

343, 256

Spargo, Thomas, 44, 62, 67, 178, 256

Spargo, William C., 140

Sparrow, 273, 299

Spartan, 342

Special Forces, 331

Special Projects Unit, 271

Special Propellants Range, 200

Special Service Officer, 217
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

406

Special Staff, 320

Special Weapons Branch, 312, 313

Special Weapons Group, 313, 321

Special Weapons Inspection 

Engineering Branch, 313

Special Weapons Pilot Plant, 313, 314

Specification and Standard Practice 

Section, 181

Spreckel, Mrs. Theodore, 42

Spicer, Lewis H., 9

Spicer, Raymond, 189. 243

Spicertown, 135, 229, 231, 343, 369

Springfield (IL), 59

Springfield Armory, 322

Springfield rifle, 183

Sprint, 342

Stability Section, 61, 180

Stable and Grounds Unit, 79

Stables Section, 101, 178

Staff Division, 312

Staff Services Office, 320, 321

Stanford University, 297

Standard Oil, 174, 297

Stank, John, 101

Staten Island, 267

State University of New York, 343

static electricity, 98, 174, 269

Staton, Connie, 214

Steam Line Section, 79

Steam Shovels and Cranes Section, 79

Stevens, Frank Jr., 160

Stevens Institute of Technology, 284

Stevens, Theodore, 341

Stewart, Bert, 213

Stirling, Lord (William Alexander), 350

Stone and Webster, Incorporated, 61

Stone, Renee, 343

Storehouses, No. 1, 113; No. 8, 111, 

113, 122, 124; No. 9, 111, 114, 122, 

124

Stores Department, 102, 178, 199, 200, 

211, 214, 235

Stores Division, 79, 239

Stores and Transportation Division, 62

Stryker, Jim, 137

Stuart, A.J., 143, 170, 171, 172

Succasunna (NJ), 140

surface-to-air missile-development 

(SAM-D), 332

sulfate wood pulp, 273

sulfuric acid, 27, 86, 205

Sullivan, Ed, 337

Sullivan, John L., 38

Summerall, Charles P., 120

Sunday Call (Newark), 119

Sundry Civil Service Bill, 33, 36

Super P, 299

Supply and Transportation Division, 

320

Supply Division (Ordnance 

Department), 72

Supply Division (Picatinny), 271, 272

Supply Office, 272, 282

Support Division, 312, 320

Sussex County (NJ), 218

Swayze, William C., 101

Swedberg, Bernard F., 332

Sweden, 25

Synthesis Research Unit, 321

Systems Concepts and Assessment 

Office, 352
407

INDEX

T 

T2, 260

T7, 176

T17E2, 260

T18, 260

T34, 261, 262

T80, 263, 264

T120, 260

T131, 279

T2000E1, 269

T2020, 260

T2121, 279

T2133E1, 279

Tactical Atomic Missile Warhead 

Systems Laboratory, 275

Taejon, 261-262

Taft, William Howard, 26

Taiwan, 336

“Tales of the Vienna Woods,” 220

Tanner, Marion, 214

Taylor, Annie D., 213

Technical Data/Configuration 

Management Division, 352

Technical Department, 245

technical director, 297, 307, 339, 340, 

347, 370

Technical Division, 83, 84, 85, 161, 

176, 186, 215, 240, 264, 270, 271, 272

Technical Group, 159, 180, 181, 199, 

200, 206, 213

Technical Library, 180, 200

Technical Laboratory Services, 273

Technical Services Laboratory, 322, 

332, 339

Technical Services Directorate, 339, 

340

Technical Support Directorate, 340

Technology Assessment Division, 352

telephones, 22, 43, 99, 111, 117, 136

Telephone Section 79

Tennessee, 30, 60, 207

tennis, 78, 79, 161, 186, 284

Terrier, 273

Testing Station, 155, 157, 181, 200

tetranitrocubane, 277

tetranitronapthtalene, 85

tetryl, 85, 86-88m 97, 128, 132, 156, 

157, 188, 189, 190, 198, 204, 205, 207, 

213, 214, 224, 228, 229, 230, 277, 282

Tetryl Plant, 155, 156, 181

Theoretical Unit, 270

Thiokol Chemical Corporation, 298, 

340

Third Naval District, 21, 115, 118

Thomas, J. Parnell, 190

Thomas, Lowell, 337

Thompson displacement method, 27

Thorsen, George, 189

time capsule, 355, 356

Time Fuze Division, 182

Time Fuze Loading Section, 182

Tin Shop, 182, 281

Tin Lizzie, 25

Tinsmith Section, 79

Tinsmith Shop, 158

TNT (trinitrotoluene), 58, 75, 82, 83, 

85, 88, 94, 97, 122, 132, 155, 174, 189, 

205, 207, 213, 260, 277, 335

toluene, 88, 174

Tomkins, S. P., 20

Tool and Experiment Division, 182

Tool and Fixture Section, 79
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

408

Tool Crib Section, 281

Toolmaker Apprentice School, 209

Tormey, Leigh, 226

Toronto, University of, 215

torpedo, 260

Totaro, Rosemarie, 347

Towland, L. L., 42

Track Section, 182

Training and Procurement Division, 

271

Transportation Branch, 282

Transportation Department, 178, 200, 

226

Transportation Section, 79, 240

trap shooting, 66

travel camp, 345

Travena, E., 42

Travers, Mabel, 42

Trenton (NJ), 65, 102, 117

Truck Gate, 221

Tschappat, William H., 35, 143, 178

tuberculosis, 113, 223, 224

tumbling barrel test, 94

tungsten, 265

Turner, Thomas J., 270

U 

underwater storage, 96

Ulrich, John A., 320

Union County Negro Progressive 

League, 218

Union Powder Company, 60

Union Turnpike, 15, 67, 135, 221, 231

United Kingdom, 206

United Services Organization (USO), 

215, 220

U. S. Hotel, 118

U. S. Powder Depot, 11

Utah, 138, 346

utilities, 62, 74, 219, 232, 283, 322

Utilities Service Branch, 281, 282

Utilities Operating Branch, 281, 282

V 

Valerio, Richard, 267, 268

Van Gieson, Lewis Morrell, 182

Vanderbilt, Helen, 270, 271

Vanderbilt, William, 36, 163, 210

Van Sickles, Alfred, 122

Van Sickles, Leonora, 26, 36, 60, 115, 

135, 182, 189, 213, 318

Van Sickles, Melvyn, 189

variable time (VT) fuze, 203, 274, 279

Varga, Edith, 218

Veal, Richard, 111

Venable, Virginia, 214

Vera Cruz, 35

Very pistol, 92

Victory Bonds, 66

Victory Gardens, 220-221

Victory Homes, 219

Vietnam, 1, 3, 320-336

Vin Dinh, 333

Vince master inspection dividing head, 

280

Vogt, Christian J., 138

Vreeland, James, 347

W 

Wabash River Plant, 207

Wadhams, Henry D. 114, 115, 136, 

137, 138, 141
409

INDEX

Wadhams, Ida, 136

Wage Evaluation Board, 239

Walker, Jennie, 63

Walker, William, 262

Walker, William A., 339

Wall, Francis, 235

Walsh, David, 178

Walsh, William J., 235

Walters, Lewis E., 139, 140

Walton, Susan, 66

Walton Burial Ground, 65-66

War Department, 26, 74, 91, 138, 208, 

209, 210, 215, 222

War Manpower Commission, 216

War Plans Division, 188, 200, 202, 372

Warhead and Rocket Section, 325

Warhead Section, 325, 329

Warheads and Special Projects 

Laboratory, 318, 322, 330, 332

Warr, James, Jr., 341

Washington (DC), 163, 202, 256, 264, 

265, 311

Washington (NJ), 116, 118

Washington, George, 1

Wass, Arthur, 60

Water Line Section, 79

Waters. Frank A., 178

Watertown Arsenal, 315, 321

Watervliet Arsenal, 38, 333, 346, 347, 

348, 357

Watson-Stillman Company, 76

WDU-4A/A, 333

Weapons Command (WECOM), 319

Weapons Division, 351

weather, 7, 12, 13, 44, 93, 206, 207, 

237

Weaver, James M., 112-113

Weber, Frank G., 137

Webster, Granville E., 40, 42, 42, 44, 

45, 180, 256

weight rooms, 345

Weigle, Robert, 347

Welding Unit, 281

Wells, William J., 270

Werbinski, Norma, 343

Wesphal specific gravity balance, 298

West Point (NY), 26, 78, 178, 180, 181

West Virginia, 60

Western Cartridge Company, 59

Westervelt Board, 175

Wharton, 10, 25, 26, 43, 44, 115, 116, 

135, 140, 161, 187, 267, 336

Wharton and Northern Railroad, 22, 

25, 26, 63, 143, 154, 340

Wharton High School, 45, 218

Whippany (NJ), 215, 216, 224

white phosphorous, 327, 328

Whitmore, Warren, 160

Whittemore, J. M., 19-20

Who’s Who in American Women, 243

Wiggins, Uel H., 9, 11

Wilbanks, Curtis, 227

Wilberforce University, 214

Wilbur, Curtis D., 118

wildlife, 187-188, 226

Will, Otto, 161

Willard, Al, 121

William and Mary, College of, 182

Williams, Clarence C., 120

Williams, E., 138

Williams, Harrison, Jr., 347
PICATINNY: THE FIRST CENTURY

410

Williams, James, 190

Williams, John 121

Williams, John Henry, 210

Williams Katherine, 214

wind tunnel, 258, 278

Winston automobile, 45

women at Picatinny, 22, 42, 43, 58, 63, 

102, 113, 117, 159, 178-190 passim, 

210-215, 222, 223, 238, 270, 294, 295, 

318, 342, 343

women ordnance workers (WOW), 210, 

222

Women’s Army Corps (WAC), 210, 343

Woman Auxiliary Volunteers in the 

Emergency (WAVES), 294, 295, 343

woodworking, 345

Woolwich Research Center, 174

Worcester (MA), 283

Works Progress Administration (WPA), 

153, 158, 161-163, 164-170, 179, 183, 

210, 344

World War I, 1, 2, 27, 30, 35, 41, 44, 

58-71, 76, 79, 80, 81, 83, 86, 89, 90, 

91, 102, 110, 120, 154, 174, 175, 176, 

177, 178, 181, 182, 189, 190, 233, 243, 

266, 337, 369

World War II, 1, 2, 3, 76, 173, 177, 

189, 198-253, 262, 267, 270, 271, 318, 

322, 334, 336, 337, 342, 343, 355, 370

World War II Memorial, 209

X 

X-1, 295

X-15, 299

XLR-44, 299

XM5, 274, 326

XM151, 325

XM193, 333

XM314A2E1, 327

XM546, 326

XM571, 330

XM580, 326

XM581, 326

XM590 ,326

XM592, 330

XM628, 333

XM712, 352

Y 

Yamin, Isidor, 138

Yeager, Chuck, 295

Young Men’s Christian Association 

(YMCA), 67, 221

Yuma Proving Ground, 323, 346

Z

Zeek, Charles, 101

Zone Construction Quartermaster, 231

Zornig, Herman H., 83, 84, 89, 93, 

138, 176

It started as land purchased in 1880 to fill the Ordnance 

Department’s need for a powder depot near the Atlantic Coast. 

Once an enterprise to produce and store something so explosively 

dangerous had gotten underway, a continuous inflow of expertise 

was needed to make that enterprise flourish. This begins to explain 

how the Dover Powder Depot grew from a modest operation to 

supply gunpowder into the Nation’s principal ammunition loading 

operation at the start of World War II. Today, Picatinny Arsenal is 

a brainpower hub where more than 5,000 scientists, engineers 

and support staff turn leading-edge technology into the weapons, 

ammunition, and related production and storage designs to make 

United States service members the best-armed fighters in the world.

Picatinny: The First Century chronicles the development of this 

enduring national asset. The armaments developers who work at 

Picatinny Arsenal today are part of a legacy of providing state-ofthe-art weapons designs that have directly influenced outcomes in 

numerous U.S. battles and campaigns.