ADAPTING EXPERIMENTATION AND TESTING
Together, these groups are bringing chemical production back to the United States.
procedure is validated by our chemists. If the procedures cannot be followed, then new testing methods are developed and incor- porated into the specs.
According to Aleksander Y. Gandzelko, lead chemist in the Ener- getics Analysis and Propellant Surveillance Branch, “Over 140 procedures have been reviewed, 20 have been improved and 25 have been removed or replaced. Removal/reduction of toxic mate- rials and safety improvements were not a primary goal of this effort, but it did come as a consequence.” Regarding lab safety, Gandzelko stated every hands-on procedure is carefully reviewed and areas found to be ambiguous or dangerous are reworded in clearer language, increasing overall safety.
Implementation, the final step, occurs when all changes to the spec are captured in an engineering change proposal, which is then reviewed and approved by the Configuration Control Board. Te board is made up of DOD stakeholders in the particular chemical and typically has over 25 members. Once everyone signs off on the changes, the new modified spec is uploaded to ASSIST, the official database for the most current specs and stan- dards in use by DOD.
CONCLUSION Te MCSM IPT has completed updates on 12 chemical specs and is actively working on the remaining three specs of the most recent tranche. OSD funding became available in mid-2023 to help defray the cost of the expanding MCSM effort.
MCSM continues to be a key enabler of the DOD munition mission to support OSD domestic initiatives. Te next tranche of spec work is being planned with a goal of 18 spec updates. Lofty goals are necessary to try to modernize the Armament Center’s approximately 400 chemical specs.
Te CEMWG, the DPA Title III program office and the MCSM IPT complement each other in the strategic objective of acquir- ing chemicals domestically required by our munitions. Tis is accomplished by identifying critical chemicals, helping locate domestic producers for these chemicals and developing corre- sponding state-of-the-art chemical specs. It is in this unique manner that these three organizations, working collaboratively toward common goals, have become key ingredients that have
https://asc.ar my.mil 79
formed an effective team with the right “recipe for success.” Tis will contribute to making DOD more self-reliant and less depen- dent on foreign sources for critical chemicals for its munitions.
For more information, contact Jorge A. Munoz at
Jorge.a.munoz8.civ@
army.mil or Mark D. Motyka at
mark.d.motyka.civ@
army.mil.
JORGE A. MUNOZ is the product and production process improvement lead in the PM MAS SETI Division. He holds an M.S. in management from the Florida Institute of Technology and a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology. He holds a Black Belt certification in Lean Six Sigma.
MARK D. MOTYKA is the senior technical adviser for the Pyrotechnics Technology Division. He holds a Master of Systems Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering from the University of Delaware. He holds a Green Belt certification in Lean Six Sigma.
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