Photo By Scott Sturkol | IAP Services employees Dennis Brazinski and Doug West support body armor scanning...... read more read more
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More than 23,000 pieces of ceramic-plate body armor were scanned for serviceability from early to mid-September at the Logistics Readiness Center Central Issue Facility (CIF) at Fort McCoy.
The Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command Central Management Office (CMO) Non-Destructive Test Equipment (NDTE) Mission sent a mobile team to Fort McCoy’s CIF with an Armor Inspection System to complete the work, said Thomas Lovgren, CIF property book officer.
“The NDTE team scanned all of our plates that are used and not used,” Lovgren said. “The armor we issue here is distributed to Army Reserve, National Guard, and active-duty troops, and we have to make sure it’s as good as it can be before it is issued.”
“In inspecting and scanning the body armor, we are looking at the integrity of the plate to see if it meets standards,” said NDTE Mobile Team Lead Steve Radford with contractor IAP Services. “The system (X-ray machine) helps NDTE team members see the ones that are cracked or unserviceable.”
Some of the body armor that has slight damage may be determined to be for training use only, Lovgren said. Others that are majorly defective are marked for demolition.
“The Army provides us with the standards for serviceability,” Radford said. “We are issued specific guidance through an ALARACT (All Army Activities) message that provides us with what to look for.”
The armor scanning not only included thousands of armor items from the Fort McCoy CIF, but also items from Fort Sill, Okla. Between the two installations, it totaled more than 23,000 armor items inspected.
“Because they have a smaller amount of armor at Fort Sill than we have here, it’s easier and cheaper for them to send their armor up to us to have scanned than to have a team visit them to have this done,” Lovgren said. “It’s an effort that works out well for everyone involved.”
The CMO does similar plate scanning at Department of Defense installations throughout the country and the world.
“This is a wonderful service we can provide to ensure the safety of the armor,” Radford said. “I feel 100 percent confident that after we scan, inspect, and approve the armor that we’ve looked at, it is ready for use by our service members.”
Lovgren said the body armor inspection is something the CIF does regularly.
The CIF is a 62,548-square-foot facility. Lovgren said the CIF not only issues armor but also Organizational Clothing and Individual Equipment needs as well as cold-weather gear.
Located in the heart of the upper Midwest, Fort McCoy is the only U.S. Army installation in Wisconsin.
The installation has provided support and facilities for the field and classroom training of more than 100,000 military personnel from all services each year since 1984.
Learn more about Fort McCoy online at https://home.army.mil/mccoy, on Facebook by searching “ftmccoy,” and on Twitter by searching “usagmccoy.”
| Date Taken: | 09.25.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 09.25.2019 12:58 |
| Story ID: | 343655 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 240 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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