Pine Bluff Arsenal was designated in April by the Department of the Army as a Center for Industrial and Technical Excellence (CITE) for Textile Manufacturing. This is the Arsenal’s third CITE designation, having received designations for Chemical and Biological Defense Equipment in 2005, and Smoke Ammunition in 2017.
PBA is known throughout the Organic Industrial Base enterprise for expertise in ammunition manufacturing and chemical and biological defense product development, refurbishment and sustainment. The installation took on a major task in 2015 – to investigate the establishment of a production capability for specialty chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear personal protective textile items.
At that time, no capability existed within the government for chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or CBRN textiles.
In October 2015, the initial groundwork and research began for finding industrial sewing training sources – one of those being the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff’s Department of Human Sciences – Manufacturing, Textiles and Design. Tours and meetings were also held at the Arkansas Lighthouse for the Blind in southwest Little Rock, Ark., A+ School Career Apparel in Star City, Ark., and Expert Sewing in Sheridan, Ark.
Kawana Taylor, a former lead supervisor on the textile production line, said it has really been amazing to see how far textiles has come since 2015 here at the Arsenal. “I remember when we only had six sewing machines and now there are 70,” she said. “I remember taking a beginning sewing class because I didn’t have much experience. Doing this was so beneficial for me.”
The first textile item produced at PBA was the neck dam. These are a chemical and biological defense garment impregnated with carbon material and issued to wearers of face seal-type masks to increase protection at the mask-garment interface.
“We went from the first project to seven very quickly,” said Taylor. “At the beginning, many thought the Arsenal wasn’t going to succeed in the textile business, but here we are six years later. I believe when PBA is faced with a challenge, we always succeed because we work as a team.”
In the years following the initial startup, the Department of Defense has invested significant time and resources at the Arsenal to establish a textile manufacturing facility to assist the Joint Project Manager CBRN – Protection in producing low-density individual protection items. JPM CBRN-P worked with PBA and subject matter experts in textile design and manufacturing from the Naval Clothing and Textiles Research Facility and the U.S Army Combat Capabilities Development Command - Soldier Center to set up at the facility and add items to PBA’s production portfolio.
More items have been slowly added to the Arsenal’s textile manufacturing portfolio including:
• Chemical Protective Patient Wraps or CPPW, which are carbon-impregnated textiles, provide a way to safely transport wounded Soldiers in chemical-biological compromised environments. PBA entered into an Inter-Agency Service Agreement with the U.S. Army Medical Material Development Activity to produce this item.
• Integrated Footwear System or IFS, which is an impermeable sock, which requires W.L. Gore certification and uses specialized production equipment.
• Cloth Face Coverings or CFC, which are Personal Protective Equipment or PPE provided for the COVID-19 pandemic to the Army Materiel Command enterprise. A total of approximately 78,000 have been produced to date. Julee Johnson, production leader on the textile manufacturing lines, said the Arsenal definitely got in at the right time with the CFC production.
With the production ramp up being so quick with the CFC, operators came from every corner of PBA.
“The most amazing thing about it is we took a mechanic, two pipe fitters and many others and taught them how to sew,” said Julee Johnson, Production Leader on the Textile line. “We had people who were sewing from the decontamination kit lines, and the Directorate of Material Management. They did really well. It is awesome.”
• Ghillie sniper suits, which are the first major non-chemical biological garment produced by PBA. The suit is a five-piece kit, including an equipment drape, a skid plate and a Boonie hat. These items will be a new generation of garments sent to Army sniper schools.
• Army Physical Fitness Uniform-Maternity or APFU-M, had to be worked from a pattern and a sample (men’s APFU version) with modification. The sample was sent back to the customer and was well received.
In 2020, the Arsenal entered into a strategic Public Private Partnership with ReadyOne Industries, an AbilityOne Contractor, to produce the Joint Service Lightweight Integrated Suit Technology or JSLIS. This is the first partnership of its kind at PBA utilizing both direct sales and land usage. With this partnership, PBA increased the skill sets needed to cut and sew more complicated textiles and garments via partner training.
“No other partnership has a direct collaboration between government and non-government workers, “said Justin Lieber with PBA’s S-3 Office. “This partnership was unique because we could not find any other time it had ever been done inside the government. We never found an example we could replicate.”
| Date Taken: | 05.26.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 12.20.2022 11:10 |
| Story ID: | 435533 |
| Location: | PINE BLUFF, ARKANSAS, US |
| Web Views: | 58 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, PBA receives third CITE designation, by Rachel Selby, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
