Courtesy Photo | Jeff Conover, a Defense Contract Management Agency St. Louis quality assurance...... read more read more
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FORT LEE, Va. - Jeff Conover is a straight shooter. He is a professional gunsmith, a champion marksman and a valued quality assurance specialist.
Conover, who insures quality at Defense Contract Management Agency St. Louis, was recently selected to present a tutorial on small-caliber internal ballistics and failure analysis at the 2014 National Defense Industrial Associations conference.
After gathering 40 years of wisdom as a weapons expert and competitor, it is easy to see why he is considered a subject matter expert in small caliber arms and ammunition by his DCMA teammates as well as industry leaders.
The annual NDIA conference brings together government and industry communities to participate in presentations and exhibits representing activities supporting the evolving requirements, technologies, systems and ongoing production of defense armaments. Tutorial sessions, such as Conover’s, address key topics of interest in requirements acquisition.
“Jeff’s participation in the conference advances the mission of the agency by providing subject-matter-expert level knowledge to those in industry and in government involved in small arms testing who do not understand internal ballistics and interaction of a cartridge within the firearm,” said Spradling. “This lack of understanding leads to unnecessary testing and sometimes false conclusions of small caliber ammunition and weapon failures.”
More than 60 people within the small arms industry attended Conover’s 90-minute presentation.
“Several people told me they learned something and enjoyed the excellent presentation,” said Conover. “Afterward, I spent hours talking with several industry professionals about problems and solutions with small arms and ammunition.”
When he’s not briefing the defense industry or sighting in downrange, Conover’s expertise supports the agency’s mission.
“Jeff’s knowledge positively influences DCMA’s performance because he is considered the go-to guy for advice sought by customers in the technical communities of the government and defense contractors,” said Spradling.
His professional success extends down range. Throughout his competitive history, Conover, a retired Air Force chief master sergeant, has won several state, regional and international titles in multiple shooting disciplines using rifles, pistols and shotguns.
“I have in the past and currently compete in cowboy action, long-range pistol and rifle silhouettes, tactical, three-gun, trap leagues, F-Class, short-range, 100 and 200 yard, and long-range, 600 and 1,000 yard benchrest rifle shooting,” said Conover. “I have shot competitively all across the country, and I compete in about 25 matches a year. In 2012, I was ranked eighteenth overall in the world at 600-yard international benchrest shooting.”
Conover believes the quality applications he applies to his gunsmithing provides him an edge in competition and positively influences his DCMA performance, and his full emersion within the DOD and civilian arms community continually enhances his expertise.
“I am very proud to work with many technical offices in the armed forces to solve problems and increase the quality of ammunition,” said Conover. “My passion for quality began in the Air Force as a chief of aircraft maintenance and as a quality engineer in industry. I typically spend 40 hours a week as a QAS for ammunition, another 20 hours in my shop as a gunsmith, then a full weekend at a shooting match with fellow competitors and gunsmiths.”
Unlike many of his competitors, “quality” plays a role in every aspect of Conover’s life.
“To perform successfully at the national level of competition shooting, I use many quality application tools such as standard deviation for bullet velocity, machining tolerances held to two ten thousandths of an inch, design of experiment, root cause analysis, and continual process improvement,” said Conover. “All components of the cartridge are tightly controlled from primer seating pressure, case dimensions, heat treating, bullet bearing surface and powder charge weight. The quality of the rifle barrel, the machining of the chamber and receiver, the gunstock, sights, and accessories are all critical to success.”
He recently volunteered many hours of his personal time to train engineers and program managers from Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, and Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey, on weapons and ammunition during lunch-time conversations and while working on integrated production teams.
“Most IPT members do not have any practical or technical experience with small arms,” said Conover. “They can read drawings and specifications, but many have never had hands-on experience with ammunition or weapons — let alone building, shooting, loading ammunition and maintaining weapons. To fill this gap I developed a training course and trained several program quality managers and engineers.”
Conover’s training syllabus included internal ballistics, important ammunition specifications, weapon functions, critical characteristics, failure analysis and hands-on failure analysis at a shooting range.
“I considered it time well-spent,” said Conover. “I provided a common knowledge of small arms that has led to improved technical data packages, specifications, testing procedures, and communication within the IPT. I feel my actions reflect highly upon my professionalism and DCMA. As a gunsmith, quality is paramount — just like our agency."
| Date Taken: | 09.11.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 10.21.2014 11:34 |
| Story ID: | 145634 |
| Location: | FORT LEE, VA, US |
| Web Views: | 269 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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