Photo By Patrick Tremblay | The Defense Contract Management Agency Garden City quality assurance team at an...... read more read more
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AMITYVILLE, N.Y. - “I love this job.” Stanley Michaud is assertive, efficient and dedicated in everything he does, right down to the words he chooses. He’s also ardent about his mission as a quality assurance specialist at Defense Contract Management Agency Garden City.
Michaud sits at an Amityville, New York, contractor that produces weapons release systems for military aircraft, commonly called bomb racks. He enjoys the work for a variety of reasons. “I like the interaction out here. In quality it changes every day - every day is something different.” But like many in the agency, his real purpose is far away. “Most importantly, I’m in support of the biggest customer, which is the warfighter.”
When it comes to bomb racks, Michaud enjoys the variety of QA surveillance. “It’s a big facility,” he said, “and it shows almost all the disciplines.”
The QAS has been with the agency since 2008, when he left work at a private research facility - he has a bachelor’s in biomedical engineering - to pursue a federal career. It was a logical step for him. His father Jean Marie was also a QAS at Garden City. “I am following in his footsteps, I’m part of the family and part of the team.”
The systems Michaud performs surveillance on aren't that large, and sitting alone on a table one would have a hard time guessing their intended use. But slap a bomb on one side and a fighter jet on the other and it all makes sense.
Despite their rather non-descript appearance, the devices are technologically advanced systems, employing hooks to hold the bombs, hydraulic pistons to push them away from the aircraft, and complex electronics to make it all happen.
Several different racks are made at the contractor, meeting specific needs of the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps customers. As they leave the factory they’re destined for use on aircraft from P-8 Poseidons to F-22 Raptors, controlling the drops of bombs and sonobuoys - air launched sensors designed to pick up underwater sounds associated with ships and submarines.
The designs require Michaud to have Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act level II certification and additional certification in both mechanical and electronics commodities. He uses these elsewhere on New York’s Long Island, too, as he spends much of his time outside of the contractor on an itinerant route.
“I like to go out to the field and see different contractors,” Michaud said, “and perform quality assurance work for a variety of customers including (Defense Logistics Agency) and the Army.” He estimates that about 50 to 60 percent of his time is spent in the field.
With all the work, Michaud has spent the past six years improving his personal process for time management. “You have to find ways to organize paperwork, set schedules, when to take care of product quality deficiency reports, when you expect responses. You have to set all your dates and manage your time. I have everything organized using Microsoft Outlook calendars.” Michaud is efficient, and prepared, even in his planning “I also track everything in here,” he says, tapping a notebook. “It’s my second or third notebook, and it’s filling up.”
Joining Michaud most days is Heather Andersen, a QAS in her first year as a journeyman employee after completing the Keystone program.
“The Keystone program I loved, it was great to have so many young people around,” she said. “We have a lot of fresh ideas.”
Andersen also has an itinerant route, but spends most of her time at the bomb rack manufacturer. “This is my main facility. Because this is my first year as a journeyman they gave me three other facilities, which are all in the area.”
Her primary location keeps her plenty busy. “I am responsible for the two biggest programs here, the (Joint Strike Fighter) and P-8 programs, so I spend the majority of my time on site. I’ve been here for two and a half years, but I love it - it’s a great facility for a QAS to work at.”
One of the more interesting facets of Andersen’s surveillance routine is the opportunity to watch the whole manufacturing process.
“It’s unique because at other contractors you see piece-parts,” she explained. “They make a washer or a brace or a piston to go into an aircraft or into a bomb rack, and I think it’s fascinating to see the finished product.
“A big part of my job is when the contractor gets purchase orders for the detailed parts that go into the bomb rack. I have to delegate (government source inspections) at the sub-contractor level before they come to this facility. It’s interesting to see them come in - the detailed pieces - then see them go into the whole bomb rack.”
The process ends with a bang, as an agency QAS, usually Andersen, witnesses the final test - or shot - of the finished product. Each system is mounted in a testing room, then loaded with a dummy bomb matching the weight and size of a real one. From behind a safety window Andersen watches as contractor personnel “fire” the rack. In a harsh instant, the hooks disengage from the bomb and a piston pushes it violently away from the device. The entire process is electronically measured, ensuring the timing, speed and angle of drop all meet contract requirements.
“And then it goes right from there, into the shipping area, and it’s sent to the field to go right onto the plane,” marveled Andersen. “I think it’s great that we’re right in the middle of it, right by the back door. We see the shipping trucks pull up right here.”
Her knowledge of DCMA, and fascination with supporting the warfighter, are in her blood. Andersen first learned about the agency from her father, who as a Marine was stationed in Garden City - in the Marine Corps building that DCMA resides in. “My brother then joined the Marines, and I thought ‘what better job to have than to make sure good products are going to them?’”
Andersen applied for the Keystone program, her first job out of college. “I got the QA job, and thought ‘this is perfect.’ I love to be hands-on and what’s better than making sure these products work properly because they could be going into an aircraft that supports my brother.”
Michaud and Andersen represent so much of what the agency stands for. They’re a tie between the past workforce and the present, the agency and the warfighter. They are committed to their work - and enjoy it.
Sitting at a contractor on Long Island, watching from behind thick glass as a bomb rack is tested, they’re also the future of DCMA. “I’d like to stay in DCMA,” said Andersen. “I like that there are opportunities for a long-term career."
| Date Taken: | 04.02.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 04.02.2015 15:46 |
| Story ID: | 158988 |
| Location: | AMITYVILLE, NY, US |
| Web Views: | 209 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Bomb racks and the future, by Patrick Tremblay, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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