Old Army toolmakers don't fade away, they come back with youth

Photo By John Snyder | Former Arsenal toolmaker James Hamilton, right, explaining to his students how he once used the cutter grinder during his 23 years here. Hamilton is now a professor at the Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, N.Y.  

WATERVLIET, NY, UNITED STATES

04.27.2017

Story by John Snyder 

Watervliet Arsenal

WATERVLIET ARSENAL, N.Y. -- There used to be a time when students from local high schools and colleges seemed to get the most out of a visit to the Army’s manufacturing center at Watervliet. But when students from the Hudson Valley Community College visited here earlier this month, it was the professor who seemed to gain the most.

James Hamilton, who is a professor in the college’s Department of Automotive, Manufacturing and Electrical Technology, brought about 10 of his students here to learn more about heavy manufacturing, which up until this visit was only learned in text books. But unlike most visitors here, Hamilton didn’t need much explanation about the Arsenal’s processes and machinery. After all, he had graduated from the Arsenal’s apprentice program and retired from the Arsenal in 1999 as a toolmaker.

“What a great feeling I have coming back here,” Hamilton said. “During my 23 years here, I learned a lot about machining and manufacturing, which is experience that I have been able to leverage well into my second career as a college professor.”

Hamilton said that when he was getting ready to retire in 1999, which was during the decade of significant downsizing at the Arsenal, his wife encouraged him to apply for a job at Hudson Valley. He thought that he wasn’t qualified to teach because the highest level of education that he had at the time was a two-year college degree. But his wife had a feeling that his more than 20 years of machining and toolmaking made him very well qualified for the position.

And it did. Hudson Valley hired Hamilton as an assistant instructor and through the next 18 years at the college, Hamilton was able to earn a bachelor’s and master’s degree. He was recently promoted to full professor.

At first, Hamilton was quiet, allowing tour guide Apprentice Supervisor Robert Day to take the lead. But nearly 30 minutes into the tour, Hamilton seemed like he couldn’t hold back as he came across some of the machines that he once operated during his tenure here.

As if Hamilton was running into some old friends that he had not seen in a while, his face lit up, his step quickened, and he moved up front to tell the young students about the capabilities of several machines, just as if he was introducing the students to his old friends.

Day stood back and watched his former instructor talk proudly about the mission of the Arsenal and the product lines that Hamilton had worked on. Day had recently graduated from the Arsenal apprentice program, which required him to attend Hudson Valley for four years. He said that it felt good to see the strong sense of pride that was still evident in Hamilton regarding the Arsenal’s mission.

“I believe that those students who experience the Arsenal for their first time get an overwhelming sense of just how cool it is to work here,” Day said. “Regarding Hamilton, he well knows there is no other manufacturing center in the local area with as wide a variety of manufacturing machines or as vast range of machining skills as are used here daily.”

Day said that he knows from his recent experience in the apprentice program that visiting here is great for the students because they were able to take what they have learned in text books and see those machining and metallurgy skills in action. Additionally, no other manufacturing business in New York’s Capital District has as rich of history as the Watervliet Arsenal.

• Date Taken: 04.27.2017
• Date Posted: 04.27.2017 10:43
• Story ID: 231759
• Location: WATERVLIET, NY, US