The Picatinny Arsenal ( or ) is an American military research and manufacturing facility located on of land in Jefferson and

Rockaway Township Rockaway Township is a township in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the township's population was 25,341, reflecting an increase of 1,185 (+4.9%) from the 24,156 counted in the 2010 Census. Rockaw ...

Morris County, New Jersey Morris County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey, about west of New York City. According to the 2020 census, the county's population was enumerated at 509,285,Lake Denmark. The Arsenal is the headquarters of the US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Armaments Center. It is known for developing the ubiquitous

Picatinny rail The Picatinny rail ( or ), or Pic rail for short, also known as a MIL-STD-1913 rail, 1913 rail or STANAG 2324 rail (cancelled), is a military standard rail interface system that provides a mounting platform for firearm accessories. It was ...

, as well as being the Army's center of expertise for small arms cartridge ammunition. (As written on Picatinny Arsenal's website) "Picatinny Arsenal Historical Overview On 6 September 1880, the War Department established the Dover Powder Depot. Four days later, it changed the name to Picatinny Powder Depot. In 1907, the Army altered the name to Picatinny Arsenal and established its first powder factory on the site." The facility was founded in 1880 as the ''Picatinny Powder Depot''. Soon afterward, the Navy acquired a portion of the arsenal to establish the Lake Denmark Powder Depot, later known as Lake Denmark Naval Ammunition Depot. It manufactured

gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). T ...

until after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, at which time the facility also began producing heavy munitions and grew more involved in

research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...

activities. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Picatinny was a major large-caliber-round loading plant with 18,000 employees. Today, the facility develops new technologies for the US Armed Forces and builds various

munition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other wea ...

s, weapons and armor systems. Picatinny Arsenal is also home to the US Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technology Directorate. This group is responsible for the creation of tools, equipment, and procedures for US Army EOD personnel. Some of their more recent inventions were the use of weapons on a robot platform and the SWORDS robot. Their building has been recently renamed in honor of one of their deceased soldiers, SFC Scott "Smitty" Smith, who was killed in Iraq in July 2006.

History

Prior to the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

gunpowder was stored by the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

at various powder facilities throughout the eastern United States. Many of these facilities were located in the South and were confiscated by the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...

at the beginning of the war. The federal government began looking for a central storage depot to be located near the large cities of the northeast. The United States War Department established the Dover Powder Depot on September 6, 1880. Four days later, it changed the name to the "Picatinny Powder Depot", "after the Lenape-named peak overlooking the old forge, loosely translated to mean “rugged cliff by water” or “water by the hills.”" A deed dated June 26, 1880 records the first land purchase for the future Picatinny Arsenal. George E. Righter transferred centered on Lake Picatinny to the United States government in return for $35,874.00. This area, afterwards known as the Middle Forge Tract because of the forge located there during the Revolutionary War, became the central area of the arsenal. In 1880 and 1881, the government also purchased tracts from Uel H. Wiggins, Edward C. Fiedler and other, Henry and Michael Doland, and John E. Kindred. These initial purchases, including the Middle Forge Tract, covered and cost a total of $62,750.00. At the same time, the government gave $200.00 to Lewis Spicer and his wife for a strip on which to construct a road from Spicertown to the powder depot. In 1891, the army transferred bordering Lake Denmark to the navy. The arsenal was located in a valley between two sets of hills that might shield the surrounding countryside from any accidental explosions. In 1907, the army altered the name to the "Picatinny Arsenal" and established its first powder factory on the site. While continuing to produce munitions, the arsenal moved into research and development work with the start of a school to instruct officers in weaponry sciences in 1911, the establishment of testing and control laboratories during the World War I era, and the beginning of a small, experimental plant for the design and development of

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during si ...

ammunition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other we ...

in 1919. In 1921, the arsenal took over responsibility for experimental work on

fuze In military munitions, a fuze (sometimes fuse) is the part of the device that initiates function. In some applications, such as torpedoes, a fuze may be identified by function as the exploder. The relative complexity of even the earliest fuze ...

s. On July 10, 1926, lightning struck a Navy ammunition warehouse and started a fire. As a result, several million pounds of explosives detonated over a period of two or three days. This left not only structural devastation, but military and civilian casualties as well. The value of ammunition destroyed was the equivalent of a billion dollars in present-day terms. As a result of a full-scale Congressional investigation, Congress directed the establishment of the Armed Forces Explosives Safety Board to provide oversight on every aspect of explosives under the control of the US Armed Forces. The review led to creation of a remote, safe depot to serve the West Coast, which became the

Hawthorne Naval Ammunition Depot Hawthorne Army Depot (HWAD) is a U.S. Army Joint Munitions Command ammunition storage depot located near the town of Hawthorne in western Nevada in the United States. It is directly south of Walker Lake. The depot covers or 226 sq. mi. and ...

, in Nevada, opened in 1928. The arsenal continued to realize its potential as a research and development facility in the years between the two world wars. Major accomplishments of this period included better methods for storing

smokeless powder Finnish smokeless powderSmokeless powder is a type of propellant used in firearms and artillery that produces less smoke and less fouling when fired compared to gunpowder ("black powder"). The combustion products are mainly gaseous, compared t ...

, improved processing of

cyclonite RDX (abbreviation of "Research Department eXplosive") or hexogen, among other names, is an organic compound with the formula (O2N2CH2)3. It is a white solid without smell or taste, widely used as an explosive. Chemically, it is classified as a ...

(more commonly called RDX), and the discovery of a new explosive, then known as haleite but later known as

Ednatol Ednatol is a yellow high explosive, comprising about ethylenedinitramine (aka Haleite or Explosive H) and 45% TNT. It was developed in the United States circa 1935 and used as a substitute for Composition B in large general purpose and fragmentati ...

. (The discoverer was George C. Hale, the arsenal's chief chemist.) Over the years, the army continued to make small land purchases to round out arsenal boundaries, but the next major expansion came in 1941, just before the United States entered World War II. At this time, the army purchased the land between the Cannon Gates and the present main entrance near Route 15. This included Spicertown, an unincorporated village in Rockaway Township. Spicertown had declined from a relatively thriving 19th-century community of small but profitable farms to a rather depressed area in 1941. Many of the residences housed military families until the early 2000s (decade); the last were demolished in 2007. Near Parker Road is property acquired from the estate of John E. Larson for $16,000.00. The purchase price included of land. Another former Spicertown property consisting of cost the government $19,769.00. Property on the opposite side of Parker Road was acquired from Helen Jane Larsen with for $10,534.00, as well as the former home of Clarence and Agnes Burdette, constructed around 1919. At the time, the government appraiser praised the landscaping and the grassy knoll location. World War II interfered with the arsenal's efforts to concentrate on research and development. As one of the few facilities with the ability to manufacture munitions, it employed 18,000 people and ran three shifts turning out bombs and

artillery shell A shell, in a military context, is a projectile whose payload contains an explosive, incendiary, or other chemical filling. Originally it was called a bombshell, but "shell" has come to be unambiguous in a military context. Modern usage so ...

s. However, it still had its research triumphs, especially the development of a delay fuze for skip bombing and special bombs for dams and oil fields. It also pioneered production processes later transferred to munitions manufacturers around the country. In the 1960s, Picatinny was the site of the United States' Army Munitions Command. After

, Picatinny refocused its efforts on developing new weapons and munitions. Its support to the American forces in Korea included an improved

bazooka Bazooka () is the common name for a man-portable recoilless anti-tank rocket launcher weapon, widely deployed by the United States Army, especially during World War II. Also referred to as the "stovepipe", the innovative bazooka was among the ...

and an illuminating rifle grenade. In periods of peace, the arsenal made important contributions to progress in the areas of

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, Marine radar, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor v ...

, pyrotechnics, missiles, time fuzes, and nuclear munitions (including the M65 atomic cannon 280mm howitzer known as "Atomic Annie"). When war broke out again, it gave troops in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...

a complete family of 40 mm ammunition for grenade launchers and helicopter gunships. In 1977, the army recognized Picatinny's leadership in weapons and munitions development by headquartering its Armament Research and Development Command (ARRADCOM) at the arsenal and giving it responsibility for developing small caliber weapons and munitions. In 1983, the army disestablished the Armament Research and Development Command and Picatinny became the home of the Armament Research and Development Center (ARDC). In 1986, the name again changed to the "Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center" (ARDEC). In 1991, during the Persian Gulf War, Picatinny Arsenal provided support in their development of the Patriot Missile warhead that was used as a countermeasure to the Iraqi

SCUD missile A Scud missile is one of a series of tactical ballistic missiles developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. It was exported widely to both Second and Third World countries. The term comes from the NATO reporting name attached to the m ...

. In 1992, Picatinny Arsenal was tasked to develop a standardized mounting system after the U.S. Army was dissatisfied with the contemporary products on the market. The Picatinny team was headed by mechanical designer Gary Houtsma (who was awarded the Order of Saint Maurice Award in 2014 for this contribution), who took the measurements from 20 or so different Weaver rail products from weapons bunkers at Picatinny (and even local

sporting goods Sports equipment, sporting equipment, also called sporting goods, are the tools, materials, apparel, and gear used to compete in a sport and varies depending on the sport. The equipment ranges from balls, nets, and protective gear like helmets. ...

stores) and came up with an average set of numbers set on a 45-degree angled surface. Houtsma then took the specifications over to the production facility and requested they design a dimensioning style so the rail could be easily produced and inspected. The factory recognized the similarity of the purposed rail interface to the existing rail design on 105 mm

howitzer A howitzer () is a long- ranged weapon, falling between a cannon (also known as an artillery gun in the United States), which fires shells at flat trajectories, and a mortar, which fires at high angles of ascent and descent. Howitzers, like ot ...

s, so they chose to scale down the howitzer rail design and co-opted the production and inspection procedures. It was adopted and fielded in 1995 with the designation ''MIL-STD-1913'', dated February 3, 1995. In 2007, Picatinny Arsenal's largest tenant, ARDEC, received the

Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recognizes U.S. organizations in the business, health care, education, and nonprofit sectors for performance excellence. The Baldrige Award is the highest formal recognition of the performance excellen ...

. In 2014, Picatinny Arsenal obtained its first all-female command pairing, with Lt. Col. Ingrid Parker and Sgt. Maj. Rosalba Dumont-Carrion. In 2019, the United States Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center became a center under the new Army Future's Command and became known as the Combat Capabilities Development Command - Armaments Center (CCDC-AC).

Lake Denmark Powder Depot

In 1891, the navy acquired of the arsenal to establish the Lake Denmark Powder Depot, later known as the "Lake Denmark Naval Ammunition Depot". On July 10, 1926, lightning struck one of the explosives storage structures during a thunderstorm and started a fire. As a result, several million pounds of explosives detonated over a period of two or three days. Captain Otto Dowling, USN was in charge at the time, and received a

Distinguished Service Cross The Distinguished Service Cross (D.S.C.) is a military decoration for courage. Different versions exist for different countries. *Distinguished Service Cross (Australia) *Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) *Distinguished Service Cross (U ...

for his handling of the situation. This caused $47,000,000 in damage, massive structural devastation (187 of 200 buildings destroyed), and military and civilian casualties. As a result of a full-scale Congressional investigation, Congress directed the establishment of the Armed Forces Explosives Safety Board to provide oversight on every aspect of explosives under the control of the US Armed Forces. In 1960, the army resumed control of land it had given the navy, bringing the installation to its current size and shape.

Transportation

The primary transportation in the early days of the arsenal was by rail. The early Wharton & Northern Railroad (succeeded by the Jersey Central) was laid from

Wharton Wharton may refer to: Academic institutions * Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania * Wharton County Junior College * Paul R. Wharton High School * Wharton Center for Performing Arts, at Michigan State University Places * Wharton, ...

to Green Pond through the heart of the valley in which Picatinny Arsenal now resides. This line connected the various railroads serving the Wharton area with the New York, Susquehanna & Western Railroad at Green Pond. Picatinny maintained as much as of its own narrow and standard gauge Picatinny Arsenal Railroad to service its many transportation needs (fuel, raw materials, ammunition, etc.) for almost every manufacturing and warehouse building. Today, rail service through the arsenal is just a memory with only a disused stub line into the arsenal and scattered traces of the once busy narrow gauge railway. Some of the remaining track has been covered with

macadam Macadam is a type of road construction, pioneered by Scottish engineer John Loudon McAdam around 1820, in which crushed stone is placed in shallow, convex layers and compacted thoroughly. A binding layer of stone dust (crushed stone from the ...

and turned into pedestrian walking paths.

BRAC Decision

Picatinny_Arsenal_Tower_Jefferson_Township_NJ

Base Realignment and Closure, 2005 The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission preliminary list was released by the United States Department of Defense on May 13, 2005. It was the fifth Base Realignment and Closure ("BRAC") proposal generated since the process was created in ...

directed the department of defense to establish Picatinny as the DOD specialty site for guns and ammunition, and to relocate Navy technical experts to Picatinny. It recommended: *Creation of an integrated weapons and armament specialty site for guns and ammunition at Picatinny Arsenal *Consolidation of the following facilities at Picatinny Arsenal: **Adelphi Laboratory Center in Maryland **Naval Surface Warfare Center Division at

Crane, Indiana Crane is a town in Perry Township, Martin County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 184 at the 2010 census. The community is adjacent to the Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division. History Crane was originally known as Burn ...

, including the Fallbrook, California, detachment ** Naval Surface Warfare Center Division Dahlgren, Virginia **

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, detachment of Naval Surface Warfare Center Division, Port Hueneme, California ** Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, China Lake, California ** Naval Surface Warfare Center Division, Indian Head, Maryland ** Naval Surface Warfare Center Division, Earle, New Jersey This recommendation realigned and consolidates those gun and ammunition facilities working in weapons and armaments research, development and acquisition. Picatinny Arsenal is the center for the DOD's research, development and acquisition of guns and ammunition, with a workload more than an order of magnitude greater than any other DOD facility in this area. It also is home to the DOD's single manager for conventional ammunition.

Environmental contamination

Since 1976 the Army conducted numerous environmental studies on Picatinny; in March 1990 it was declared a

superfund Superfund is a United States federal environmental remediation program established by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). The program is administered by the Environmental Protection Agency ...

and placed on the

National Priorities List The National Priorities List (NPL) is the priority list of hazardous waste sites in the United States eligible for long-term remedial investigation and remedial action (cleanup) financed under the federal Superfund program. Environmental Protec ...

. 176 sites are to be addressed under the Installation Restoration Program. Picatinny had established a Technical Review Committee in 1989 and met every other month. It became a

Restoration Advisory Board A Restoration Advisory Board or RAB is a group, which meets on a regular basis to discuss environmental restoration at a US military installation currently or formerly used and owned by the US Department of Defense (DoD). These developed in the 1 ...

, and public meetings are advertised in the Star Ledger and Daily Record.

References

External links

Picatinny Arsenal home page History of Picatinny ArsenalTo Arm and Shield
* ttp://www.paerab.us/ official website of the Picatinny Arsenal Environmental Restoration Advisory Board (PAERAB)* * * * * * {{Coord, 40, 57, 33, N, 74, 32, 30, W, display=title Firearm manufacturers of the United States Buildings and structures in Morris County, New Jersey Research installations of the United States Army Forts in New Jersey Historic American Engineering Record in New Jersey Jefferson Township, New Jersey Rockaway Township, New Jersey United States Army arsenals United States Army arsenals during World War II Superfund sites in New Jersey 1880 establishments in New Jersey Armories in New Jersey