Ravenna Arsenal News for CY 1954 - Rvaap.org

Page 4
3rd Anniversary Pictorial Review
SANTA CLAUS was one of the main attractions at the second
annual RAI Children's Christmas Party in Bolton Barn December
20. An over-flowing crowd of 4,600 children and parents attended
the four performances and over 2,300 children received gifts from
Santa's volunteer workers.
FIRE PREVENTION both in the plant and in employees'
homes was stressed by members of the Arsenal Fire Department
dw:ing Fire Prevention Week in October. Firemen put on firefighting
demonstrations and gave informal safety talks to groups
of employees. Firefighters William G. Davis and Harry J. Peters
(above), demonstrate the department's deluge gun.
SUGGESTION AWARDS presented to employees during the
past year totaled $3,620 for 211 winning ideas. The Suggestion
Department received 970 suggestions and the Board adopted 1 out
of 5 "ideas" for an average of $17.11 per suggestion. Thirteentime
suggestion award winner J. D. Wilhelm, an A. P. Line maintenance
man, is shown "on the job" adjusting a primer head
assembly machine. One of his ideas pertained to this machine.
RAVENNA ARSENAL NEWS April 1, 1954
ANTI-TANK MINE loading was started Septem ber 3 on Load Line Four, which was the first major
Arsenal load line to be mechanized by a conveyor system. It was also the first time since early 1945
that high-explosive ammunition began rolling off the former World War II bomb-loading line. Employees
from Load Line Three, where anti-tank mine loading had been in production two months prior,
were transferred to Line Four. The Engineering Division then began re-tooling and mechanizing Line
Three for loading 155mm shells.
HIGH· RANKING MILITARY visitors to Ravenna Arsenal included Maj. Gen. E. L. Ford, U. S.
Army Chief of Ordnance on June 5. Discussing shell packaging operations on Line One are Col. C. K.
Allen, former Arsenal CO; Paul Borda, former Gencral Manager; General Ford; M. K. Skipper, Line
Superintendent; Capt. M. B. Coker, Aide to General Ford; and Lt. Col. T. H. Bradley, Arsenal CO.
Other visitors during the past year were Lt. Gen. W. B. Palmer, Assistant Chief of Staff, G-4, Logistics;
and Brig. Gen. W. E. Laidlaw, OAC Commander.
OUTSTANDING SAFETY RECORDS were established by employees on Load Lines Three and
Four, the A. P. and P. E. Lines, in the Depot and Engineering Division. They received the J. E.
Trainer Safety Certificate of Appreciation for working a record number of man-hours without a losttime
accident. Paul Borda, extreme right, presents the awards to Engineering and Line Three.
April 1, 1954
3rd Anniversary Pictorial Review
EMPLOYEE PARTICIPATION in the Summer Recreation
Program reached an all-time high dw:ing the past year. Four
Golf Leagues, composed of 2B two-man teams battled over two
nearby golf courses and two Softball Leagues, with 11 teams in
action, used the Arsenal's diamond facilities.
CIIINESE AND KOREAN writing was found on several used
90mm ·cartridge cases returned from overseas to the A. N. Line
for renovation. Robert R. Nance and Alva M. Davis (above),
examine a cartridge case used by the Chinese Reds as a warning
bell. The shell was painted "Chinese Red" and inscribed "Emergency
Bell." Thousands of spent 90mm shells were renovated and
reloaded during the past year for reuse by our Armed Forces.
RAVENNA ARSENAL participated in Ohio's 150th Birthday
Anniversary by entering a float depicting ammunition production
"Yesterday and Today" in several Sesqui-centennial parades in
sw:rounding communities. The float was constructed by employees
RAVENNA ARSENAL NEWS Page 5
STATISTICAL QUALITY CONTROL charts were posted and used in RAI production buildings for
explaining to all employees the purpose and necessity of maintaining a high quality of Ravenna
Arsenal loaded ammunition. Each time a job is done-drilling a shell, stenciling a mine, weighing
a powder charge, or banding an ammunition box- Arsenal employees leave a personal mark on the
product. Thus, the mark should be of the highest quality, which means better sheIls at lower prices
and less income taxes for all Americans.
TEN GALLON CLUB PINS were presented to Arsenal employees
in recognition of their outstanding donation of eight or
more pints of blood to the National Blood Program. Dr. Thomas
F. Geoghegan (left), Director of the Cleveland Regional Blood
Center, presented gold-plated Red Cross donor pins to five Gallon
Club members-Martha Crosby, Eugene Crum, Leroy Nicholson,
Capt. S. C. Casbourne and Jack R. Russ.
at the George Road Carpenter Shop, with Paint Shop employees
doing the finishing touches. Production employees from various
departments volunteered to ride the float.
TELEPHONE, teletype and radio
communication was still the vital
link in coordinating Arsenal production
operations. Pulse center of
the communication activities is the
Signal Building which handles more
than 18,000 telephone calls a day
on a BOO-line automatic, dial exchange.

Page 4
Pictorial News • • •
Deai-h of a Fighter
THE BATTLE for survival proved "too much" for the fighter
above. Roads and Grounds crewmen recently found the deceased
buck on North Patrol Road. He had become entangled in a mass
of wire, and death was apparently caused from exhaustion. The
Rand G crewmen staged a proper wake and laid the defeated
fighter to rest on his Arsenal homeland.
RAVENNA ARSENAL NEWS September 24, 1954
53RD ANTI· AIRCRAFT ARTILLERY BRIGADE arrived at Ravenna Arsenal on September 10.
The Brigate Headquarters here is a small administrative unit totaling about 80 officers and men. No
guns, radar, etc., are part of the Headquarters Battery since it is simply and administrative·logistical
unit.
HARVEY S. FIRESTONE, JR.,
Chairman, The Firestone Tire &
Rubber Company (left), and Leonard
K. Firestone, President of
the Firestone Company of Califor·
nia, are pictured left as they in·
spected one of the Corporal guid·
ed missiles manufactured by the
Company in Los Angeles.
The Firestone brothers are
standing on the base of the launch·
ing device. In addition to manu·
factUl'ing the Corporal guided missile,
Firestmle also assembles the
launching equipment required for
these missiles.
The Corporal is a surface-to·
surface weapon capable of carrying
either atomic or high-explosive
warheads at speeds several times
that of sound. It is propelled by
a powerful rocket motor. An Army
guided missile battalion will soon
be sent to Europe to join other
guided missile squadrons and atomic
cannon battalions.
A GROUP of the 188 RAI and Ordnance supervisors who attended
Safety meetings September 13 and 14, watches with interest
as A. R. Hocking, OAC Training Officer, illustrates his
discussion with the use of flannel-board technique.
Therels a Wrong Way and a Right Way
DALE GILLISPIE, fork lift operator from Newton Falls, demonstrates the
wrong way to operate a high lift. He sits with one leg over the side of the lift, does
not have a firm grip on the wheel, and shows inattention by looking in a different
direction than he is traveling. The lift pallet, which is fully loaded with 120mm
shells, not only is several feet off the ground but is tilted at a very dangerous angle.
THE CORRECT WAY to operate a fodk lift is shown above by Dale. Pallet
is not slanted and rides at the correct four inches above the ground. Dale drives
with hands and feet in safe and correct positions, and eyes "glued" in the direction
of the truck he prepares to load. Notice the difference between pictures-the one
at the left literally spells ACCIDENT, while the other portrays a SAFE operation.

October 21, 1954 RAVENNA ARSENAL NEWS Page 3
Nike Directive Battery at Arsenal
Army Adds Corporal Missile to Weapons List
IN FLIGHT at White Sands Proving Ground, N. M., is the
Corporal, the U. S. Army's Surface-to-Surface Guided Missile.
The missile is produced by the Firestone Company for the Army.
The Corporal follows a ballistic trajectory in its flight to the
target and weather and visibility conditions place no restriction on
the use of the weapon. Motive power is supplied by a powerful
rocket motor. Essential components of the weapon's system include
the missile, a mobile launcher and guidance equipment. A
self propelled, hydraulically operated erector places the missile
in firing position on the take-off pedestal. Equipped with either
an atomic or conventional war head, the Corporal is capable of
engaging tactical targets far beyond the ranges of artillery or the
new 280mm gun and "Honest John" rocket.
A REMOTELY controlled U. S. Army Ordnance launcher
poises a partially erected Nike missile against the New Mexico
sky. When the launcher has reached an 85-degree angle the missile
will be in position to fire.
The Department of the
Army recently announced
the addition of the Corporal
Guided Missile to the fastgrowing
list of new weapons
to be used in support of
ground combat operations.
The Corporal is produced by
the Firestone Company and
delivery is being made to
troops.
Coincidently, about the same
time the announcement was made,
the 53rd Anti - Aircraft Brigade,
headquarters for direction of Nike
Guided Missile batteries in the
Lake Erie district, arrived at Ravenna
Arsenal.
Prime difference between the
Corporal and the Nike is that the
Corporal is a surface-to-surface
missile for ground use, field artillery,
whereas the Nike is strictly
for air targets, a surface-to-air missile.
WEATHER and visibility conditions
place no restriction on the use
of the weapons. Motive power is
supplied by a powerful rocket motor;
both missiles travel through
space at several times the speed
of sound.
A longer range is afforded the
Corporal since it does not have to
fight the pull of gravity as does the
Nike. Both missiles follow a balistic
trajectory in flight to the target.
The Corporal gives the field commander
far greater fire power on
the battlefield and enables him to
strike selected targets deep in the
enemy rear areas.
Within its range, a Nike missile
can overtake and destroy any air
target. Nike launchers actually
are fired when the targets pass
an invisible radar line many miles
away.
THE NIKE rocket is launched
with a jato booster motor which
disengages at a certain altitude.
The sustaining rocket motor then
takes over and speeds it to its target.
The Corporal launcher is a comparatively
simple device consisting
of a light metal take-off pedestal.
A self-propelled, hydraulically
operated erector places the missile
in firing position on the take-off
pedestal.
Nike was engineered in 1945 by
the Bill Telephone laboratories at
* * *
the request of the Army Ordnance
Corps, which provided the needed
characteristics for future anti-aircraft
fire.
AS EARLY AS 1944, the California
Institute of Technology, under
an Army Ordnance contract, began
experiments in the application of
rocket propulsion to artillery range
missiles. These predecessors of the
Corporal were named the Private,
Private First Class, and the WAC
Corporal.
Much of the field test work on
both the Corporal and the Nike
was conducted at the Army's White
Sands Proving Ground in New Mexico.
* * *
General Heath -- Nike Director
A professional soldier, Brig. Gen.
Louis T. Heath, director of Nike
batteries in the Lake Erie Defense
Area, has served with about every
branch of the Army there is.
General Heath saw active service
in World War II and the Korean
conflict. He was at the Inchon
landing in South Korea and the
Iwon landing in North Korea. He
went to the Yalu and was in the
long retreat and ultimate evacuation
of Hungnam.
Since his return to the United
States in 1953, General Heath was
at Swarthmore, Pa., which until
September 8 was the headquarters
of the 53rd AAA Brigade.
A graduate of West Point and
Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
General Heath was awarded
the Croix de Guerre with Palm by
the French government for his
services during World War II.
Also included in his decorations
BRIG. GEN. L. T. HEATH
are the Silver Star, Legion of Merit
with two oak leaf clusters, the
Bronze Star with one cluster, and
the Air Medal.
THE NIKE is the nation's first combat ready Surface-to-Air Guided Missile system to be put in use
in the Air Defense system of the United States. Na med for the Winged Goddess of Victory in Greek
mythology Nike can locate and destroy enemy aircraft by means of an electronic "brain" regardless
of evasive' action. Above, the rocket is in a horizontal position on the loading rails.
A BOOSTER charge has started the Nike on its
supersonic quest for a flying target. The lower portion
is expended after an initial thrust, and the
missile proper continues toward its target, guided
by an electronic "brain."
THE CORPORAL is pictured above on a
launching device at The Firestone Tire & Rubber
Company, Los Angeles, Cal., where it is assembled.
In addition to manufacturing the Corporal, Firestone
also assembles the launching equipment.