10,000th Lockheed rocket PDF Print E-mail

Students join leaders in event marking

  

10,000th Lockheed rocket

 

 

   By DONNA COLLINS    Staff Writer

  Camden News April 28, 2010

    Community leaders and local math and science students joined hundreds of Lockheed Martin workers and officials attending Tuesday’s celebration marking the production of the 10,000th rocket for the Guided Multi Launch Rocket System at the company’s Highland Industrial Park location.
   Site director Glenn David Woods welcomed the crowd and introduced guestspeakers who all praised Lockheed’s local workforce for the dedication and hard work needed "to deliver on time, every time" the product U.S. military forces and their allies have come to expect and depend on. "This production mile stone was made possible through the commitment of  our hardworking employees here in Camden who are proud to provide this combat proven capability to the U.S. Army, the U.S. Marine Corps, and our allied forces," said Scott Arnold, vice president for Precision Fires at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. "The delivery of the 10,000th GMLRS marks a significant milestone in the program," Col. David J. Rice, U.S. Army program manager for Precision Fires, Rocket and Missile Systems, told the large crowd that included local Lockheed GMLRS team members. "This is a superior system that provides responsive precision fires enabled by unsurpassed system reliability and maintainability." Rice, who attended high school in Arkadelphia, said his journey to Camden was worth the effort, even though it included being "impeded by an Arkansas state trooper, twice."
   Rice told local elected officials and other community leaders that it is their vision and leadership that gains the attention of national leaders needed to sustain and support programs including Lockheed’s GMLRS.
   "Thank you, thank you and thank you again," he said to the local workforce "You make a difference." Rice said the GMLRS "does its job," of finding and destroying high value and high risk targets with the least amount of collateral damage to the cultural centers the enemy is known to purposely hide. 
He said workers should be proud of their accomplishments including a 99 percent reliability rating for the GMLRS.
   Rice added that soldiers in the field care most about their follow soldiers and that their equipment works every time. "Lives depend on that," he said about a weapon’s reliability. "Lives depend on what you do every day here in Camden," Rice said.
"The success of this system speaks for the quality work that our team is doing every day," said Col. Tony Daskevich, Army capability manager for Field Artillery Rocket and Missiles. "We are a constant in this fight, always mission ready and on target. Precision is the name of the game when it comes to our missions, and that is why our soldiers and leaders so appreciate this system." Daskevich also spoke about the adaptability of the MLRS system, saying its performance was a tremendous asset in saving lives and winning the peace in Desert Storm and equally reliant in current warfare. "It has redefined the value of rocket artillery." he said. Lt. Col. Anthony Gonzales also spoke, telling the crowd he has witnessed "the evolution of the weapon of choice," the GMLRS. He said the rocket is often referred to as the "70-kilometer sniper" because of its precision in delivering its 200-pound war head. He said the Army’s Iraqi partners call the GMLRS, "impressive." He added that a even more telling description is used by the U.S. Air Force. "That damn Army rocket that keeps hitting our target."