NAVSUP WEAPON SYSTEMS SUPPORT

That's the name of the outfit in Mechanicsburg, PA, that is the Navy's "master control for ships' parts". When the Naval Supply Systems Command Weapon Systems Support mechanics need spare parts for the "ships, submarines, and weapon systems" which they tend, they naturally turn to Woodstock, New York.

So in May the bureaucracy spat out something called a "presolicitation" for 35 EA "BLOWER,AIR BARRIER". "The sole source for this item," the presolicitation informs us, "is Rotron (aka Ametek/Rotron)". Our small town, like so many others, ends up deeply embedded in warships and other weapons systems. Are there alternative material contributions we could consider?

One weapon the Weapon Systems Support folks are particularly proud of is the 20mm Vulcan Gatling gun system, pictured here. Despite the reassuringly old-fashioned sounding name, this Gatling is used on the F/A-18 Hornet Strike fighter (which itself runs on made-in-Woodstock parts).

USS New Hampshire

Back in August 2015, this same outfit sent Solicitation SPRMM115QPK61 to Woodstock for a special order -- a "battery blower" for delivery to USS New Hampshire, a nuclear-powered attack submarine made by Electric Boat.
 

Woodstock sends weapons parts to Air Combat Command

Woodstock's largest employer has some new Pentagon contracts, among them one small but typical piece of business-as-usual (June 1) for 3 fans ($8,817) to be delivered to Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina, the home of the US Air Force Combat Command. The "END ITEM IDENTIFICATION" for these particular fans is listed as  "COMMUNICATIONS PROGRAM,COMBAT THEATER". Communications are a vital part of modern warfare, as reflected by Rotron's many contracts for satellite receivers and such like. The US's drive toward the militarization of space is one destabilizing result.

According to a commercial website, Woodstock's largest employer gained $2,603,158 in 79 Pentagon contracts in 2015, making it their biggest year ever for government weapons contracts, which are just part of their business. So a 70-year Woodstock tradition continues. But to put it in perspective, compare the 2015 federal contracts of the largest weapons contractor, Lockheed Martin: $175.1 billion.