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.