Frelinghuysen Welcomes Army Chief of Staff to Picatinny Arsenal
Press Release
U.S. Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen welcomed Morris County native Army Chief of Staff (CSA) Gen. Ray Odierno to Picatinny Arsenal this week. Odierno is a native of Rockaway, Morris County. He graduated from Morris Hills High School in 1972 prior to attending West Point.
"The entire community was very proud that General Odierno was able to accept my invitation to visit Picatinny and learn more about the cutting edge research work that's being done here," said Frelinghuysen, a senior member of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. "By the time he left, General Odierno's justifiable pride in the work of the Arsenal's military and civilian workforce on behalf of our deployed warfighter was absolutely confirmed."
Odierno addressed the Picatinny workforce in a standing-room-only "town hall meeting" which was also televised across the base.
"The Army must be prepared for the broad range of missions over the next 10 to 20 years. You all play an extremely important role in that," he said. "Here we have some of the brightest scientists, engineers, who I think can help to continue to achieve technological advantages over our enemy."
The CSA also spoke about the critical role of Picatinny Arsenal to the Army's mission.
"I consider this to be a national treasure, what we have here at Picatinny Arsenal," he said. "I consider this to have a unique capability and capacity that we don't have anywhere else in the Army. And I'm very proud of that -- that we do that right here."
During the visit, Odierno also toured the Davidson Advanced Warhead Development Facility and the Navy's new Packaging, Handling, Storage and Transportation Facility and was briefed by dozens of Picatinny's scientists, engineers, technicians and program managers on current and future contributions to Army, Navy, Marine and Air Force operations.
"It was great to have this remarkable Army leader return to this impressive military installation, Frelinghuysen said.
Source