PICATTINY ARSENAL FILES, 1990-1994

Summary: Documentation of Gallo's efforts to prevent Picatinny Arsenal (Rockaway Township, Morris County, New Jersey) from being closed under the Department of Defense's Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) program. Primarily consists of correspondence, between Gallo, his office, Joe Taglairino of Concerned Responsible Individuals to Save Picatinny (CRISP) and the Department of the Army, discussing strategies to save Picatinny, as well as press releases and news clippings. Some files also document Gallo's work in obtaining federal funding for Picatinny projects.

Among the other materials present are two reports to the BRAC, "Report on Picatinny Arsenal and the 1991 Base Closure and Realignment Process," by Gallo and six other New Jersey Representatives, and a final draft of Gallo's 1993 report, "Picatinny Arsenal: Making an Irreplaceable Contribution to the Army of the Future." There are information packets from Gallo's visit to Picatinny in March 1991 and from Legislative Director Bob Bostock's visit to Picatinny in April 1993 for briefings on Picatinny's activities and services. Also present are a speech, program and press releases from the 1992 groundbreaking ceremony for the Rossi-Cayton Armaments Technology Facility at Picatinny, named after Major Marie T. Rossi-Cayton who was killed in the 1991 Persian Gulf War. The July 1993 "Military Base Closings Information Packet" from the Northeast-Midwest Congressional Coalition ("FY '93 Military Construction Requests" folder) includes lists of base closings and BRAC committee members, schedules for committee activities and statistics on military spending, reduction in personnel, etc. Other papers include details of and statistics on Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA) separation pay offered by Picatinny to avoid involuntary layoffs in May and June of 1993 (with a copy of the Arsenal's request to the Army to use the monetary separation incentive). In addition, there is material dating from 1994 about BRAC closings, proceedings for the following year, lists of committee members and a summary of BRAC's previous activities, as well as a 1995 schedule ("BRAC '95" folder).

The potential closing of the Naval Ordnance Station in Louisville (NOSL), Kentucky, was also a concern of Gallo's, as the base engaged in several cooperative research projects with Picatinny. Among the items related to this issue are a copy of Gallo's testimony before the Base Realignment and Closure Commission in 1993 in which he calls for the NOSL to remain open, as well as a copy of a memo from FMC Naval Systems Division that was obtained by the Concerned Responsible Individuals to Save Picatinny (CRISP) and forwarded to Gallo's office. The memo details a plan by FMC, a competitor of NOSL, to have the Kentucky facility closed under the BRAC program.