FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
12/9/21
Fort Campbell Holds Grand Opening to the Applied Tactical Innovation Center
(Fort Campbell, KY) The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) held their grand opening for the Eaglewerx Applied Tactical Innovation Center (ATIC) on December 7, 2021, where collaborators, Soldiers, and families were able to tour the facilities and witness innovation demonstrations.
The ATIC will play a key role in Soldier innovation and problem solving. Soldiers will now have access to a variety of machines and technology including 3D printers, laser cutters, sewing machines, entry-level artificial intelligence, and educational support.
“EagleWerx shows how partnerships with researchers and academia can help empower Soldiers to learn, innovate, and inform solutions. At EagleWerx, all Soldiers have the opportunity to gain hands-on experiential learning with direct access to entry-level AI/robotics equipment, data engineering, software development, additive manufacturing, digital fabrication, and agile methodologies,” said CPT Lauren E. Hansen Armendariz, Deputy Division Innovation Officer, 101st Abn. Div. (AA).
The Civil-Military Innovation Institute (CMI2) and the US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) Army Research Lab (ARL) in partnership for the Pathfinder program facilitated equipment for the Soldiers and researchers to innovate with. Notable projects include The Star Hammer, and SABER.
101st Airborne Division personnel gave a walking tour of the facility that included stops at demo stations where Soldiers and academic partners showcased current projects and prototypes.
“The most significant innovations I’ve implemented in my industrial career were based on ideas that came from the factory floor, not from the offices and boardrooms. The Pathfinder program is about empowering the soldier who best understands a given problem to develop a solution for the rest of the team,” said Garth Ghearing, an engineer and instructor at the ATIC. “I’m delighted to be a small part of making that happen.”
To conclude the grand opening, the 101st Division Command Team, Major General JP McGee and Command Sergeant Major Veronica E. Knapp, rededicated the ATIC to the memory of Specialist Four Peter M. Guenette. Congress bestowed the Medal of Honor to Specialist Four Guenette for, “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty” after smothering an enemy grenade with his body, saving the lives of at least three others during the Vietnam War while attached to the 506th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division.
The ceremony also included a ribbon cutting and remarks from MG McGee on the future of innovation and modernization in the 101st DIV and the United States Army.
