ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW
Norman H. Smith
October 30, 1984
by Larry Lowenthal

0:00:11	Began working for the Armory in May 1940 as a shop boy.
0:00:34	Talks about the security afforded by employment at the Armory.
0:00:53	Examination at Commerce High School for application for employment and the apprentice tool making school.
0:01:26	Was taken in as a shop boy doing bench work, filing off burrs.
0:01:41	After six months was trained on milling machines and then trained on all the production machines.
0:02:04	Lived in Springfield on Maryhill Ave.
0:02:22	Was employed at the Mohegan Market on Bridge Street before the Armory.
0:03:03	Blue-collar workers were envied because they were paid for the hours they worked unlike other jobs where there were no time clocks.
0:03:29	The exam he took was written.
0:03:47	Talks about the first day he worked in the shop.
0:03:59	Talks about the noise and activity in the shop.
0:04:40	Worked in bldg. 101.
0:04:54	Manufactured bolts and firing pins in the basement.
0:05:42	Loved being around the machines.
0:05:59	Mr. Fletcher got him started on tool and cutter grinding.
0:07:05	When Bldg. 32 was built he was transferred over there during WWII.
0:07:29	$.35 per hour for shop boy wage.
0:07:48	Had moved up to Intricate Tool Maker then he had to come down to a laborer's wage to become a Tool Maker.
0:08:50	Talks about a young man who had decided he was not cut out for tool grinding, went back to school, came back, and eventually became the head of the automotive dept.
0:10:15	Tool and Cutter grinders cut all the cutters for the different machines.
0:10:27	Many cutters were used in gangs or sets which were put on one arbor and generated a specific shape.
0:11:17	Used grinding machines that used aluminum oxide as the abrasive.
0:11:50	Also used the Carborundum abrasive for copper, brass, and bronze.
0:12:11	Learned production work on the job.
0:12:53	Machine adjuster who changes the cutters has a higher degree of skill.
0:13:33	He moved up quicker than many of the people who came in with him because he was eager to learn.
0:14:33	During the war there were periods when they would work 7 days a week.
0:15:40	Normal workweek was 40 hours additional hours were overtime pay.
0:15:46	There were 3 eight-hour shifts.
0:16:32	Talks about how the components moved from one operation to another.
0:17:10	Talks about one man who changed his initials on his work to avoid getting caught doing unacceptable work.
0:17:40	Raises were based in part on ratings.
0:18:06	Ratings of satisfactory were a C grade.
0:18:43	Operator, Machine Adjuster, the Gang Boss, Assistant Foreman and the Foreman. The Gang Boss did the ratings.
0:19:20	The Foreman was the one you would approach for a day off or questions about raises.
0:19:48	Generally morale was very high during the war years.
0:21:21	Talks about volunteering for the service because he wanted to do something more.
0:22:09	Went into the Navy March 1944.
0:22:33	Talks about a man who had worked with him at the Armory and had gone down with his ship a few weeks after he had joined.
0:23:28	Was in the Navy for 2 years.
0:24:01	Had electrical experience in the Navy.
0:24:57	Was told at the Armory if he wanted to be an electrician he would have to work at a laborers wage again so he went back into tool and cutter grinding.
0:25:25	Worked in the Water Shops in bldg. 201 for a year until he came back to the apprentice tool making school.
0:26:00	There were not too many women who continued working at the Armory after the war.
0:26:22	Talks about how the women loved the jobs.
0:26:42	The Selective Service Act 1208 said any serviceman could return to the job he had left.
0:27:30	Many of the women went to other shops.
0:27:50	Took the apprentice tool making school exam and placed 5th.
0:28:59	Had already run the machines and used the tools.
0:29:20	Took another pay cut to attend the tool making school.
0:30:03	Bldg. 28 on the 2nd floor was the apprentice tool making school.
0:30:30	The school was a 4-year course.  Ten people began the course each year. The apprentice school tried 4 hours in class 4 in the shop, but it took too much time to set up then clean up.
0:31:11	He liked one day of class then the rest in the shop.
0:32:00	Talks about George Mackintosh an instructor at the apprentice tool making school.
0:32:35	Talks about Trombley who was also an instructor.
0:33:40	The instructors had a tremendous background of knowledge.
0:34:07	He got into the program as an instructor in 1959.
0:34:18	Moved into the tool making dept. as a journeyman in Bldg. 111.
0:34:27	Started in the gauge dept then went to tool and cutter then to jig and fixtures.
0:34:51	Went to the apprentice tool makers school as an instructor on a temporary basis.
0:35:13	Would train engineers with no practical experience also ordnance dept. servicemen.
0:36:19	At the time it took $20,000 to become a journeymen.
0:37:53	Was an instructor for 5 years.
0:38:11	Was in charge of the tool trouble dept. testing new tools imported from other installations.
0:39:15	Talks about the M60 machine gun production line.
0:40:20	Tells a story about his experience going to Aberdeen Proving Ground to prove the SPIW.
0:41:16	Talks about the competition between the Armalite weapon and the SPIW.
0:42:13	Went down to field strip the weapon.
0:43:08	Shows letters sent to all the people who might have any say in the closing of the Armory.
0:44:13	Declined relocation to Rock Island Arsenal as model maker.
0:44:39	Talks about the personal reasons for not relocating.
0:45:03	Airlines refused to carry the SPIW to Aberdeen.
0:45:20	Had qualified to teach in Springfield Public Schools.
0:46:14	Taught in the Springfield Trade High School.
0:46:25	Felt that the loss of the Armory was a tremendous loss to the country.
0:46:56	Talks about the experimentation and the new machine development at the Armory.
0:47:13	The coefficient of friction analyzing machine and the electrostatic testing machines were developed at the Armory.
0:48:07	Talks about the need for components after the Armory closed.
0:48:42	Talks about the tungsten carbide tipped tools where the different carbides had been mixed up and there was considerable breakage.
0:49:24	Asking a machine to bore to tolerances that the machine was not capable of doing.
0:49:54	Suggested that the operation be done on jig boring machines in the tool room.
0:50:25	Did not remember too many new machines coming in when the Armory was winding down but did remember replacement machines.
0:51:15	Talks about the function of the tool room replacing worn parts in the machines.
0:51:36	Tool maker would take the repaired part to the gauge inspection.
0:52:21	Machines that were worn out were donated to the Springfield Trade High School and other schools for training.
0:53:24	Taught at the High School for 17 years.
0:53:35	Decided to teach machine technology because the students were more motivated to do the hands on work.
0:54:45	Talks about the revolution in machinery to automated machines.
0:54:54	Talks about the numerical control machines.
0:56:30	Talks about McNamera's visit to the Armory.
0:57:02	Felt that McNamera made the decision to close the Armory and Lyndon Johnson bought it without question.
0:58:17	Talks about an incident where the students in the tool room had put die on the machine handles and McNamera got the die on his hands when he came to show him an operation.
1:00:42	Talks about the development of a zip gun for survival.
1:01:41	Worked on the M1, the M14, the M60, the Vulcan, the Grenade Launcher, and the SPIW and other special purpose machines.