Air Force Visitors Tour Pantex

Michelle Reichert, CNS Vice President and Pantex Site Manager (at left), and Jim Haynes, CNS President and Chief Executive Officer, welcome Deborah Lee James, Secretary of the Air Force, to the Pantex Plant.

Pantexans rolled out the red carpet last week for several Air Force visitors.

Deborah Lee James, Secretary of the Air Force, visited the Pantex Plant for a mission familiarization tour. She observed operations in several mission-vital facilities

Six personnel from Sheppard Air Force Base, near Wichita Falls, Texas, also visited the Plant last week. In addition to a Plant overview and history presentation, they toured facilities where Pantex production technicians build Joint Test Assemblies (JTA).

After the meticulous work on the JTAs is complete, the mock weapons are sent to the military for test flights. The valuable information gathered during these tests ensure the weapons function as designed and allows scientists and engineers at the national laboratories to validate the nuclear stockpile to the President of the United States.