JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- At Marine Corps Support Facility Blount Island in Florida, situated along the St. Johns River with direct access to the Atlantic Ocean, a new computer-controlled beam saw is transforming raw wood into combat readiness. It's cutting faster, sharper and safer to keep Marines equipped and ready across the globe.
The saw, capable of slicing dozens of 12-foot yellow pine boards in a single pass, went into production July 21 in a shop nestled within the Marine Corps’ global prepositioning hub. Workers use it to produce custom wooden containers that protect critical gear aboard forward-positioned cargo ships.
“This machine can cut all day long, and it hits the same specs every time,” said Ed Patelunas, a technician from Hendrick Manufacturing who installed the HK5 PL Series Horizontal Beam Saw for Blount Island Command. He also trained the command’s contracted woodworkers on operation, maintenance and safety.
Precision Tools, Global Reach
The preservation, packing and packaging (P3) shop builds custom containers—from shoebox-sized packages to 12-foot crates and 20-foot pallets—engineered to maximize space and withstand harsh conditions in strategic locations, afloat and ashore. The pine itself is specially treated to prevent insects from deploying with the gear.
“Because it all goes on a ship, we really go above and beyond,” said U.S. Marine Corps Master Sgt. Andrew Barrett, Blount Island Command P3 quality assurance representative.
“Most important,” said Barrett, “is how well we’re protecting the military equipment. It must be strictly protected for the most severe weather environments. We just packaged several mortars in wooden crates to protect them, knowing that, ultimately, they could go into the hands of a warfighter.”
Each maintenance cycle brings massive vessels into the Blount Island facility’s 1,000-foot slipway. Alongside roll-on tactical vehicles are truck parts, medical gear, electronic systems and combat-ready weapons—all preserved to remain functional anywhere, for years.
That mission runs through Joe Penzera’s P3 shop.
“From October of ’86—so this October will be 39 years,” said Penzera, inside a warehouse that once resembled a construction zone. When he transitioned from Marine infantryman to defense contractor on Blount Island, the shop he now supervises was still forming.
“I was a young man with a hammer out there,” he said, pointing out the door, proud of a legacy driven by cleaner floors, fewer machines and better ergonomics.
“Back then, it wasn’t packaged like this—it didn’t go through what we do now,” he said, reflecting on decades of process improvement. “We work knowing everything we touch will reach the warfighter. What we do here is make sure that everything is preserved in a condition that guarantees it will work when it’s needed.”
From Hammers to High-Tech
From those early days of hammers and radial saws, the shop evolved into a modern industrial operation—precision tools, fiberboard machines, pneumatic lifts, filtered air systems and digital tracking. Where 40 people once built boxes by hand, eight workers now operate with measurable speed and accuracy.
“The shop now has exceeded my expectations, I can tell you that,” said Penzera. “We went from 1980s antiquated equipment to today’s computerized, high-tech, precision-cutting machinery.”
His motivation shows up in everything from safety—validated by OSHA inspections and voluntary protection program recognition—to innovation. He introduced the shop’s first computer in the late ’80s and built the production database still in use today. He tracks performance, reduces waste and inspires improvements that influence P3 shops worldwide.
The beam saw is part of that evolution. It consolidates two legacy machines—one for splitting plywood, another for chopping lumber—into a single, precision-controlled system. Workers slide wood onto pneumatic tables that lift material to feed height, reducing strain and improving workflow.
“Instead of cutting one board at a time, we can cut 144 with a single swipe,” said Penzera, referring to 1x4s. “If they needed a million pieces, we could just continue to cut and have that done in a fraction of the time.”
But beyond speed, Penzera emphasizes durability.
“We’re packing it to last for a very, very long time,” he said.
Weapons are preserved with multiple layers: first treated with volatile corrosion inhibitors, then sealed in water vapor-proof barrier bags on Blount Island. That redundancy ensures long-term performance—even after years at sea.
“When we open that bag three years later, the weapon is in the same condition as when it left,” he said. “That’s what we do here.”
A Workforce That Continues to Serve
Blount Island’s reach extends far beyond the Jacksonville waterfront. Nearly 100 Marines and Sailors work alongside approximately 1,200 government civilians and contractors—many of them veterans, like Penzera, who’ve continued their service out of uniform.
“We’re a support element,” said Penzera about his team. “We’re not maintenance, we’re not shipping and receiving. We’re here to support all those commodities—and we’re going to continue to strive. Always.”
For Penzera, the mission remains personal.
“When you come into work in the morning and you love what you’re doing—that’s what makes a team work,” he said. “It’s not just a tool. It’s not just a machine. It’s everything combined.”