https://www.kwqc.com/content/m...useum-502522981.html

Getting on RIA is a PITA unless you have a mil ID or CAC, but it's doable and the museum is worth the hassle. Security requirements are on the link below. Although not specified, guns are a BIG no-no.

http://www.arsenalhistoricalsociety.org/museum/

Other tourist sites on post:

https://www.mvr.usace.army.mil...iver-Visitor-Center/

https://www.cem.va.gov/CEMs/nchp/rockisland.asp

https://www.cem.va.gov/cems/lo...ockisland_confed.asp

http://www.davenporthouse.org/

Brings back some memories, thanks.

Been a loooong time since I was there.
Went there once on a field trip. Probably still in grade school at the time. Think the arsenal was still heavy into howitzer production at the time. Toured Colonel Davenport's home and saw the confederate cemetery.

As you said, watch it when on the island. Going 2 mph over the posted limit, and you'll soon find yourself surrounded by 4 or more cop cars.
Which kinda sucked, as we'd cut across there to go to the river boat in Rock Island at the time.

I went there with the now wife about 12 years ago after seeing the Lock & Dam. We came in from Davenport on the Government Bridge. It was extremely painless and quick, check ID and on your way.

Fast forward to last month the day after Thanksgiving and I was going to take the older kids to the Lock & Dam after letting them burn off steam at the John Deere Pavilion and tried entering from the Rock Island Gate and thought the "visitors must use the Moline bridge" sign didn't mean me and was promptly turned around as I wasn't .gov. We were running too tight on time as it was and I gathered we would have had to gone to some visitor's center, be subjected to a body cavity search and name our beneficiaries. We weren't going to the museum also, so it wasn't worth it. Do they really even do anything at RIA anymore?

quote:

Originally posted by Scuba Steve Sig:

...Do they really even do anything at RIA anymore?

I retired from there two years ago, from what I can tell there's still lots of activity. Work force is around 7,000, mostly civilians as I was. The manufacturing site is called JMTC (Joint Manufacturing & Technology Center). AFAIK, they do some up armoring for HUMVEEs, not sure if they still assemble the lightweight 105 and 155mm howitzers.

https://www.usagria.army.mil/

From that link, here is a list of who's there:

RIA Commands/Divisions (all are links from the above page)

Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC)
Army Counterintelligence: 902D MIGIntranet
Army Contracting Command - Rock Island
Army Sustainment Command
Corps of Engineers Rock Island
Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC)
First Army
Joint Munitions Command (JMC)
Joint Manufacturing and Technology Center (JMTC)
Network Enterprise Center (Intranet Portal)Intranet

Tenants

AECOM
Alliant Tech Systems
Armtec
Bowhead
Collins Concrete
Day & Zimmermann
DynCorp International
Flint Cliffs Manufacturing
Hancock Management
Iowa Illinois Taylor Insulation
John Kraft Building Specialties
Johnson Controls
KBR
Modular Furniture
Progrio
Spirit Partners
Thoth Solutions
Vectrus
Vista International Group

Since this is a gun forum, this may be of interest:

https://www.army.mil/article/2...e_army_gets_its_ammo

And here's a history and tour with photos:

https://www.aschq.army.mil/bro...ory_Book_2018_08.pdf

quote:

Originally posted by Scuba Steve Sig:

...We came in from Davenport on the Government Bridge. It was extremely painless and quick, check ID and on your way...

No more, no more, no more. Yep, they used to merely scan your DL at any gate and let you in. But that was yesterday, and yesterday's gone. I said PITA in my OP and that's an accurate description of the process. Now all visitors have to use the Moline gate with a stop at visitor control to fill out a form for a quick (we hope) NCIC check. From the museum link in my OP:

Security Requirements

Rock Island Arsenal is an active military installation. All visitors must enter through the Moline (Illinois) gate. Visitors who do not have an approved Department of Defense identification card and are 18 years old or older must obtain a visitor pass at the Moline Gate Visitor Center.

Effective December 10, 2017, the Moline Gate Visitor Center hours are Monday – Sunday (7 days a week), 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. If the Moline Gate Visitor Center is closed, visitor passes are issued at the Moline gate.

To obtain a visitor pass, visitors will need a driver's license, state-issued identification card, or passport. Residents of Minnesota, Missouri, and Washington states will need one form of additional documentation to use with their driver's license or state-issued identification card. Additional acceptable documentation includes social security card or vehicle registration with name and address.

(Sigmund says "This DL and additional ID thing is because of REAL ID.")

Foreign Nationals are not allowed access unless visiting Rock Island Arsenal for Official Business.

For a complete list of alternate acceptable forms of identification, visit the Rock Island Arsenal Garrison website. http://www.usagria.army.mil/
AccessRequests/RealID.aspx

All visitors must complete a criminal records background check processed through the National Crime Information Center - Interstate Identification Index (NCIC-III).