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Not far from the University of Northern Iowa campus sits an unimposing building with the acronym “PACE” painted on the front. Inside PACE (Painting and Coating Enhancement), research technicians conduct experiments in conjunction with military personnel.

These aren’t classified, top-secret experiments. In fact, the Iowa Waste Reduction Center and the Iowa Army National Guard want everyone to know exactly what they’ve been doing…painting.

It’s not the kind of painting you would do on the exterior or interior of a house. Rather, this painting is done on five-ton trucks, bulldozers, storage containers and humvees for military deployments. Speed and efficiency are critical to the successful deployment of any mission. Now, stopping pollution, waste and detection by the enemy are part of the equation too.

This new and significant partnership between educational outreach and armed services began in early 2004, when the IWRC—part of UNI Business & Community Services—met with Iowa Army National Guard personnel to introduce new painting technologies at the Camp Dodge facility in Johnston, Iowa. This was the first time that the IWRC, established under the Groundwater Protection Act of 1987 to provide free and confidential environmental assistance to small businesses in Iowa, had worked with an Iowa Army National Guard.

The technology that brought the two groups together was Spray Technique Analysis and Research program or STAR®.

STAR® Program

STAR® evolved from a 1993 grant to examine spray techniques and their impact on material usage and emissions in the automobile painting process. Rick Klein, IWRC senior research technician, and his team specifically developed STAR® to enhance the efficiency of spray coating operations by improving painting techniques. IWRC has since established a training network in Iowa, and STAR® has become so popular there are now 36 schools throughout the nation, including four in Hawaii.

Instrumental in STAR® training is the Laser Touch® Targeting Tool, invented by Klein and his staff, and patented by the UNI Research Foundation. The tool, mounted to a spray gun, uses a laser device to help the painter maintain proper spray technique and distance during the painting process. The laser beams form one dot when the paint gun is at the correct distance, encouraging consistent application, which reduces overspray and harmful air pollution.

“The yearly savings, on average, for STAR® trainees was nearly $6,500 last year, and the average increase in transfer efficiency was 27 percent,” Klein said. Transfer efficiency is the amount of paint deposited on a part compared to the amount sprayed. STAR® trainees also saw a 22 percent decrease in material costs and emissions.

Military bases working with IWRC on STAR4D®

USAF, Pensacola, Fla.
MacDill AFB, Tampa, Fla.
Warner-Robins AFB, Macon, Ga.
Camp Dodge, Johnston, Iowa
185th Fighter Wing, Sioux City, Iowa
Combat Readiness Training Center, Gulfport, Miss.
119th Fighter Wing, Fargo, N.D.
Coast Guard, Elizabeth City, N.C.
Fort Jackson, Columbia, S.D.
Ellsworth AFB, Ellsworth, S.D.
Lackland AFB, San Antonio
Hill AFB, Utah
Defense Supply Center, Richmond, Va.
Maintenance Depot, Mechanicsburg, Pa.
Army Aviation Support Facility #2, Waterloo, Iowa
Stout Field, Indianapolis, Ind.

Military Applications

More than 350 Department of Defense (DoD) facilities have painting and coating operations, so what better place to apply STAR® than at DoD facilities?

IWRC staff recognized the potential benefits STAR® could provide to the military and arranged to meet with personnel from Camp Dodge’s Combined Support Maintenance Shop (CSMS) to discuss the applications. Dodge has since become the test model for other bases to follow.

“We tried it and it worked,” Klein said. “We then got an appropriation from our Congressional delegation. It was a small amount of money to do it, but the savings were substantial. The Camp Dodge people came to our center for training and we went down there to look at their operation. They have a relatively new state-of-the-art paint facility, optimal for the implementation of the STAR4D® program.”

STAR4D®

STAR4D®—Spray Technique and Analysis Research For Defense—is similar to STAR®, but addresses the unique needs of the military, such as applying paint in the correct thickness, which provides a more durable finish and helps prevent enemy radar detection.

“With the advent of the global war on terrorism after 9-11, the command made the decision to paint every military vehicle desert tan. Our generals believe that if we paint these vehicles it will prevent casualties,” said Lt. Col. Harold Turner (BA ’78), CSMS manager for the Iowa Army National Guard.

Camp Dodge, which supports 102 Army National Guard units, replaced its conventional spray-painting method with an air-assisted airless spray paint system. The system significantly reduced overspray, reducing paint usage by 24 percent.

“We went through the program in March and applied 4D to our last mission. The quality and length of time to do it was a lot quicker,” said Mark Harrington, National Guardsman stationed at Camp Dodge. “Before, only 35 percent of the paint went on the part, but with the high-pressure pump, it’s closer to 75 to 80 percent.”

CSMS also added an automated spray gun cleaning machine, which reduced the amount of waste solvent, as well as a can crusher, significantly reducing the amount of solid waste going to the landfill.

With the new technologies, new products and reduction in labor costs, the annual savings are estimated at more than $129,500. “The process is saving us money and labor. Environmentally, the overspray isn’t there. It makes a lot of sense,” Turner said.

Jim Olson, who oversees PACE, is now working with Camp Dodge on a waterborne chemical agent resistant coating (CARC).

“It is less damaging to the environment. Right now it’s only used by the Marines, Army and the Army National Guard,” Olson said. “The military is switching over from solvent-based CARC to waterborne CARC. Camp Dodge personnel have been here to experiment with the process. Our issue is how fast it is going to dry, how long does it last, those kinds of things. We can simulate it all right here.”

By early 2006, Camp Dodge’s painting facility will completely convert to waterborne CARC. “It’s an infrared special paint. You’ve got to see it to believe it; it’s dull, not glossy. With the ease of application and no overspray, there are not a lot of fumes in the air. It’s just great,” Turner said.

STAR4D® Expands

With the success at Camp Dodge, the IWRC has since provided STAR4D® training to a number of military sites throughout the country. “In less than a year from its inception, we’ve worked with 12 to 13 military bases,” Klein said.

And that’s only the beginning. All 50 states have similar painting operations within their National Guard programs.

“We had the U.S Army Forces command, the four-star command over all the United States, after this program. It would save so much money to go Army-wide. The actual program has really gotten high-level visibility. The four-star Forces Commander and his staff are looking at it as a design,” Turner said.

In addition to National Guard bases, the Air Coast Guard hopes to train painters at 26 Coast Guard stations. IWRC also partnered with the Inter-American Air Force Academy (IAAFA) at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio to provide STAR4D® in Spanish to military forces and government agencies in Latin America and the Caribbean. Four instructors are now trained and certified in STAR4D®. IWRC staff provided classroom materials, set up STAR4D® equipment and assisted IAAFA staff with training.

Olson and Klein have identified other opportunities for applied research, which include statistical evaluation of STAR4D® training data and the effectiveness of the virtual reality painter trainer.

“The VR painter trainer has reduced the time it takes to train a painter and it allowed IWRC staff to train larger groups of painters in less time. The VR simulator has reduced setup and part preparation time and has reduced hazardous waste generation,” Klein explained. “The best thing is, the painters really like using the technology.”

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