ArmorCore by Waco Composites is pleased to display our ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System Certificate issued by Management Certification of America – Management Certification of America is an ANAB-accredited certification body.
This article in the August issue of Journal of the National Institute of Building Sciences addresses design measures to enhance school security and thwart access from a potential threat.
Pages 26-29 identify vulnerabilities and solutions with a supplemental section on page 29 addressing ArmorCore panels for ballistic protection.
Want to learn more about how ArmorCore is manufactured, tested, and installed to provide ballistic protection?
This video provides a comprehensive look into how to order and install UL Listed ballistic fiberglass for “armoring” and forced-entry and storm protection.
Available in ENGLISH and SPANISH. Watch below.
Waco, TX – Local manufacturer Waco Composites announced today that they will be a supplier of anti-ballistic panels that will be utilized to secure electric substations from potential terroristic attacks. Following the April 16, 2013 AK-47 ballistics attack on the Metcalf transmission substation south of San Jose, California, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a directive to the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) to develop physical security standards that will require power grid system owners and operators to ensure the physical security of the nation’s grid. The deadline for these security standards is June 5, 2014.
Waco Composites, manufacturer of ArmorCore™ Bullet Resistant Fiberglass Panels, is in the unique position of having supplied numerous civil and military projects worldwide over the past 18 years. The company has participated in the hardening (up-armoring) of thousands of military vehicles, buildings, ships, helicopters, nuclear guardhouses, data centers, safe houses, and critical infrastructure for U.S. interests around the world.
Waco Composites is currently assisting utility companies, contractors, and consultants in the electrical transmission and distribution sector to provide reasonable and affordable anti-ballistic materials and viable solutions to this most urgent infrastructure need.
About a year ago my brand new car stereo was stolen out of my truck in front of my house one evening. I remember a lack of empathy from friends as they laced me with the blame. This particular night, like many others, I left my truck out in front of our gate with the doors unlocked. Though I contend it is the same crime whether the truck was locked or not, the lesson I learned is that you can’t will a utopian society into existence. Preppers know this and vary greatly in the level of preparation and types of conditions they are preparing for.
Preppers have recently received a lot of exposure through television, radio, and social media. These outlets, tasked with maintaining audience attention, seek out the most interesting and extreme cases of prepping. The disservice is that preppers can sometimes be portrayed as impractical and excessive. On the other hand it has brought awareness to the public of ways to be mindful and planning for potentially threatening situations. Truthfully, we all share in different degrees of preparing and the “craziness” of prepping is just a subjective point where our personal degree ends.
Insurance is a good example of a widely excepted form of preparing for unexpected events which are natural or caused by man. Obviously we cannot prepare enough to prevent every threat that is possible, but even close to home we have seen ways that a little bit of preparedness could have gone a long way. Here in Waco we received many visitors evacuating Houston before the landfall of hurricane Rita. Normally a 3 ½ hour drive, it took some friends and relatives as much as 20 hours. It became impossible to purchase fuel, food, and water on the road. Just north of us, the community of Moore, OK suffered once again as there were a limited amount of shelters to flee the powerful tornados. Even in my own neighborhood within the last two years we had a tornado tear up next door neighbors’ houses and knock out electricity for a couple days and in another case police cordoned off our road in a manhunt for an escaped criminal.
There are many practical steps we can take to put ourselves at an advantage when faced with an emergency or disaster. Even the tenants of prepping as defined by the American Preppers Network are pretty identifiable ideals for most of us. These principals focus on independence, self-reliance, and frugality. Taking some of these proactive steps allows to better take care of ourselves, family, and neighbors when resources and help are not readily available from other sources. Those who know our Waco Composites’ family well, known that we have seen a lot more activity in the last year and a half in servicing individuals, community groups, and businesses looking to upgrade protection using our ArmorCore panels.
Our ArmorCore panels provide a solution for protection, not the solution. There are many options that people are looking at for providing physical security in their homes, schools, and businesses and there are pros and cons to each solution. If cost, access, and zoning are not issues and you are looking for protection in a tornado, then an underground shelter is probably the best option. Where ArmorCore fits in for those wanting to be prepared, is that it is a product that can be easily incorporated into new construction or retrofits to provide immediate bullet resistant and forced entry protection as well as defeating flying debris in extreme storms. It is cheaper and easier to work with than any other product designed for ballistic resistance and can be fitted to any size room.
Waco Composites has exciting news regarding those individuals and groups who are being mindful of emergency preparedness. In January of 2014 we will be releasing an Installation Instructions Video. This video will feature the construction of a home safe room using ArmorCore Level 3 panels and showing the ease of construction. Waco Composites also strives to sponsor local meet-up groups and help educate and support preppers interested in physical security and bullet resistance. In addition, unlike our controlled manufacturing and testing of materials in our Waco facility, you can witness the eccentric methods of experimenting and testing the product featured on a new episode of Doomsday Preppers, No One Will Ever Know airing December 10th.
To view video and learn more about the episode, go to NationalGeographic.com
The past couple of months have brought about stories of unbelievable horror, as children have been subjected to gun violence in what should be a safe haven: their schools.
The news media reports a wide range of often one-sided solutions, while most of us realize that any actual solutions will need to engage multiple facets, including mental health, our society’s culture of violence and providing adequate security within educational facilities.
For many, the thought of turning school buildings into fortresses is a concept far removed from our own experiences of worrying more about “lost” homework than physical security. But recent circumstances can not be ignored, and thoughtful “hardening” of educational buildings can offer one aspect of additional security for both students and educators.
ArmorCore® bullet resistant fiberglass panels has been proven effective against a wide range of threats, from bullets and blast fragments to storm debris and physical attack with hand-held implements. In the battlefields of the Middle East to bank counters and health care facilities in the U.S., strategically placed ArmorCore® ballistic resistant materials have saved lives.
These same materials can be used within doors, walls (such as within a closet, to create a “safe room”), counters and desks to offer protection from the previously unthinkable acts of an armed attacker, providing time for law enforcement to intervene.
Is this the only answer: Of course not. As a society, we have many decisions and solutions to explore. But as a parent of a school-aged child, I would feel just a little better knowing that some practical and affordable measures of protection have been integrated into the classrooms and building.
ArmorCore® was conceived and is manufactured as a protective measure against violence. And as a feasible and accessible aspect of potentially saving lives against an armed intruder, it’s one start to the larger questions we all face.
Waco, Texas, June 15, 2013 – Waco Composites is proud to participate in and qualify for the Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP) implemented by OSHA under the U.S. Department of Labor. This certificate of recognition demonstrates the emphasis placed on a clean, healthy, and safe worksite environment. SHARP is one of the highest awards that OSHA can designate to small companies.
Quality product begins with a quality manufacturing facility. “We are pleased that this award expresses our attentiveness to safety and detail. The hard work of in-depth employee training and factory layout and practices will continue to pay off for us,” announces company president, Wayne Hampton. “We are continually improving our product and practices. Waco Composites’ success in this area can be attributed to its workers, supervisors and safety officer, Laura Simon.”
Waco Composites manufactures and offices out of its 40,000 sq.ft. building in Waco, TX. The company’s primary focus is its line of ArmorCore, bullet resistant panels. These are UL Listed fiberglass sheets used for architectural armoring and ballistic protection. ArmorCore is shipped worldwide out of the Waco facility to be installed in home safe rooms, courthouses, police stations, banks, shooting range, and military vehicles.
Not ready for a quote? Request more information about ArmorCore® from our team at Waco
"*" indicates required fields
