The Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center here is one of the first Defense Department organizations to compete for the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.

ARDEC will participate in the 2006 non-profit category under a new DOD pilot program.

The center hopes to join several past Baldrige winners from New Jersey.

Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, Hamilton, N.J., is the last organization in the state to win the award. RWJ Hospital received the award in 2004 in the health-care category.

According to Michael B. Donley, DOD director of Administration and Management in the Pentagon, ARDEC and the Naval Air Depot North Island, San Diego, Calif., are the first DOD organizations ever selected to compete for the award.

Donley congratulated both organizations for "taking the crucial steps necessary in defining the processes, services and products that protect and serve our nation."

The Baldrige competition is overseen by the Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology.

The award is presented annually by the President to organizations judged to be outstanding in the areas of leadership, strategic planning, customer and market focus, measurement, analysis, knowledge management, human resource focus, process management and results.

Dr. Joseph A. Lannon, ARDEC director said that being selected by DOD to compete was an enormous honor.

"The employees of Picatinny and its industrial and academic partners continue to demonstrate their ability to use all of their given resources to support our warfighters in the most effective and efficient manner," he said.

"This prestigious nomination recognizes dedication and commitment to excellence of the Picatinny workforce," he said. "I am proud of each and every one of them."