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59-897: Ranger Body Armor (RBA) was designed by the United States Army Soldier Systems Center in Natick, Massachusetts to meet the operational needs of the 75th Ranger Regiment . RBA was first manufactured by Protective Materials Company, then HS Manufacturing, and then Ceradyne. Early versions of RBA (the first variant, which featured only the front ballistic armor plate and no rear armor plate) first saw active frontline service in 1993, being used in combat in Operation Gothic Serpent (22 August 1993 to 13 October 1993), when Rangers of Task Force Ranger first arrived in Mogadishu, Somalia. There, it

118-400: A 2007 estimate, the median income for a household in the town was $ 61,855, and the median income for a family was $ 85,056. Males had a median income of $ 51,964 versus $ 41,060 for females. The per capita income for the town was $ 36,358. About 1.7% of families and 2.8% of the population were below the poverty line , including 2.4% of those under age 18 and 5.3% of those age 65 or over. Natick

177-614: A Board of Selectmen and a Town Administrator. The members of the Board and the dates their terms end are (as of March 2023): The town is part of the Massachusetts Senate's Norfolk, Bristol and Middlesex district . Mismanagement of Middlesex County's public hospital in the mid-1990s left the county on the brink of insolvency, and in 1997 the Massachusetts legislature stepped in by assuming all assets and obligations of

236-630: A location for his Praying Indian settlement. Natick was settled in 1651 by John Eliot, a Puritan missionary born in Widford, England , who received a commission and funds from England's Long Parliament to settle the Massachusett Indians called Praying Indians on both sides of the Charles River, on land deeded from the settlement at Dedham. Natick was the first of Eliot's network of praying towns and served as their center for

295-413: A long time. While the towns were largely self-governing under Indian leaders, such as Waban and Cutshamekin , the praying Indians were subject to rules governing conformity to Puritan culture (in practice Natick, like the other praying towns, combined both indigenous and Puritan culture and practices). Eliot and Praying Indian translators printed America's first Algonquian language Bible. Eventually,

354-709: A population of 37,006 at the 2020 census . 10 miles (16 km) west of Boston , Natick is part of the Greater Boston area. Massachusetts's center of population was in Natick at the censuses of 2000–2020, most recently in the vicinity of Hunters Lane. The name Natick comes from the language of the Massachusett Native American tribe and is commonly thought to mean "Place of Hills." A more accurate translation may be "place of [our] searching," after John Eliot 's successful search for

413-779: A subordinate element of the ATC. A U.S. Army Soldier Systems Command (SSC) was activated at Natick in November 1994. Elements subsequently established at the SSC included the Sustainment & Readiness Directorate (February 1995) and Product Manager-Soldier Support (October 1995); elements subsequently relocated to Natick included the Clothing and Services Office (October 1996; from Ft. Lee, Virginia) and Product Manager- Force Provider (June 1997). The Sustainment & Readiness Directorate became

472-695: A subordinate element to the Troop Support Command in July 1973 and was redesignated two years later as the U.S. Army Natick Development Center and reassigned to the AMC. The NDC was redesignated the U.S. Army Natick Research and Development Command in January 1976 and assigned to the U.S. Army Materiel Development and Readiness Command. (The same month, AMC was redesignated the U.S. Army Materiel Development and Readiness Command (DARCOM).) In September 1980,

531-471: A summer vacation area, with tiny cottages surrounding Jennings Pond. Over the years, some houses were enlarged, but the area remains quaint and quiet with no thru traffic. On the westerly side of South Oak is a neighborhood of Cape style houses with streets named after World War II Generals. North of Route 9, other developments of small Cape-style homes were built in the early and mid-1950s and were popular with first-time home buyers due to their affordability. As

590-477: A team from the town fire department won "The World's Hook and Ladder Championship", a competition between the fire departments of four area towns. The victory gave the town its nickname "Home of Champions". Miles 8 through 12 of the Boston Marathon run through Natick on Patriots' Day every year along Route 135/Central St. , and thousands of residents and visitors line the road to watch. According to

649-524: Is developing the following items or systems: This article contains information that originally came from US Government publications and websites and is in the public domain. Natick, Massachusetts Natick ( / ˈ n eɪ t ɪ k / NAY -tik ) is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts , United States. It is near the center of the MetroWest region of Massachusetts, with

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708-500: Is happening throughout the region, the capes are getting large additions or replaced by much larger homes. There are two Industrial Parks along north Oak St that contain office buildings on one side of the road and larger warehouses on the eastern side. Just south of the Natick Common, Cottage Street begins what is commonly called Little South, named so because of its proximity to South Natick. Little South nomenclature extends to

767-425: Is surrounded, on three sides, by five of the eleven most affluent towns in Massachusetts with Wayland to the north, Weston to the northeast, Wellesley to the east, Dover to the southeast, and Sherborn to the southwest. Source: Companies based in Natick include Cognex Corporation , MathWorks , and Exponent . Natick has representative town meeting form of government (consisting of 180 members) with

826-400: Is the most densely populated section of town, with its thousands of condominiums and apartments clustered across the street from the train station. Natick is a small town, and thus, the various sections of tract development homes are considered neighborhoods. These were houses built by several contractors in the late 1940s until the late 1950s. Listed here, are a few of these sections. One of

885-608: The Greater Boston Area. The CCDC is subordinate to United States Army Futures Command (AFC) headquartered in Austin, Texas, which was activated in July 2018. Futures Command was formerly U.S. Army Research, Development, and Engineering Command (RDECOM) at Aberdeen Proving Ground . The SSC is sometimes called the Natick Army Labs , although this designation more properly refers to one of its tenant units,

944-880: The Integrated Material Management Center in October 1997. SSC merged with the Chemical Biological Defense Command to become the Soldier and Biological Chemical Command in October 1998. At this time the installation was renamed the United States Army Soldier Systems Center. At some time prior to January 2017 the installation was renamed Soldier Systems Center Natick. The SSC hosts several tenant units and facilities at its Natick installation: Natick Labs has developed or

1003-700: The NIJ Body Armor Classification. It also provides fragmentation protection similar to that of the Personnel Armor System for Ground Troops (PASGT) vest. The 8-pound Ceramic Upgrade Plates are fabricated of 2 in × 2 in (51 mm × 51 mm) aluminium oxide ceramic tiles. When the upgrade plates are inserted into the pockets of the vest, it protects an approximate 10 in × 12 in (250 mm × 300 mm) area from 5.56×45mm NATO and 7.62×51mm NATO full metal jacket rounds. When using

1062-693: The United States Army Combat Capabilities Development Command and is a tenant unit of the United States Army Natick Soldier Systems Center ( SSC ). The installation includes facilities from all the military services, not just the Army, and is so configured to allow cross-service cooperation and collaboration both within the facility and with the many academic, industrial and governmental institutions in

1121-512: The United States Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center , is a military research complex and installation in Natick, Massachusetts , charged by the U.S. Department of Defense with the research and development (including fielding and sustainment) of food, clothing, shelters, airdrop systems, and other servicemember support items for the U.S. military. It is a component unit of

1180-483: The United States Census Bureau , the town has an area of 16.0 square miles (41 km ), of which 15.1 square miles (39 km ) is land and 1.0 square mile (2.6 km ) is water. The total area is 7.04% water, including Lake Cochituate and Dug Pond . Natick borders Wellesley , Wayland , Weston , Framingham , Sherborn and Dover . Natick Center, also known as Downtown Natick, is at

1239-527: The 1990s new downtown construction of a town hall, fire/police station, and enlargement to the library gave the downtown a fresh new look. New municipal buildings exist alongside several historic buildings and churches, the restored Central Fire House, several banks, restaurants and small businesses. In 2012 the Massachusetts Cultural Council voted unanimously to make Natick Center one of the newest state-designated cultural districts,

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1298-532: The 2013 American drama film Labor Day (film) starring Kate Winslet , Josh Brolin and Tobey Maguire were filmed in Natick, at locations including The Center for Arts in Natick and Park Street Ice Cream. Natick appears in the 2015 video game Fallout 4 , which is set in the greater Boston area (referred to in the game as The Commonwealth). Part of South Natick made an appearance in the Oscar-nominated movie Knives Out . While filming on location,

1357-543: The Arts, as well as many Victorian era houses lining Walnut, Highland and Bacon Streets. The Wethersfield area of Natick is a residential neighborhood north of Route 9. It is a typical 1950s development of Campanelli ranch houses, and remains popular with first-time home buyers due to the relatively inexpensive slab-style houses. This area includes Drury Lane and all connecting roads within the boundaries of route 9, Pine Street, and Route 27. South of Route 9, this section began as

1416-554: The Charles River, has some of Natick's oldest homes. Just before South Natick begins, there is a Virgin Mary statue on a large rock on the south side of the Charles River, enveloped by pine trees. As of the census of 2010, there were 32,786 people, 13,080 households, and 8,528 families residing in the town. The population density was 2,132.9 inhabitants per square mile (823.5/km ). There were 13,368 housing units at an average density of 886.3 per square mile (342.2/km ). The racial makeup of

1475-661: The Lilja School. Longfellow Health Club, which features a gym, pool, and tennis courts, is in East Natick off Oak St. in the Industrial Park. The stretch of Route 9 in East Natick as one heads into Wellesley contains a multitude of ever-changing retail businesses. West Natick is a large section of Natick that borders the town of Framingham . The Natick Mall , as well as the strip mall called Sherwood Plaza with its office Industrial Park behind, are considered to be

1534-595: The Massachusetts towns of Hudson, Maynard, Stow and Sudbury to Fort Devens to become a field training facility. The land had been an ordnance supply depot during World War II. After being an Environmental Protection Agency "superfund" cleanup site in the 1990s it became the Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge . In October 1992, the NRDC was redesignated the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center , still

1593-466: The NRDC was redesignated as the U.S. Army Natick Research & Development Laboratories and three years later as the U.S. Army Natick Research and Development Center, a subordinate element of the U.S. Army Troop Support Command in St. Louis, Missouri. (DARCOM and TSC merged in July 1992 forging the U.S. Army Aviation & Troop Command, St. Louis, Mo.) In 1982, Natick Labs surrendered control of 3,100 acres in

1652-653: The Natick Common. South Natick, known for its scenic nature, is where the Native American settlers first arrived and began the town on the shores of the Charles River . Housing developers like Martin Cerel lived in South Natick, and thus refrained from building major tract neighborhoods in this part of town. Most South Natick residents consider themselves to have a strong, separate cultural identity from

1711-522: The Natick Indians were sent to Deer Island . Many died of disease and cold, and those who survived found their homes destroyed. The Indian village did not fully recover, and the land held in common by the Indian community was slowly sold to white settlers to cover debts. By 1785, most of the Natick Indians had drifted away. After King Philip's War, Elliot's and a few other missionaries' opposition to

1770-707: The New Englanders to prioritize missionary work over growth, "the killing of those poor Indians....How happy a thing it had been if you had converted some before you had killed any." Chastened in the wake of the Mystic Massacre which occurred during the Pequot War , sincere efforts at evangelizing began. A school was set up, a government established, and the Indians were encouraged to convert to Christianity . In November 1675, during King Philip's War ,

1829-732: The Quartermaster Research and Engineering Command. July 1961 saw the activation of the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine at Natick and a year later the QREC was placed under the U.S. Army Materiel Command (AMC). In November 1962, the QREC was redesignated as Natick Laboratories and the following year the Food and Container Institute moved to Natick. July 1967 saw the Navy Clothing and Textile Research Facility relocate to Natick. Natick Laboratories became

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1888-613: The United States Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Soldier Center. The SSC occupies 78 acres (320,000 m ) at its main Natick campus and has an additional 46 acres (190,000 m ) in neighboring communities. The main campus is located to the northwest of Natick center and abuts upon Lake Cochituate . Employee/tenant numbers total 1,957 (159 military personnel, 1,048 civilians and 750 contractors). The SSC public relations office reports that

1947-550: The church in Natick was led for several decades by an indigenous pastor, Rev. Daniel Takawambait . The colonial government placed such settlements in a ring of villages around Boston as a defensive strategy. Natick was the first and best documented settlement. The land was granted by the General Court as part of the Dedham Grant . After a period of expansion and little focus on evangelism, Reverend John Robinson told

2006-576: The commercial hub of West Natick. In addition to its retail development, post World War II housing developments like Westfield, Pelham, and Sherwood as well as the National Guard depot and a golf course on Speen St brought many people to this part of town. There are many businesses in West Natick along West Central Street as well as another MBTA Commuter Rail station in addition to the one downtown. The area in West Natick, along Route 135

2065-480: The county. The government of Middlesex County was officially abolished on July 11, 1997. The sheriff and some other regional officials with specific duties are still elected locally to perform duties within the county region, but there is no county council or commissioner. Communities are now granted the right to form their own regional compacts for sharing services. These are the remaining elected officers for Middlesex County: The Natick Public School District operates

2124-500: The earliest post World War II developments in West Natick, the homes are colonial in style, with street names reminiscent of the Robin Hood legend. The homes were built in 1948 and the neighborhood remains popular due to the fact that there's no through traffic, and most of the houses have been enlarged with additions. Walnut Hill is a neighborhood north of downtown. It is known for the private boarding school Walnut Hill School for

2183-587: The east portions of Everett Street, down to Eliot St. Homes along Cottage St. were primarily built in the early 1950s and are mostly modest and well-maintained. The best-known landmarks in Little South are a WWII monument dedicated to the fallen soldiers from Natick, and The Tobin School, a private daycare and elementary school that has two large buildings off of Cottage St. Everett St. has larger farm homes situated on generous lots. Eliot St., which runs parallel to

2242-528: The executions and enslavement of Indians were eventually silenced by death threats. In 1775, both European and Indian citizens of Natick participated in the battles of Lexington, Concord and Bunker Hill , as well as serving in the Continental Army . The names of Natick's Praying Indian soldiers are memorialized on a stone marker, along with all of Natick's Revolutionary War veterans, on a stone marker on Pond Street, near downtown Natick. The town

2301-601: The field of food irradiation and freeze-drying techniques. Improved body armor , new military parachuting technology, and enhanced military garments designed for a variety of environments are all ongoing efforts. Construction of the Quartermaster Research Facility at Natick, authorized by Congress in October 1949, began in November 1952. A year later, the QRF was redesignated as the Quartermaster Research and Development Center and four years later as

2360-656: The following schools: Natick Center station , in the downtown area, is served by the MBTA Commuter Rail Framingham/Worcester Line . Bus service is provided in Natick by the MetroWest Regional Transit Authority . Natick was the setting for Harriet Beecher-Stowe 's 1869 fictional novel Oldtown Folks . The novel is based on her husband's childhood in Natick, and it accurately details town landmarks, ministers, and inhabitants despite renaming

2419-850: The former Yugoslavia. In 1996, members of the USAF Security Forces assigned to the 91st Missile Wing at Minot AFB, ND also received the vests to replace their PASGT vests. RBA was worn by some U.S. Army Soldiers who served in Kosovo, including Soldiers from C Company, 1-187th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division; 3-504th PIR, 82nd Airborne Division; A Company 1/36 INF (MECH), 1st Armored Division; and A Company, 1-26th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division. In 1998, 1st Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment (1-1 CAV), 1st Armored Division's Soldiers were equipped with RBA during SFOR 's Operation Joint Guard and Operation Joint Forge in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Due to

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2478-558: The heavy weight, RBA vests were always kept in the back compartment of vehicles and soldiers always used PASGT vests during their peacekeeping duty. Some soldiers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade used RBA protection during Operation Northern Delay (26 March 2003) in Kurdistan. About 1,000 parachutists from the 173rd AB Bde jumped into the Kurdish-controlled area in northern Iraq to open a northern front for U.S. forces after

2537-830: The installation’s FY2006 funding totaled approximately $ 1 billion and that the facilities infuse more than $ 135 million annually into the local economy through installation salaries, utilities and local contracts. The installation commander is a U.S. Army Brigadier General , currently BG Vincent Malone, who also serves as the Deputy Commanding General of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command. The SSC includes facilities designed to research and test both materials (textiles, combat rations), advanced technologies and human performance (human research volunteers) under simulated environmental extremes (altitude, heat, cold, wind, etc.). The requirement for improved combat rations has led to groundbreaking developments in

2596-622: The intersection of Central Street and Main Street and serves as the town's civic and cultural hub. Many public services and public land use are downtown. Municipal buildings like the Natick Town Hall, Natick Fire Department, Natick Police Department and Morse Institute Library are there, along East Central Street. Also directly downtown is the Natick Town Common, where many town events and community activities are held. In

2655-521: The location to Oldtown. Beecher-Stowe is best known for writing abolitionist fiction novel Uncle Tom's Cabin . Natick appears on the Family Guy episode " Da Boom " when the family sets out to the town after Peter reveals that there is a Twinkie factory there (Natick did contain a Hostess factory until 2007 when the Natick Mall expanded into the collection). He eventually starts a town on

2714-478: The loss of property was greater in proportion to the town's wealth than the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. In 1875, Natick's new Central Fire Station was completed on Summer Street and opened with grand ceremony on the same city block where the fire was first discovered. The Central Fire Station is now the home of The Center for Arts in Natick (TCAN), a private nonprofit performing arts center. In 1891,

2773-466: The project had the code name "Morning Bell". Other scenes were shot in surrounding towns such as Wellesley, Framingham, and Waltham. In April 2019 Chris Evans was in Natick filming an upcoming TV series, Defending Jacob . The production was seen filming on the Natick Common, Park Street, and at Park Street Ice Cream. The ice cream shop was temporarily converted into "K.D. Scoops" for the filming. Many Natick residents crowded around in hopes of getting

2832-464: The refusal by Turkey. RBA consists of two main components: flexible soft armor vest panels, and, one or two rigid ceramic plates, both of which provide some ballistic protection to the upper torso. The flexible soft armor vest panels consist of an aramid ( Kevlar KM2) filler encased in a nylon Woodland camouflage-printed carrier. The vest weighs approximately 8 pounds in size medium, and provides ballistic protection to Threat Level IIIA according to

2891-505: The rest of Natick. It is the only community in Natick that can be separately addressed officially via the US Postal Office, and street signage such as a sign along Route 16 coming from Wellesley communicates arrival in "So. Natick." East Natick is a community of Natick along Oak Street and at the intersection of Oak Street and Worcester Street . Notable landmarks include Jennings Pond, the Industrial Park on Oak St North, and

2950-530: The ruins of the community, renaming it New Quahog. To solvers of crossword puzzles such as those of The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times , "natick" (as coined by Rex Parker ) refers to any square a solver cannot fill in correctly without guessing because the solver does not know either entry that passes through it (and there are at least two letters that are reasonable guesses). Such entries are generally proper nouns. Scenes included in

3009-514: The tenth district to win this designation from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Cultural Districts Initiative is designed to help communities attract artists and cultural enterprises, encourage business and job growth, expand tourism, preserve and reuse historic buildings, enhance property values, and foster local cultural development. Natick Center Cultural District is anchored by The Center for Arts in Natick , Morse Institute Library and

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3068-550: The town was 85.4% White , 2% African American , 0.1% Native American , 7.2% Asian , 0.0% Pacific Islander , 0.5% from other races and 2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3% of the population. There were 13,080 households, out of which 30.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.5% were married couples living together, 8.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.8% were non-families. Of all households, 28.3% were made up of individuals, and 9.8% had someone living alone who

3127-469: The two standard aluminium oxide ceramic plates, a RBA vest weighs 11.4 kg (25.1 lbs). At least two major variations of RBA were produced. The first variant used only a front rigid ballistic armor plate and an unmodified nylon fabric carrier. The second variant used both a front and a back ballistic armor plate, added a small storage pocket to the front ballistic plate storage pocket, and featured nylon equipment retention straps on each shoulder. RBA

3186-440: Was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 3.02. In the town, the population was spread out, with 23.0% under the age of 18, 5.1% from 18 to 24, 34.3% from 25 to 44, 23.3% from 45 to 64, and 14.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.3 males. According to

3245-584: Was incorporated in 1781. Henry Wilson , a U.S. senator who became the 18th Vice President of the United States (1873–1875), lived most of his life in Natick as a shoemaker and schoolteacher known as the "Natick Cobbler" and is buried there. He is the namesake of one of Natick's middle schools. Though Natick was primarily a farming town, the invention of the sewing machine in 1858 led to the growth of several shoe factories. The business flourished and peaked by 1880, when Natick, with 23 operating factories,

3304-566: Was manufactured by the firm of H. Harwood & Sons in their factory, the world's first plant for the manufacture of baseballs. In 1988 H. Harwood & Sons was converted into baseball factory condominiums. In 1874, a fire in downtown Natick demolished 18 business blocks, two shoe factories, the Town Hall, Natick's only fire engine house and the Congregational Church, as well as many private homes. Though there were no deaths,

3363-522: Was third in the nation in the quantity of shoes produced. The shoes made in Natick were primarily heavy work shoes with only one or two companies making lighter dress shoes. Natick was famous for its brogan (shoes) , a heavy ankle-high boot worn by soldiers in the American Civil War . The wound core for a more resilient baseball was developed by John W. Walcott and combined with the figure-eight stitching devised by Colonel William A. Cutler. It

3422-673: Was type classification (TC) limited procurement-urgent (LPU). RBA is available for purchase through General Services Administration (GSA) contract GS-07F-6041A, Protective Materials, Inc. The flexible soft armor vest is available in three sizes: medium, large, and extra-large. The negotiated cost through the GSA contract for a size medium vest and plate set is US$ 738. United States Army Soldier Systems Center 42°17′18″N 71°21′40″W  /  42.28833°N 71.36111°W  / 42.28833; -71.36111 The Combat Capabilities Development Command Soldier Center ( CCDC SC ), formerly

3481-695: Was used by the Rangers of B Company and Command and Control, 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. The early RBA used only a front ballistic plate for protection from small arms (rifle) fire; this did not protect some of the Rangers in Somalia from serious injury or death, such as Sgt James Joyce, who was killed by a gunshot wound to his back. During the 1990s, RBA was used by Rangers in the Balkans and in Haiti. In 1996, around 350 vests were sent to soldiers deployed in

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