Warrior East 2022

At ADS, we take great pride in connecting suppliers and end users to develop new solutions that protect our men and women in uniform.

But there’s quite nothing like seeing it all up close at Warrior East.

Last Thursday morning, Cocoon President Chip Crotty stood at his booth #1217 and calmly pointed to four different companies that his company has collaborated with over the years, all thanks to connections made through ADS.

And these were just the ones he could see from where he was standing.

Cocoon’s patented fabric covers, field structures and aviation blankets create corrosion-free environments that save the federal government millions in annual asset losses every year while improving military readiness.

Yet while the company’s adaptable steel-frame structures can be assembled at a fraction of the cost of traditional construction just about anywhere on Earth, their operation still requires the things permanent structures do – fire suppression, alarms, power and air movement systems, just to name a few. That’s where ADS has become such a critical collaborator to Cocoon, Crotty said.

“Coming to ADS has been really great for us, because we get to collaborate and be introduced to their huge network of suppliers,” Crotty said. “ADS brings us this network and gives us this amazing space, so now we can go meet all these people and find out, ‘How can we work with you?’

“Where else would a company like us get to meet all those people?”

They’re people and companies Bren-Tronics, an expeditionary battery and charging system producer that pioneered the military’s first rechargeable batteries. Thanks to a connection made through ADS, Bren-tronics and Cocoon now collaborate to power dehumidifiers inside Cocoon’s remote field structures, creating corrosion-free environments even in the most secure, challenging and austere environments.

“ADS does a very good job of bringing organizations together,” Chandler said as he greeted a steady stream of visitors at his booth. “‘Hey, you guys do this? You guys do that? Why don’t you talk?’ And sometimes, the outcome of that is what you see with Bren-tronics and Cocoon.”

Chandler said working through ADS opens up a lot of other value-added resources for his company, too, particularly in the form of marketing support.

“You’ve got to find supporters in this industry and work together,” he said.

A few rows away, Berne Knight, regional director of Eastern United States and Europe for ESS Eye Safety Systems, said he appreciates the exposure his ballistic protection eyewear products enjoy at Warrior East as much as the support ADS brings to the company.

“We get the Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Army, local police, state police – we get quite a few folks coming through here,” he said. “It’s great. And a lot of times, the ADS employees will bring some of their customers through, which is always nice. It gives us a chance to talk to some of the other vendors here, too.”

Parked at the center of the exhibit floor, TYR Tactical’s giant trailer welcomed visitors inside to talk through its growing line of elite tactical gear and accessories.

Over the years, ADS has helped TYR with everything from multi million-dollar contracts with the U.S. Army to the considerable federal paperwork requirements of a recently won FBI contract, said Joey Goodloe, the company’s Vice President of Sales. Goodloe said he truly enjoys the face-to-face meetups Warrior provides – sometimes with people he’s emailed back and forth with for years but never met in person – as well as the relationship with ADS.

“ADS is crushing it for us,” Goodloe says matter-of-factly as the ADS marketing team walks up the stairs and introduces itself.

“A lot of times we find ourselves just dealing with phone calls and emails and sending small product samples to and from people and big agencies and the military,” Goodloe says. “This show helps because those folks all come here. They can actually physically come get their hands on the product, and then also talk to the guy who owns the company and designs all this stuff. It’s invaluable.”

This year, Warrior East welcomed over 300 suppliers and over 1,400 qualified attendees. How many new collaborations were born? Maybe we’ll find out at Warrior 2023. We hope to see you there.