The Scranton Times Tribune October 19, 2010
Tobyhanna Army Depot slashes 150 jobs because of Iraq War drawdown
By Steve McConnell
The region's largest employer, Tobyhanna Army Depot, will eliminate 150 workers because of a reduction in workload caused by the drawdown of U.S. forces in Iraq, officials said Monday.
The cutback at the military's largest electronics facility impacts maintenance and manufacturing contract workers who are employed by two of the Monroe County facility's support contractors, Defense Support Services of Mount Laurel, N.J., and Northrop Grumman Space and Mission Systems Corp. of Herndon, Va.
"Certainly many of them are local residents," said Kevin Toolan, Tobyhanna public affairs officer. The affected workers, who specialize in military electronics and communications equipment, will have their positions cut Oct. 29. The depot employed 850 contract workers prior to Monday's announcement and has a work force of more than 4,250 noncontract employees.
The depot's workload, which includes the repair and overhaul of military electronic systems and components, is projected to decrease about 5 percent compared to last fiscal year.
Depot officials said the labor cutback was because of the withdrawal of tens of thousands of U.S. combat troops in Iraq this year, which reduced the need for military equipment maintenance and repairs.
"After a thorough analysis ... we simply do not have sufficient work for all of these contract personnel," said depot commander Charles Gibson in a statement.
The announcement comes on the heels of other recent layoffs at area military equipment manufacturers: BAE Systems in Jessup, General Dynamics in Eynon, Gentex Corp. in Simpson, and Lockheed Martin in Archbald.
The depot's non-contract work force is not expected to change, however.
"We will continue to look at it. But at this point, no," Mr. Toolan said.
Troop presence in Iraq peaked at about 157,800 in 2008 to about 50,000 today, according to the Congressional Research Service, a legislative branch agency that provides policy analysis to the U.S. Congress.
Defense industry experts expect some employment fluctuations at military contractors and installations like Tobyhanna Army Depot as the Iraq war winds down.
But a substantial U.S. military presence - including a recent troop surge - in Afghanistan could help sustain employment, said John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, a defense policy think tank in Alexandria, Va.
"The buildup in Afghanistan is offsetting it somewhat," Mr. Pike said.
Contact the writer:
smcconnell@timesshamrock.com
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