► Information about Military Installation Zoning Overlay Districts (Click)
"Letterkenny
Army Depot won a top international manufacturing award for the
second straight year.
"The Letterkenny workforce is very happy and I am proud to
command the Army's first two-time winner of the prestigious
Shingo Award (for) Public Service," Letterkenny commander Robert
Swenson said.
Letterkenny won a silver medal for rebuilding and modifying
Humvees...."
Depot wins international award by
Jim Hook, Senior writer,
Public Opinion, August 2, 2006
(Click here to read entire article)
"...Letterkenny
has won its second Shingo Award, which recognizes "the best in
manufacturing," according to North American Shingo Prize
Director Ross Robson. "The 2006 recipients are not only saving
American taxpayers money, but increasing the quality and
availability of military weapons that protect Americans at home
and soldiers abroad, Robson said..."
Our View: Depot awards are sign of
progress by Kathy Leedy,
Editorial Page Editor, Public Opinion, August 2,
2006
(Click to read)
Learn about protecting
Letterkenny Army Depot - Franklin
County, PA's largest employer.
(Click)
"...About 30 defense contractors attended the
Letterkenny Business Opportunity Showcase on Thursday to improve
existing business partnerships with the Army or to strike up new
ones....
...Once known for fixing trucks and howitzers, Letterkenny in
recent years established itself as the military center of
excellence for the repair of tactical missile systems, such as
Patriot. In recent months Letterkenny's mission has changed
again.
"If we'd stuck with just missile work, we'd be a sleepy place,"
said Col. Robert Swenson, Letterkenny commander.
Letterkenny's new moniker is "capabilities depot." The depot
does missile work and more. Crews repair Humvees and assemble
tent cities. They are doing odds and ends for the Army Tank
Automotive Command.
The depot has been named the military's center of excellence for
portable generators. Letterkenny will increase its generator
production 900 percent with just a 10 percent increase in the
number of workers, according to Swenson...."
Depot shines for visiting business VIPs
By Jim Hook, Senior
writer,
Public Opinion, June 9, 2006
RE:
Letterkenny Army Depot - Letterkenny Industrial Development
Authority Land:
"Maj. Gen. James Pillsbury interrupted
his introduction at the podium. His voice boomed across
cavernous Building 370 at Letterkenny Army Depot and beyond the
200 people gathered for the recognition ceremony.
"Let me tell you something," Pillsbury told the men and women
who work on the Patriot missile system. "This is a big deal.
This is a big deal. This is the first time a public sector Army
depot has won a Shingo Award...."
Army brass lauds depot manufacturing
by Jim Hook,
Public Opinion, February 15, 2006
"Business Week has called the Shingo Prize "the Nobel
prize of manufacturing."
Letterkenny wins top manufacturing award
by Jim Hook,
Public Opinion, February
13, 2006
February 6, 2006 Letterkenny
Industrial Development Authority (LIDA) Board unanimously voted
to grant a request by Letterkenny Army Depot (LEAD) for a
long-term lease to the Army of approximately 260 acres for the
creation of a Defense Support District at no cost to LEAD and no
expense to LIDA. LEAD intends to construct new facilities on part of the leased land.
See the following articles about LEAD's
long-term plans.
►Citizens
for a Quality Environment Board (C4aQE) voted to support Letterkenny
Army Depot's request for reconveyance of needed land back to the
Army.
(Click to read the January 26, 2006 letter to the Charles Myers, Chairman of the LIDA
Board)
►"...I'm at a loss why there is any
discussion," said L. Michael Ross, chairman of Opportunity '05,
a community group founded to strengthen Letterkenny. "It's a
natural to me that it should be made available to them."
Ross, a former LIDA officer and president of the Franklin County
Area Development Corp., said the land is "crucial to the future
of the installation...."
Planners looking to grow Depot by
Jim Hook, Public Opinion, February 4, 2006
(Click to read the entire article)
►...After BRAC 1995, we never expected 911 to happen, so we
surrendered some land (to LIDA) that is needed for a buffer, he
said, referring to the potential for attack by terrorists. ...
We did not anticipate the growth or opportunities we have
today....
Depots long-term plan calls for expansion; additional acreage
sought from LIDA by Terry
Talbert, TheGazetteNews.com, February 2, 2006
(Click)
BRAC 2015
According to the Base Realignment and Closure Commission Report
to the President
(Click to go to the entire Report)
TIMELINE OF PROPOSED FUTURE BRAC PROCESS
(Click to see TIMELINE) the BRAC 2015 decision-making
process will begin on September 30, 2013. The leadership
of Letterkenny Army Depot (LEAD) (the largest
employer in Franklin County) worked diligently to assure
LEAD was not BRACed in the 05 round. They are now very
wisely planning to further strengthen their position in the
Defense community by expanding their Depot operations near the
Cumberland Valley Business Park (CVBP).
The Letterkenny Industrial Development Authority (LIDA) has the
responsibility to develop the CVBP land the Army transferred
through BRAC95 for the benefit of the entire Franklin County
community. LIDA should work with the Depot leadership to
assure LEAD is not targeted in the BRAC 2015 round for closure
by making the land they are requesting available to them now.
This is what planning is all about--looking forward and
taking actions that will assure Franklin County's future is
secure and prosperous. Indeed, such an action by the LIDA
Board would fulfill their mandate to use the land in a manner
that will benefit the entire Franklin County community.
DeEtta Antoun
Does the Army agree with Van Horn's recommendation?
Is it patriotic
to try to site an ethanol distillery next the United States'
Patriot Missile testing and Iraq mission-critical vehicle and
ammunition facilities ?
Dr. John Gray, Deputy Commander of LEAD testified at the
September 19th Hearing in Franklin County Court
Letterkenny: Plant raises concerns
Deputy commander has 'long term' issues with ethanol facility
by Jim Hook,
Public Opinion, September 20, 2005
(Click to read entire article)
From his article:
"...Gray
said he did not know what the evacuation procedures would be,
should there be an accident or leak at the ethanol plant. About
95% to 98% of Letterkenny's 2,800 employees work within a
2.5-mile radius of the plant. The shops are accessed through a
single gate.
Evacuating the shops would disrupt work vital to the nation's
defense, according to Gray. Letterkenny is the only place that
works on the Patriot missile system, the world's only proven
missile defense system.
Letterkenny Fire Department, which responds to fires on the
depot, will not be available for an accident at the plant, he
said.
"We are not trained for that," Gray said. "We will not be
responding to anything at the ethanol plant."
Gray spoke of other concerns:
Train tracks run through Army property, and during times
of national crisis Letterkenny officers must inspect everything
coming in. How does Letterkenny inspect train cars of corn and
ethanol?
Gasoline and ethanol trucks would pass within 75 feet of
Letterkenny shops.
Rail tankers would transport the ethanol. The tracks in
the business park have had four derailments since 1999. Trains
hauling ethanol derailed in California, Indiana and Kansas in
the first week of September.
The Army had been prepared to build a vehicle maintenance shop
within 100 yards of the ethanol plant if Red River Army Depot
had been ordered closed and its Humvee repair operations moved
to Letterkenny. The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission
did not close Red River.
Letterkenny is authorized to store temporarily as much
as 2 million pounds of missiles and bombs at a rail yard within
75 feet of the proposed ethanol plant.
"They're ready to go bang?" Antoun asked.
"Pretty much," Gray said...."
"...Anyone with common sense can deduce
this distillery is bad for the Army's mission at Letterkenny,
bad for Greene Township and bad for Franklin County. Mr. Welch
and his investors seem more concerned about their investments
and potential profits, and gaining 35-plus jobs. As
self-proclaimed patriots, they should be more concerned for the
potential loss of thousands of jobs at the Letterkenny Army
Depot. ..."
Ethanol plant would harm depot's mission
by Carl McAfee,
Letter to the Editor of the Public Opinion, March 31, 2006
(Click here)
"Col. Robert A. Swenson wants to move Letterkenny Army Depot
headquarters and Army computer operations inside the depot's
main fence.
Letterkenny commander Swenson and deputy commander John Gray
asked the Letterkenny Industrial Development Authority for
permanent use of 241 acres where the Army would build new office
buildings...."
Depot seeks land for new offices inside main
fence by
Jim Hook, Public
Opinion, January 10, 2006
(Click to read article
From
Guest essay: Don't let ethanol plant endanger jobs at depot By Mary
Burkholder
"...the Penn Mar group has already sent an appeal to a higher
court to overrule the judge in Franklin County. Secondly, Penn
Mar can reapply in Greene Township for another permit.
I think my main concern is with the future of Letterkenny, as
far as continuing to plan for the future because of "long-term
issues" that concern the deputy commander of Letterkenny, in the
event that the ethanol facility was to be built. (source: Public
Opinion, Sept. 20)....
...That is why each of you in Franklin County should be writing
or calling Rep. Shuster and telling him of the concerns of the
citizens but also of the concerns of our largest employer, of
whom he helped represent at the last BRAC.
Call Rep. Shuster at the Chambersburg office, 264-8308, or fax
at 264-0269. If no one gets on board about this critical issue,
we may become the county with the highest unemployment rate,
rather than the lowest!"
published in The Public Opinion,
January 3, 2006
See
Dr. Gray testimony information - click
Congressman Bill Shuster
United States Congress
Chambersburg Office
100 Lincoln Way East, Suite B
Chambersburg , PA 17201
Addresses of other local Representatives (Click)
Addresses of the Letterkenny Industrial Development Authority
Board Members (Click)
Email addresses Snail-Mail Addresses and of the Franklin County
Commissioners (Click)