Tobyhanna Depot to hire 350 as closures eyed

Times Leader ^ | 2/17/2004 | RENITA FENNICK

[Born Conservative]

Tobyhanna Depot to hire 350 as closures eyed

By RENITA FENNICK

renitaf@leader.net

As the Pentagon continues working on a plan to close some military bases by the end of next year, Tobyhanna Army Depot is looking to hire 350 people. The Monroe County facility, which employs about 3,300, will conduct job fairs Thursday in Scranton and Tannersville.

The depot needs to fill the permanent positions over the next few months to meet increasing workload requirements and projected attrition rates.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Defense released its final criteria for selecting the bases to be closed.

Though the Base Realignment and Closure Commission is not required to make a final recommendation to the president until September 2005, supporters of Tobyhanna already formed a task force and began raising money. The Defense Department is required to submit a list of proposed base closures in May 2005.

The depot supporters raised more than $125,000 to fund the campaign, said Cameron Moore, a task force co-chairman. The goal is to raise $350,000.

Most of the money will be used to pay consultant Barry Steinberg of the Washington, D.C., law firm of Kutak Rock. Steinberg, a retired U.S. Army colonel, helped with the fight to save Tobyhanna in 1995 after it was targeted for closing by the federal commission.

Moore, president and chief executive officer of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Alliance, said the local task force suggested a number of changes to the Defense Department's draft selection criteria and none were made. But, he adds, neither were those recommended by other task forces. The draft, or preliminary selection criteria were submitted in December.

"From what we can tell, a lot of the data is coming from the secretary of defense's office," Moore says. "It's not as open a process as in the past."

Of the eight criteria published Thursday in the Federal Register, the top four deal with military value including:

Operational readiness and the impact on joint war-fighting, training and readiness.

The availability and condition of land, facilities and associated air space for use by the Armed Forces.

The ability to accommodate contingency, mobilization and future total force requirements to support operations and training.

The cost of operations and manpower implications. Other considerations are: the extent and timing of potential costs and savings; the economic impact on communities in the region; the ability of the communities' infrastructure to support forces, missions and personnel; and the environmental impact of the base.

One bright note, Moore said, is that this time around, cooperation is a primary factor.

"Previously, each branch of service was sort of acting independently and evaluated on its own," he said. "Now, they may be looking at the Army, Navy, Air Force repair depots and asking: 'Could there be just one?' Tobyhanna does a large percentage of work for other branches so its management has helped position the depot favorably."

Tobyhanna Army Depot, which celebrated its 50th anniversary last year, is the region's largest employer; one-fourth of its work force lives in Luzerne County. Located in Tobyhanna Township, the facility repairs and maintains electronics and communications equipment for all branches of the military.

Tobyhanna survived the last round of cuts in 1995 during the Clinton presidency.

The depot's annual economic impact on the region is $867 million, Moore said, with the average annual salary of a depot worker around $42,200.

Renita Fennick, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 829-7246.

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On the net

For updates on the Base Closure and Realignment Commission actions, go to www. dod.mil/brac OR www.govexec.com.

For a list of available job positions at Tobyhanna Army Depot, go to www.tobyhanna.army.mil.

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