Letterkenny

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - On the eve of the 56th anniversary of World War II's D-Day, Letterkenny Army Depot celebrated the progress it's made since it faced its personal D-Day five years ago: The decision by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission to transfer much of its operations to other military bases. The main accomplishment at the base has been private-sector development that has created about 300 jobs to help make up for the 3,000 federal jobs lost as the depot has downsized over the past decade.

chambersburg@herald-mail.com CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - With the symbolic passing of Letterkenny's red and yellow flag, Col. William A. Guinn became the depot's 43rd commander Thursday morning. Guinn gave local officials and depot workers a peek at his personality during the Change of Command ceremony, where he cracked jokes about the mobile life of an Army officer. "We've had nine moves in the past 13 years. We have a dog with more frequent flyer miles than most people in the audience," he said.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - The Department of the Army has told Letterkenny Army Depot to conduct a study to determine if it would make sense to privatize the job of blowing up thousands of tons of ammunition every year. "They destroy unsafe and unstable ammunition," depot spokesman Alan Loessy said of the 19-member Ammunition Demilitarization Division at the depot. That includes aging artillery shells, tactical missile warheads and components and other explosives that are technologically obsolete or have aged to the point where they can no longer be handled safely.

11/14/96 By STEVEN T. DENNIS Staff Writer, Waynesboro WAYNESBORO, Pa. - The main consultant working on ideas for the reuse of Letterkenny Army Depot property to be turned over for private use said the depot was the most attractive base for private industry of 10 he's worked with, despite huge environmental and administrative obstacles. About 80 people showed up for a meeting outlining positives and negatives about the base, which is slated by the Pentagon for downsizing.

Employees at Letterkenny Army Depot are facing fewer furlough days than originally expected - workers are looking at 11 days without pay rather than 14. The 11 days are down from the 14 that the Pentagon advised would be needed, and only half of the 22 days originally anticipated, according to a statement released by the depot. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel announced in a town hall Tuesday that Department of the Army civilians will be furloughed up to 11 days, beginning no earlier than July 8. The furlough is scheduled to begin July 8 at the rate of one furlough day per week through the end of the current fiscal year, Sept.

On Friday, Letterkenny Army Depot laid off the first dozen of what will be approximately 244 contracted workers through March. The layoffs will occur in a phased approach between January and March, a depot news release stated. “Over the past decade Letterkenny Army Depot has utilized a contractor workforce to help accomplish temporary workload surges to meet Department of Army mission requirements. These programs are short-term in duration and require resizing of the contract workforce to match the workload requirements,” according to a release.

McCONNELLSBURG, Pa. - JLG Industries Inc., a subsidiary of Oshkosh Truck Corp., was presented with an award from Letterkenny Army Depot. Col. Robert A. Swenson, Letterkenny Depot commander, presented the award to Peter Bonafede Jr., senior vice president of Manufacturing and Global Supply Chain. The award was given in appreciation to JLG for sharing lean-manufacturing practices and allowing Letterkenny personnel to visit JLG manufacturing facilities over the past three years.

Apprentices chosen for Letterkenny program By STACEY DANZUSO / Staff Writer, Chambersburg Photo: KEVIN G. GILBERT / staff photographer CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - Faced with military downsizing and an aging work force, the Letterkenny Army Depot has initiated an apprentice program to train new electronic mechanics. Letterkenny and Army Material Command began working on the program in December in an effort to establish a work force that can continue the technical work at the depot as current employees retire.

By RICHARD F. BELISLE Staff Writer CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - U.S. Rep. Bud Shuster, R-Pa., announced Friday that $56 million has been included in fiscal 1998's defense budget to pay for refurbishing 36 additional Paladin howitzers at the Letterkenny Army Depot here. Col. Thomas W. Resau, commander of the 25,000-acre base, said Letterkenny officials were hoping for additional Paladin repair work. The 36 units will mean two months more work for 600 Letterkenny workers and about 100 employees of United Defense, the private subcontractor that does work on the turrets of the tank-like weapons, Resau said.

Pennsylvania State Police are investigating burglaries Thursday at three homes - in the 3000, 2000 and 1000 blocks of Letterkenny Road in Franklin County. The homes were burglarized between 5:20 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. The thieves entered the homes through either open doors, or by breaking into side and rear doors. They rifled desks, dressers, chests and file cabinets. Either cash or jewelry was taken from all three locations. Anyone with information on the burglaries is asked to contact the state police at (717)