Anniston Star
January 26, 2003

Need for depot may save it from closure

By Jessica Centers
Star Capitol Correspondent
01-26-2003

Building 400 is where it all begins and ends.

Inside the 612-acre warehouse, 375 mechanics, machinists and welders take apart and put back together every tank that goes through the Anniston Army Depot.

Building 400 may be just a small part of the depot's 1,763 buildings and structures and 15,279 acres, but it embodies what sets the depot apart from other bases, and what some employees believe should save it from being closed in 2005 - its ability to repair and rebuild tanks.

With more than 4,000 employees and a budget of $484 million, it's no secret that the Anniston Army Depot is crucial to the area's economy. Losing the depot would be detrimental to a community still recovering from the closing of Fort McClellan.

Calhoun County Chairman James A. "Pappy" Dunn said the local economy has not recovered from the fort closing, and there is no question closing the depot would have a devastating impact.

Anniston native Mike Rogers' seat on the U.S. House Armed Services Committee has been described as critical because it will position him to protect the depot from the next round of base closings, set to begin in 2005.

"Mike's father was a retiree from the depot. (Mike) grew up in the depot family," Rogers' press secretary, Marshall Macomber, said. "It's very important to him that the depot is strong. He's going to work very hard to ensure that the depot not only stays strong, but grows."

Two of the most recent and prominent ways the depot has grown have been with the production of the Stryker vehicle and the new Missile Recycling Center.

April marked the beginning of the depot's partnership with General Dynamics Land Systems in assembling the Stryker. It was the first time a Department of Defense depot has been involved in mass new production.

Then, in December, the depot became the first in the nation to house a program for dismantling weapons rather than detonating them. The $15 million Missile Recycling Center was established to provide a more efficient and cost-effective way to destroy outdated missiles.

Public affairs specialist Clester Burdell said the fact that the recycling center is the first of its kind demonstrates the depot's capabilities.

"This says a lot about the quality of work we do here at Anniston Army Depot," Burdell said.

Inside building 400, Michael Cannon sees the negative impact closing the depot would bring as reaching far beyond the boundaries of Anniston or Calhoun County.

Standing at the end of the line, where rebuilt tanks leave the warehouse looking and working like new, Cannon explains that losing the depot would be damaging not just to the local economy, but to the Army Reserves, Marine Corps and National Guard, too.

Cannon is chief of the tracked system division. He has been at the depot 22 years. Before that, he was in the military for six years. He oversees the assembly and disassembly of tracked vehicles like the M1 tank, the M88 roving wrecker and the Fox, a vehicle that can detect chemicals if an enemy were to use chemical weapons.

"Since the last BRAC (Base Re-Alignment and Closure Commission) closing, (the depot) has grown by leaps and bounds," he said. "As equipment progressed, people had to progress as well, to stay ahead."

The depot even deploys personnel to work with and train soldiers in the field, troubleshoot and provide technical support, Cannon noted.

Some of the engines taken out of the tanks at building 400 are brought to the turbine engine shop at building 128.

Tony Gay, heavy mobile equipment mechanic leader in the turbine engine shop, has been at the depot 24 years.

Like Cannon and a lot of employees at the depot, Gay went to work there when he came out of the military.

He's seen his shop, which repairs the 1500 turbine engine used in the popular M1 tank, grow from a work force of 25 to more than 250. The shop repairs about 100 motors a year by disassembling them and repairing the individual parts. Gay says the military saves a tremendous amount by repairing parts instead of making new ones.

Engine parts like rotors and compressors that cost several thousand dollars to make only cost several hundred dollars to repair.

Gay did not seem concerned about whether the Anniston Army Depot would be on the BRAC list in 2005 because of the service it provides.

"It's so unique," Gay said of the depot's ability to repair and rebuild tracked vehicles. "That helps our position I think."

In addition to its role in the community, the Anniston Army Depot is a community within itself with a history of its own.

The depot hosts a community club, driving range, health center, training facility for high school students and a historical clearing house.

Along Roosevelt Drive, within the depot's barbed-wire borders, employees pass by models of tanks, old and new, and a grassy area that is home to three baby buffalo, the descendents of three buffalo that lived on the land before the depot was built in 1940. Just behind a section of forest visible from the road lies a 100-year-old graveyard that some employees have ventured out to see.

"It is like its own little town divided by Roosevelt Drive," Burdell said.

Erin Jackson, also in public affairs, pointed out that the 4,715 depot employees make up a sizeable segment of Calhoun County, which has a population of 112,000. Just about everyone in the community either has someone in their family who works at the depot or is connected to it in some way, she said.

Burdell added: "Anniston suffered a loss when Fort McClellan closed its doors. We'd like to see our doors remain open."