Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 9, 1992 TAG: 9201090501
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
WHAT'S ARSENAL'S FUTURE? SEN. ROBB PAYS VISIT TO TALK ABOUT WHAT CAN BE DONE
FAIRLAWN - The Radford Army Ammunition Plant's long-term future is more secure than some other military installations as the United States begins to dismantle its massive defense budget, Sen. CharlesRobb said Wednesday.Nonetheless, the arsenal's work force likely will shrink this year because of a declining demand for rocket propellant, Robb said after a two-hour tour of the plant.
"There will be reductions in some areas," he said.
Robb also traveled to Roanoke where he spoke to Kiwanis Club members about the challenge facing Virginia and the nation in switching to a peacetime economy.
Virginia receives more federal money per capita than any other state. The bulk goes to support defense bases, installations and industries, Robb said.
The arsenal, New River Valley's largest industrial employer with about 3,380 workers, has laid off almost 500 in the last two years.
Robb said the Army and Hercules Inc., which runs the plant, are trying to reduce the the number of workers through attrition rather than layoffs.
Futher, he said, arsenal officials are checking into the possibility of getting work from other military facilities that have been scheduled to close.
"This facility is not one on the closing list," he said. It was Robb's first visit to the sprawling compound, built in 1941.
The arsenal stop was part of the senator's weeklong schedule of meetings with military officials in Virginia and of speeches about changing to a peacetime economy.
In Roanoke, Robb asked the Kiwanis Club members to imagine that they were world leaders of a country that's been at war for 40 years. The war has created jobs and kept the economy going. So, what happens when the war ends?
Comparing today's economy with the economy after World War II, he said the challenge is to convert the military-industrial complex to civilian use. And Virginia is especially vulnerable to the "tall order" of transformation, he said.
"If the Department of Defense, like the president, is showing signs of the flu, Richmond gets pneumonia," Robb said.
The key to U.S. economic recovery is opening foreign markets for trade.
"Things are clearly stagnant at home. We have to have markets overseas," said Robb, who is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The change also must include training and finding jobs for defense workers and military personnel, developing markets for products made by the military's private contractors and finding uses for military bases, he said.
At the arsenal, Robb met with plant commander Lt. Col. Dennis Duplantier and Hercules officials to discuss the impact of changes in defense spending.
"They were able to tell me more than I was able to tell them," Robb said.
Arsenal officials told him the amount of propellant they expect to make this year and the number of workers they would need, but he would not give any details.
Duplantier, reached later in the day, said it appears at this point that the amount of work will be the same as 1991.
"But the number of workers needs to be negotiated," he said. "The cost of business is going up, and we're trying to bring those costs down."
The Army and Hercules still are negotiating the 1992 contract price based on orders from Army headquarters, as they do every year, he said.
Congress allocates money for ammunitions each year, he said. This year, the Army is trying to get Hercules to lower overhead costs.
"The big problem is we don't know what the president is going to say on the 20th," Duplantier said. President Bush is expected to deliver his budget to Congress on Jan. 20.
Staff writer Ishamea Harris contributed information for this story.