Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers labor union say they’re concerned about potential downsizing at the Blue Grass Army Depot.
The group represents more than 500 workers at the depot, which stores and ships munitions.
The depot mainly stores and ships munitions like bombs and bullets across its more than 14,000 acre site. Members say there have been talks at the federal level to merge some of the depot’s duties with the Pine Bluff Arsenal in Arkansas.
Ryan McCarthy is a business representative for the union, and a former worker at the depot. He says downsizing could affect the workforce at both plants.
“Their jobs can vary. It could be from ammo handlers to security guards to chemical defense equipment individuals,” McCarthy said. “There is a wide array of jobs out there that could be affected.”
McCarthy says it’s part of an initiative to find redundancies Army-wide.
“If that location loses workload, it ultimately leads to a reduction in force, which is called a rift. This location has had that happen back in 2013, with over 100 employees being terminated due to lack of workload,” he said.
During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in June, Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker asked Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll about the potential closure of the Blue Grass Army Depot, Pine Bluff Arsenal and the Red River Army Depot.
“We are creating a plan to look at what we can do with them, with shifting work from them as one of the options,” Driscoll said in response. “We are working on plans that could use those facilities for other purposes, but if the funding does not come and it has to come from the rest of the budget, I think our current belief is that those dollars at our current budgeted level would be best suited somewhere else.”
A statement to WEKU from the Army’s Joint Munitions Command, which oversees the depot, says there aren’t currently any planned closures, but they are looking at options to improve efficiency.
“The Army Transformation Initiative directed Army Materiel Command develop options for the future state of the Army’s Organic Industrial Base. AMC and Joint Munitions Command are initiating planning and actively conducting analysis to comply with the Army directive while continuing to support the Army readiness and surge capability that our arsenals, depots and ammunition plants provide warfighters, allies, and partners. No closures are being announced at this time. However, we are evaluating options to optimize workloads at depots and munition sites to improve efficiency and readiness across the Total Army. The artisan workforce at the OB remains vital to national security, and we are committed to ensuring we maintain the right workforce to accomplish the mission.”
The Blue Grass Army Depot is also known for its chemical weapons destruction plant, which finished destroying its stockpile two years ago. That plant has been undergoing expected drawdowns of its own workforce, and is scheduled to fully close by 2027.
