Red River Army Depot to cut temporary work force by 350

LITTLE ROCK — The Red River Army Depot is reducing its work force by about 350 temporary workers who were hired nine years ago to help rebuild Army vehicles damaged in blasts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Department of Defense expanded defense contracts and depot capabilities across the nation in 2004 to keep up with the demand for war equipment - from body armor to vehicle armor.

At Red River Army Depot in Texarkana, Texas, about 400 term and contract workers were hired in the first quarter of that year to help the depot keep up with demand for repairs and rebuild humvees and armored vehicles damaged in the war zones.

Term workers are hired on a temporary basis to perform a specific job, such as repairing vehicles during a wartimesurge in combat activity.

“As always, the bottom line is that our workload is directly related to [Department of Defense] requirements to support our soldiers,” said Col. Doyle Lassitter, Red River Army Depot commander.

In the last year, the Iraq War has ended and a troop reduction is now under way in Afghanistan in preparation for the projected end of that war in 2014, resulting in diminished demand for combat-related depot work.

“As the U.S continues to reduce its combat military presence abroad, the workload required to support military contingency operations is reduced as well,” said Adrienne Brown, spokesman for the depot.

Red River Army Depot provides maintenance for a variety of U.S. Army vehicles - including humvees, Bradley armored fighting vehicles, mine resistant ambush protected (MRAP) vehicles, and the Multiple Launch Rocket System - in peacetime as well as war. The depot performs required maintenance, overhaul and upgrades as needed. It employs more than 3,300 fulltime federal employees and has another 2,000 defense contractor employees.

The depot is an economic cornerstone for the region. It dodged closure in 2005, when the Base Realignment and Closure Commission took it off the list of facilities designated for closure and consolidation after commission members saw the war-related work being done there.

In 2009, the base lost about 110 jobs when the Pentagon awarded a $9 million contract to Raytheon to take over Patriot Missile maintenance operations previously done at Red River. Raytheon moved operations to the Letterkenny Army Depot in Chambersburg, Pa.