TOOELE ARMY DEPOT, Utah --Tooele Army Depot honored Orville M. Mooberry, its first civilian employee in 1942, by unveiling a $2.2 million, 17,169 square-foot, renovated building, here, Sept. 4, 2014.
Brig. Gen. Kristin K. French, commanding general, Joint Munitions Command, dedicated the building along with Anne Mooberry Lamb, daughter of Mooberry, and George Diehl, TEAD's first civilian executive officer, and life-long friend of Mooberry.
"This building dedication is quite a special event for Tooele Army Depot," said French. "It is very fitting to name a facility that is critical to the success of JMC's and Tooele Army Depot's ammunition support, after a pioneer in the munitions business."
Mooberry, a native of Illinois, began his civil service career at Savanna Ordnance Depot, Savanna, Ill., on Nov. 1, 1940, as a clerk stenographer. Subsequently, Mooberry entered a training program which trained workers to serve as chief clerks for new ordnance depots being established to support World War II Soldiers. On May 12, 1942, Mooberry was assigned to Tooele Army Depot, Tooele, Utah.
When Mooberry arrived, two small tarpaper shacks were the only existing buildings. All around was a quagmire of mud which turned into clouds of dust, once summer arrived. The railroad grades were ready and the streets in the general supply and ammunition areas were surveyed and laid out.
Some of the first structures erected at the depot included the contractors' headquarters, the high-five residences, and the water tank north of the main entrance. Contractors housed their workers in a huge tent city northeast of the area of the current barracks.
Every Sunday, Maj. Lower, the depot's first commanding officer, and Mooberry would tour the depot to view progress and then report it to the Chief of Ordnance of the Army.
Mooberry continued as chief clerk until February 1943, when he was drafted by the Army. He completed basic training at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., and then attended Mississippi Southern College for Army administrative training. In February 1946, Mooberry returned to Tooele to work in the recently-created control division. When the depot became a sub depot of Ogden Arsenal, Mooberry worked briefly in the civilian personnel division, before becoming chief of the sub office in early 1948.
In 1952, Mooberry became the depot comptroller. The depot became Tooele Army Depot in 1962.
Mooberry retired in 1975 with 33 years of government service, and afterward, he moved to Santa Rosa, Calif., where he lived for 30 years. Mooberry passed away in December 2013.
The new Mooberry Building will allow the Tooele Army Depot to house equipment such as mills and lathes for manufacture and assembly of specialized, ammunition-peculiar equipment in support of our nation's Warfighters.
For more than 72 years, Tooele Army Depot has been committed to readiness and rapid response, supporting Warfighters in times of peace and war. TEAD is one of 14 subordinate commands of Joint Munitions Command.
From its headquarters at Rock Island Arsenal, Rock Island, Ill., JMC operates a nationwide network of conventional ammunition manufacturing plants and storage depots, and provides on-site ammunition experts to U.S. combat units wherever they are stationed or deployed. JMC's customers are U.S. forces of all military services, other U.S. government agencies and allied nations.
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