TOBYHANNA ARMY DEPOT, Pa. Aca,!"Army and regional representatives broke ground Oct. 2 for Tobyhanna Army DepotAca,!a,,cs Command, Control, Communications Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) Finishing Center. Among them were depot commander Col. Charles Gibson, Lt. Col. John Osborn, deputy commander for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Baltimore District, representatives for U.S. Senator Robert Casey and U.S. Representatives Christopher Carney and Paul Kanjorski, and depot employees.

The $15 million, 78,000-square-foot facility is scheduled to be completed early 2011. It is designed to expand and modernize the depotAca,!a,,cs capacity to repair, refinish and apply protective coatings to large, tactical C4ISR systems maintained by Tobyhanna for the U.S. military. The bid was awarded to L.R. Costanzo Construction Services, Scranton in March and construction will begin soon.

Functions performed in the facility will include blasting, laser paint stripping, painting, sanding, washing and sheet metal operations, which will support workload such as the AN/TPQ- 36 and -37 Firefinder radars, Multiple Threat Emitter Systems, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle systems and the AN/ASM 189 electronics vans.

Approximately 150 employees, on three shifts, will work in the facility.

Officials say the environmentally friendly and energy efficient C4ISR Finishing Center will reduce costs and improve customer satisfaction, quality, processes and the work forceAca,!a,,cs quality of life. It will also accommodate a much larger workload than the current equipment and facilities.

Tobyhanna Army Depot is the Defense DepartmentAca,!a,,cs largest center for the repair, overhaul and fabrication of a wide variety of electronics systems and components, from tactical field radios to the ground terminals for the defense satellite communications network. TobyhannaAca,!a,,cs missions support all branches of the Armed Forces.

About 5,600 personnel are employed at Tobyhanna, which is located in the Pocono Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania.

Tobyhanna Army Depot is part of the U.S. Army CECOM Life Cycle Management Command. Headquartered at Fort Monmouth, N.J., the commandAca,!a,,cs mission is to research, develop, acquire, field and sustain communications, command, control computer, intelligence, electronic warfare and sensors capabilities for the Armed Forces.