Organic Industrial Base takes center stage at annual caucus

By Lisa Simunaci (AMC)June 12, 2018

Organic Industrial Base takes center stage at annual caucus
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

WASHINGTON -- Modernizing the Army's Organic Industrial Base for maximum optimization was the theme of this year's House Military Depot and Industrial Facilities Caucus June 7.

The annual meeting encourages candid dialogue between Army Materiel Command leaders and members of Congress about the Army's priorities in sustaining readiness for the total force through our national level maintenance process, said Army Materiel Command's Director of Public and Congressional Affairs Col. Richard Spiegel.

Army Materiel Command's Commander Gen. Gus Perna discussed the strategy that links the industrial base to sustainable readiness in a way that provides a stable and predictable workload while best meeting the Army's needs.

"Our Organic Industrial Base infrastructure is critical to maintaining Army readiness," Perna told congressional representatives. "Reliable, consistent funding is essential for modernizing our facilities.

Perna emphasized the importance of the Organic Industrial Base to the warfighter and the nation. He provided an overview of recent upgrades to some of the 23 manufacturing arsenals, maintenance depots and ammunition plants overseen by the command.

Perna also discussed innovative solutions that incorporate advanced manufacturing, from rapid prototyping to additive and subtractive manufacturing processes.

The Caucus, co-chaired by U.S. Reps. Walter B. Jones, R-N.C, and Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa, is a bipartisan group of House members dedicated to policy issues that affect military industrial facilities, including depots, arsenals, ammunition plants, shipyards and energetic material production facilities. The caucus serves to educate other members of Congress on matters of importance to the military depot and industrial facility community, as well as advocate for necessary changes in policy.

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The U.S. Army's Organic Industrial Base includes:

Anniston Army Depot, Alabama

Anniston Munitions Center, Alabama

Corpus Christi Army Depot, Texas

Blue Grass Army Depot, Kentucky

Crane Army Ammunition Activity, Indiana

Hawthorne Army Depot, Nevada

Holston Army Ammunition Plant, Tennessee

Iowa Army Ammunition Plant, Iowa

Joint Systems Manufacturing Center, Ohio

Lake City Army Ammunition Plant, Missouri

Letterkenny Army Depot, Pennsylvania

Letterkenny Munitions Center, Pennsylvania

McAlester Army Ammunition Plant, Oklahoma

Milan Army Ammunition Plant, Tennessee

Pine Bluff Arsenal, Arkansas

Radford Army Ammunition Plant, Virginia

Red River Army Depot, Texas

Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois

Scranton Army Ammunition Plant, Pennsylvania

Sierra Army Depot, California

Tobyhanna Army Depot, Pennsylvania

Tooele Army Depot, Utah

Watervliet Arsenal, New York