LEAD breaks ground on modernization milestone

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. – Army Materiel Command, Aviation and Missile Command, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Letterkenny Army Depot leadership broke ground on the depot’s new shipping and receiving facility April 9.

The shipping and receiving facility marks the first breaking ground of AMC’s major modernization projects supporting the Army’s Organic Industrial Base. The event was commemorated by a golden shovel ceremony attended by Marion Whicker, executive deputy to the commanding general, AMC; Maj. Gen. Tom O’Connor, commanding general, AMCOM; Lt. Col. David Myers, deputy commander, Baltimore District, USACE; and hosted by Col. Donald Santillo, commander, LEAD.

“The Army OIB strategy focuses on modernizing our facilities, our workforce, the infrastructure of IT, retooling processes and energy. The Army’s 15-year OIB modernization plan is an investment of nearly $18 billion, and Letterkenny is a huge part of it,” Whicker remarked. “Letterkenny has played a vital role in history, and we need to preserve and sustain its capabilities.”

The proposed facility is a critical component of LEAD’s facility modernization plan and will become a crucial link in the supply chain for future signature modernization efforts.

“I’m grateful for the support of our senior leadership as we commemorate one of Letterkenny’s contributions to the Army’s Organic Industrial Base Modernization Implementation Plan,” Santillo remarked. “This ongoing 15-year effort will more closely align the Organic Industrial Base to industry and elevate depot efficiency while increasing our surge capacity.”

The over 50,000-square-foot facility enhances LEAD’s capabilities to accommodate the receipt and distribution of guided missile systems and ground support equipment, along with parts and components for these items, being inducted into depot-level maintenance shops for recapitalization and reset in support of the U.S. Army and National Guard, as well as over 50 allies and Foreign Military Sales recipients.

“You don’t have to look in the newspaper too far to recognize the impact that these weapon systems are having in the hands of not only our Soldiers but also our partners around the world, improving security and enabling democracy to thrive and exist,” O’Connor said. “One of the many efforts that are ongoing here at Letterkenny is not only to support our current requirements but also to meet the future requirements because there are some Soldiers on a future battlefield that are dependent on what this organization does on a daily basis.”

LEAD’s Directorate of Supply and Transportation supports the depot’s maintenance operations with logistics, supply and asset management. The new facility will enhance supply management operations and support essential operations to optimize readiness. In the last year, DS&T processed over 2,000 inbound trucks and had a 98% rating for on-time delivery.

“The new facility implements the relocation of receipt, processing and induction operations,” said Jeremy Crouse, deputy director, DS&T, LEAD. “This facility is essential to the safe and efficient staging, loading and offloading of assets and components that comprise PATRIOT battalions, Avenger and Sentinel batteries and weapon systems throughout the Air and Missile Defense community.”

The facility’s purpose is to modernize LEAD’s shipping and receiving activities, which are currently spread between five buildings on the installation. The addition of the new facility will consolidate operations, mitigating roadway congestion within the depot’s industrial area and centralizing commercial truck and rail traffic. Improvements to depot logistics will have a direct impact on LEAD’s production.

“The new facility will serve as a staging area for the materials that support sustainment across the joint force for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems and Navy Electronic Warfare Systems,” said Kate Williams, director of Strategic Management, LEAD. “The upgraded facility will feed the production lines charged with improving the readiness of wheeled vehicles and power generation fleets as well as battlefield multipliers such as troop feeding, refrigeration, troop morale areas and chapels.”

Work on the estimated $28.2 million facility will be performed at Letterkenny Army Depot in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. The contract was awarded in the fall of 2023, and construction completion is expected in early 2025.

Letterkenny Army Depot is the Army’s premier professional organic maintenance facility that provides overhaul, repair and modifications for tactical missile air defense and space systems, power generation equipment and various military vehicles, support systems and protection programs. LEAD is a subordinate of U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command and is the Air and Missile Defense and Long-Range Precision Fires depot, supporting systems for the Department of Defense, foreign partners and industry. Letterkenny Army Depot was established in 1942 and is a government-owned and -operated industrial installation located in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.

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