TOBYHANNA   - Faced with decreasing workload requirements, Tobyhanna Army Depot has notified a support contractor that it no longer has a requirement for up to 130 industrial trade and electronics workers.  The reduction will be phased over several months, beginning April 13. 

“After a thorough analysis of our workload, we simply do not have sufficient work for all of these contract workers.  A reduction is always a difficult decision, but it is the prudent one to maximize our efficient support of our warfighters and to remain responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars,” said depot commander Col. Charles C. Gibson.

The first phase will affect up to 30 industrial trade workers, such as motor vehicle mechanic helpers, sheet metal workers and air conditioning mechanics, with URS Federal Support Services, Inc., Oklahoma City, Okla.  The follow-on phases, if required, would take place between late June and mid-August, based on current projections.  Those phases could affect as many as 100 additional personnel.  However, if current workload projections stabilize and personnel attrition rates continue, these numbers could be reduced.

The depot contracted over the last several years to support increased depot workload tied to military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.  The use of contract personnel enables Tobyhanna Army Depot to quickly adjust to fluctuations in workload, ensuring the depot operates efficiently and productively.  The end of operations in Iraq and the depot’s increased completion of equipment repairs in recent years have contributed to the decreased workload projections this year. 

There are currently 843 contract personnel, including 545 URS employees, who work at Tobyhanna Army Depot.  The depot also employs more than 4,000 Department of the Army civilian employees to perform its worldwide mission of maintaining communications-electronics systems for the Armed Forces.  No Army civilian employees are affected by this reduction.  Total employment at the installation, prior to the planned reduction, is approximately 5,400.

Tobyhanna Army Depot is the Defense Department’s 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.  Tobyhanna’s 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.  Headquartered at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., the command’s mission is to research, develop, acquire, field and sustain communications, command, control computer, intelligence, electronic warfare and sensors capabilities for the Armed Forces.