PRINTER'S NO.

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

3631

HOUSE RESOLUTION No. 749

Session of 2012
INTRODUCED BY KAUFFMAN, ROCK, BAKER, BENNINGHOFF, BRENNAN, BROOKS, COX, DiGIROLAMO, EVERETT, GABLER, GEIST, GEORGE, GRELL, GROVE, HAHN, HARHART, HENNESSEY, HESS, HICKERNELL, KORTZ, LONGIETTI, MAJOR, MARSICO, MICOZZIE, MILLARD, MUSTIO, PERRY, QUINN, RAPP, READSHAW, ROSS, SAYLOR, SCAVELLO, SONNEY, STABACK, SWANGER, TALLMAN, VEREB, VULAKOVICH AND WATSON, JUNE 4, 2012 INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35, JUNE 4, 2012 A RESOLUTION
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Congratulating Letterkenny Army Depot on its 70th anniversary. WHEREAS, In 1941, the War Department laid plans for 12 large, new Ordnance Depots to control the oncoming deluge of war materiel and Letterkenny Township was chosen due to its proximity; and WHEREAS, It was a safe, yet convenient distance from the eastern seaboard and Washington DC, with land well suited for ammunition storage, and it had good rail facilities, nearby power and water and another great resource, people, who historically had shown great courage and perseverance; and WHEREAS, Construction began immediately with 798 underground igloos, 12 above-ground magazines and 17 warehouses and later, in 1956, an additional 104 igloos were constructed, bringing the total to 902 with a large number of buildings being remodeled

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farmhouses, barns and chicken houses; and WHEREAS, Colonel J.K. Clement became the first depot commander on July 17, 1942, and under his leadership, the first shipment of ammunition arrived by train on September 23, 1942, three weeks ahead of schedule; and WHEREAS, More than three million tons of supplies were moved during the war years and with ingenuity and devotion, the Letterkenny work force completed seemingly impossible tasks to keep ordnance materiel flowing constantly to 70 theaters of war; and WHEREAS, Letterkenny was one of the largest depots of its kind and was called the Springboard of Invasion in 1944; and WHEREAS, The 1950s were a time of growth as new technologies in electronics and guided missile maintenance increased the depot's workload and employees were trained in these fields and began working on NIKE missile components in 1953; and WHEREAS, Letterkenny became a permanent military installation on July 1, 1954; and WHEREAS, Letterkenny Ordnance Depot was renamed Letterkenny Army Depot (LEAD) in August 1962, and command and control of the depot fell under the United States Army Materiel Command; and WHEREAS, The Vietnam Conflict signified the 1960s with an increase in missions and workload at the depot; and WHEREAS, Letterkenny was affected in much the same way as the Korean War in that materiel beyond normal requirements was funneled through the supply system to the troops, and it again stood ready to support American forces and employment rose; and WHEREAS, By 1970s, Letterkenny's growth seemed to slow; however, the depot still played a vital role with an ammunition washout facility built, and the Northeast Area Flight Detachment
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moved to Letterkenny; and WHEREAS, As the depot began evolving into its present state by the 1980s and early 1990s, new facilities and modernization projects, such as the Automatic Storage and Retrieval SystemPlus were constructed, Letterkenny's mission became three-fold; supply, maintenance and ammunition; and WHEREAS, Letterkenny's future was reshaped in the 1990s by the Tactical Missile consolidation and the downsizing of the Department of Defense, reorganization and realignments; and WHEREAS, In 1990, Letterkenny was selected as the single processing and storage location for all weapons captured during the 1990 Invasion of Panama, Operation Just Cause; and WHEREAS, On August 21, 2001, the Secretary of the Army recognized Letterkenny as the Center of Industrial and Technical Excellence (CITE) for Air Defense and Tactical Missile Ground Support Equipment and in 2005 for the Mobile Electric Power Generation Equipment; and WHEREAS, With the Department of Defense's reorganization, Letterkenny's supply mission moved to New Cumberland, under Defense Logistics Agency in 1992, but by 2001, a smaller Directorate of Supply and Transportation was reestablished at Letterkenny; and WHEREAS, In 2010, Letterkenny received its first Combined Logistics Excellence Award for superior performance of duty in Depot Maintenance Excellence, resulting in improved combat readiness; and WHEREAS, In December 2010, Letterkenny completed the last of more than 20,000 recapped High-mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWVs); and WHEREAS, With the program completed, LEAD converted its
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primary assembly line of HMMWVs to accommodate Reset of PATRIOT Prime Movers; and WHEREAS, In 2012, the depot's 70th anniversary was celebrated; and WHEREAS, As the largest employer in Franklin County, the depot continues to be a mainstay to the local economy, fueling more than a quarter of a million dollars into the region annually, and WHEREAS, Letterkenny's state-of-the-art facilities, combined with a highly skilled work force, enable Letterkenny to provide superior products and services to the soldiers; and WHEREAS, Since World War II, Korea and Vietnam, through Operation Desert Storm (Iraq) and Operation Just Cause (Panama), Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) and Iraqi Freedom (Irag), Letterkenny is proud to serve the soldier serving anywhere in the world; therefore be it RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives congratulate Letterkenny Army Depot on its 70th anniversary; and be it further RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be sent to COL Cheri A. Provancha, 1 Coffey Avenue, Chambersburg, PA 17201.

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