Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, is praising the Army's decision to close its maintenance facility in Mainz, Germany, saying this will mean more business for Tooele Army Depot and three other depots in this country.
The Mainz facility services light and heavy combat vehicles, but its operations will be transferred to American towns during the next fiscal year, which is from October 1992 to September 1993.Mainz Depot is the largest Army depot operation outside the United States, servicing vehicles ranging from Humvees to M1A1 tanks, as well as missile electronics components and engineer equipment. TAD presently overhauls hundreds of wheeled Army vehicles per year.
Although the Mainz Depot is owned by the federal government, it is operated by a German corporation and most of its employees are Germans, said Hatch. He opposed hiring a German company for the project in 1989.
"Tooele (Army Depot) will receive Army engineer heavy construction equipment, such as earth movers, which is now being serviced at Mainz," Hatch said. "While this will not add to the work force at Tooele, it should slow the pace of reductions caused by spending cuts."
Hatch said the transfer will amount to approximately 1 million hours of workload, plus contracting opportunities for nearby communities. In addition to TAD, bases expected to benefit from the transfer are Anniston Army Depot in Alabama, Letterkenny Army Depot in Pennsylvania, and Red River Army Depot in Texas.