European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 16, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Boom or bus Cannon maker blasted by peace the 177-year-old Watervliet Arsenal near Albany n.y., last of the country s Cannon factories has a cast Iron warehouse built in 1859 a believed to be the Only freestanding cast Iron warehouse left in America. By David Germain associated press it s like be Day All Over again for the last of the Cannon factories in the United states. The easing of soviet american tensions in Eastern Europe and expected cutbacks in military spending signal a further eroding of demand for artillery made at the 177-year-old Watervliet Arsenal near Albany n.y., the army a big gun shop. Quot like any military person i Welcome peace a says col. Joseph Mayton jr., Arsenal commander. But peace can mean red Ink when your Job is making the heavy hitters that paved the Way for american troops in five wars and Many skirmishes in the Las Century. Resembling a fortress behind its spiked wrought Iron Fence the Arsenal Sells about $150 million in cannons and mortars a year mostly to the army. It turns out 200 to 250 cannons and mortars a month its biggest seller a 120mm gun for the army s Abrams tank which May fall victim to president Bush spared Back defense budget since the last troops left Vietnam in 1975, the Arsenal has had to Quot go out looking for other work Quot says Arsenal spokesman John Swantek. The Plant has made Bridges for the marines and its forge can Quot fabricate nearly anything out of Metal that requires High precision tooling and Low production volume Mayton says. One of its hottest new lines Are to bars for military vehicles a far cry from the 16-Inch guns the Arsenal fashioned for battleships in world War ii. Among the last of those 16-Inch guns a the biggest the Arsenal Ever turned out a was the one that exploded aboard the battleship Iowa last april killing 47 sailors. A much disputed Navy investigation blamed the explosion aboard the battleship on sabotage by a disgruntled Sailor who died in the blast. The Arsenal no longer makes cannons that big but As Long As humans know How to make War the demand for big guns will be there Swantek says. Quot with All of the euphoria of what a going on in Eastern Europe then something happens like in Panama a and i m sure there were Watervliet Arsenal cannons Down there with them Quot Mayton says. About 10 army staffers oversee the Arsenal housed in 72 buildings but the rest of the 2,350 workers Are civilians. An Arsenal employing about 2,700 in Rock Island iii., makes carriages for howitzers produced in Watervliet. Employment at Watervliet peaked at 10,000 during world War ii. A 10-year, $350 million renovation has brought the latest in Cannon technology to the Arsenal including a laser guided Boring system and robotics machinery that has automated Many tasks. While that has eliminated the need for some jobs it s the a ebbs and flows Quot of War and peace that dictate employment Swantek says. The Arsenal will Cut about 100 jobs a year through retirements and other voluntary departures so Long As the peace lasts he says. A few years before world War it employment had dropped to about 140 and Quot there was talk about closing the Arsenal Quot and putting its 140 acres to other uses says William Bradford curator of the Arsenal s museum. Quot in peacetime people have said say that 140 acres would make a Nice Hospital or a Nice  then unfortunately along comes another War and people Are glad they did no to close it Quot Swantek says. The War department opened the Arsenal in 1813 to make powder horns Bullet pouches sword scabbards and other equipment. The government chose Watervliet because of its location near the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers. From Watervliet army supplies could be easily shipped to Western and northeastern new York where the British were Likely to attack from forts in Canada. The Arsenal was converted to Cannon production in the 1880s when Quot there were already rumblings about what was to come in Europe Quot Swantek says. Fearing an attack from Europe the army ordered Large Long Range cannons placed along the Atlantic coast. Until the Arsenal began making cannons the army s big guns were mostly made by private companies copying european weapons. Bradford says. Those companies often did shoddy work and to set up its seacoast defense the United states needed its own research and production area he says. While the invasion never came the research Effort put the United states at the front lines of artillery production just in time for the wars in Europe. Among the Arsenal s chiefs was col. J. Walker Benet a father of author Stephen Vincent Benet a who commanded the Arsenal from 1919 to 1921. The arsenals research Center the Benet Laboratory is named for him. After the wars strained relations Between the United states and soviet Union kept the Arsenal forges turning out cannons to defend Western Europe. Soviet Cannon factories churned out their own guns to Point West. A drawing hangs in the arsenals Quarter mile Long Quot big gun shop Quot showing a soviet Cannon Plant superimposed Over the Watervliet facility. The soviet Plant is More than twice the size a and its just one of three in the soviet Arsenal Swantek says. A past commander at Watervliet Hung the drawing to show Arsenal workers that although it was peacetime they still were fighting the cold War he says. With arms production slowing research on improved weapons continues at Benet Laboratory says research director Larry Johnson much of the lab s work deals with better production methods that could be used in other industries he says. But the main goal is to build a better Cannon which will remain a big part of the conventional weapons Arsenal for at least 25 years he says. Quot there a two ways of settling arguments nuclear deterrents or conventional deterrents Quot he says. Quot with conventional weapons people get Hurt but its not terminal to our  if old fashioned artillery warfare Breaks out the Arsenal has a plan to step up production and mobilize private Industry to begin producing cannons within a year. Quot you Hope the peace business goes on a Swantek says Quot but you have to wonder How Many ebbs and flows will there have been a Hundred years from now monday april 16, 1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 13