Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-04-06

0AHAAC0 W WIZ 4NoN . OWASA
which. like the Gun Factory,
year with reductions in force
blamed on the transition from
guns to missiles.
Top Navy officials have been
making an intensive review OF
the situations Of the two multi
million dollar factories. Some
announcement on this may
come soon.
Involved also. Of course. are
the forthcoming decisions by
Congress on appropriations for
the Navy programs and to some
degree, perhaps. the pressure
of some private manufacturers
to capture some Of the orders
that might go to these his
toric Navy installations.
But one ofilcial who follows
the work Of the Bureau Of Ord
nance sought to quiet anxieties
Of the work forces of the fac
tories by commenting: "The
programs are under study. Be
patient: let's see how it works
out"
Civilian leaders who know
the capabilities of the two
naval factories say it is incon-
ceivable that installations hav-
ing such tremendous assets in
plant. machines and highly
skilled personnel could be either
abandoned or even cut down to
an insignificant role.
Weapons Changes
And the men to run these
plants say they have been en-
abled to keep pace with drastic
changes in modern weapons.
Their attitude might be
summed up like this: We are
ready. able and willing to carry
out any new missions assigned
to us.
And yet there are concerns.
for the Powder Factory suf-
fered a cutback Of 800 men in
its civilian force in the past
year and a half. bringing the
current total down to 1880,
This was an economic blow to
Indian Head and Charles
County. according to civilian
leaders. such as John Thomas
Parran. jr.. Delegate to the
Maryland legislature.
The Gun Factory. proud Of
its teams of skilled technicians
and laborers housed in 200
buildings on 125 acres at the
mouth of the Anacostia. re-
eeived a Jolt in February when
about 500 men had to be
dropped.
This is but a part Of what
has happened there since the
showdown began after the war
and the big push for modern
weapons systems. Back in
June. 1914. the Gun Factory
employed 22,3o0. Today it is
down to shout $500.
Worries increased when Rear
Admiral Frederic s. Withing-
ton, retiring as chief Of ord
nance Oh March S, remarked
at a farewell press conference
on the uncertain future Of the
plant, although he expressed
hope it would continue to
function at about its present
employment level.
500 Million Investment
The Gun Factory represents
an investment. at acquisition
cost figures for land. buildings
and equipment. Of about 500
million. 1t has an annual OPP
Grafton cost Of about $50 mil
lion.
Not all of this. however, Is
fer functions directly assigned
to the Gun Factory as such.
Accommodations are provided
there for q wide variety Of
services Of the Navy and item
ant" organizations. One view
was that while proper charges
Of such costs are made some
where in a mass Of budget
accounts any general summa-
ton seems to make the costs
Of the Gun Factory seem
higher than they actually are.
The amount is said to be con-
siderable.
The Gun Factory Is no
longer turning out guns. But
1t hasn't become q petrified
forest Of machines. Under new
missions" assigned to 1t the
factory has been keeping pace
with the latest weapons. Today
~ per cent Of its work orders
deal with missile launching
systems.
Among other projects there
Is work on components Of the
Regulus and Tartar missiles.
on the Hedgehog rocket
launcher and the Mark 1903
antisubmarine launcher and
pilot runs on modern mines.
The plant also made telescopes
to track American satellites.
The men Of the factory love
to talk about the marvellous ca
liabilities Of their machine
tools. There are some 5000 Of
them. and a few Of the mon
sters are valued at 100000
each. II is stressed that the
plant has general purpose"
tools that can be used for a
wide variety Of work. not Just
for turning out warship rifles
no longer needed.
Skills Recognized
There is recognition. too. Of
the value Of the skilled force.
One high Government official
commented: They are the
people we call on first in time
Of need"
The Indian Head plant. also,
has been enabled to keep pace
with the times. II no longer
turns out only smokeless pow
der, but has been modernizeo
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