The odds are good that unless you are really into blowing things up, say professionally so, that you have not heard of the Radford Army Ammunitions plant. For those of you who have not here is a look at how the company that runs the base, ATK, describes the facility, “ATK Energetic Systems operates the Radford Army Ammunition Plant (RFAAP) in Radford, Virginia, where it produces rocket and gun propellants and other energetic materials. RFAAP was built in the 1940s by Hercules Powder Company (acquired by ATK in 1995), to support military ammunition requirements during World War II. Today, RFAAP is the only U.S. active full-spectrum military propellant manufacturing center. With the capacity to produce over 11 million pounds of propellants, 26 million pounds of nitrocellulose, 15 million pounds of explosives, and 9 million rounds of medium caliber ammunition per year, RFAAP is critical to the National Technology Industrial Base.” Well it look the base is going to be cutting back on a lot of workers at the plant.

How many workers are going to be out of a job? According to the official reports about 840 of the workers at the facility are going to be put out of a job. The reason behind such steep cuts is simple, the company has lost its contract to run the base to a competitor, BAE systems. The new company will come onto the base on the 1^st of July so all of the ATK workers have to be out of the facility by that time.

Some of you may recall BAE systems from some layoffs that they inflicted on their workers earlier in this year. For those of you who missed out on that earlier coverage here is an expert that will get you up to speed in no time at all, “The company apparently believes that they can be in the forefront without a significant number of its workers. The company is getting ready to get rid of about 600 of its workers in the near future. More than 300 of those will come from a facility that the company is closing. The facility in question, which is based in the town of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, has been used for military manufacturing since before the First World War. That facility, which dates back to the 1840’s, will lose 330 workers as it shuts down. The rest of the job cuts, number about 280 in total, will comes from sites in Radway Green, and South Wales, making these layoffs fairly serious in scope.”

BAE may choose to hire back on any of the surplussed workers that they choose to for the facility. At the current moment the company has given no indication that they plan to bring on a portion of the soon to be laid off workers so only time will tell if they are going to choose to keep on the existing staff or if they are going to bring in their own people to do the jobs needed in order to run the facility.