More on Closures

I have done some checking on the closure of the Army Ammunition Plants I referenced here. It appears that none of the closed facilities produce small arms ammunition. The shortages I seem to recall were about small arms ammunition, so that was my primary concern. I am verifying this from a DA pamphlet dated 1982, so I could be wrong. It appears that all of the facilities involved make mortar and artillery rounds along with some other odds and ends.

The Army thinks the closures will lead to increased efficiency and reduced cost. The plan is also to create “Joint Munitions Centers of Excellence”. I think that’s DOD speak for a manufacturing facility where they pat each other on the back and tell themselves how wonderful they are. I’m basing this opinion off of my experience with the “Communities of Excellence” program, which never seemed to make any appreciable difference to my life in said excellent communities.

I'll also note in passing that some people out there think it's a giant plot to remove military spending from blue states. I honestly don't know if that's the case, but it seems to me many of the people making that argument don't know enough about the details of the proposed changes to discern if there are valid reasons for the proposals. The logic seems no deeper than Net Blue State Loss and Net Red State Gain means Political Plot. If you're going to make that argument, you need to provide some evidence for it other than raw numbers. I haven't seen that evidence yet.