User: jhealey Time: 03-24-2012 23:07 Product: Times_Leader PubDate: 03-25-2012 Zone: Main Edition: Main_Run PageName: news_f PageNo: 1 A
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WILKES-BARRE, PA
SUNDAY, MARCH 25, 2012
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D E A D LY B L A Z E
8 killed, including 6 kids, in W.V. fire
TOBYHANNA AT 100
The blaze was one of Charleston’s deadliest house fires in decades. By JOHN RABY Associated Press
small village it’s in is synonymous in military circles with excellence in electronics. Originally used in 1912 as an artillery training camp for the Army, the center grew and evolved over 100 years from a few hundred leased acres to more than 20,000 owned acres and then back down to its current size.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Alisha Carter-Camp had a new job, a wedding to plan and a 26th birthday to celebrate with a family cookout and toasts to the birthday girl in a yard full of children. By the end of the night, she was among eight dead, including six children, in one of the city’s deadliest house fires in decades. The blaze tore through the two-story home while the family slept early Saturday, hours after the last guest left CarterCamp’s party, authorities said. The dead children ranged from18 months to 8. A seventh child, a 7-year-old boy, was hospitalized on life support. The cause was under in- Authorities vestigation, although ar- said all the son wasn’t victims were suspected, related, but Charleston they weren’t Mayor Danny Jones sure how and said. The fire didn’t know startedabout how many 3:30 a.m. on lived full-time the first floor. Jones said in the home. the home had just one working smoke detector; the city required several. A building inspection that had been scheduled for last month didn’t happen because only children were home at the time. A children’s picnic table, chairs and an umbrella were overturned in the yard of the home, roped off by police tape on a corner in a neighborhood tightly packed with small houses in north Charleston. Flames and smoke blackened the front of the house Two huge front windows were shat-
See ELECTRONICS, Page 8A
See FIRE, Page 7A
SUBMITTED PHOTO
An aerial view shows the extent of the Tobyhanna Army Depot in Monroe County. Steve Zaricki with the NEPA Alliance said the depot, which employs more than 5,500 people, is unique in that it impacts people and businesses in such a large geographic area.
Military milestone
Depot survives closure and continues to grow By ANDREW M. SEDER aseder@timesleader.com
TOBYHANNA – The Tobyhanna Army Depot will celebrate 100 years of military presence in the Poconos this summer -- a milestone that was uncertain 17 years ago. In 1995, the depot found itself on a short list of U.S. military installations identified by an independent review panel charged with deciding which facilities to close. Residents and leaders throughout Northeast Pennsylvania rallied around the region’s largest employer and staved off closure. “Itwasanemotionaltime,”saidJamesAntonelli, 54, of Sugarloaf Township, who has
WORK BY MILITARY BRANCH Workers at Tobyhanna Army Depot are contracted by the military branches. The Army is still the prominent contractor, but consolidations at Air Force facilities have boosted work done for that branch.
Air Force 15%
Electronics is the depot’s forte By ANDREW M. SEDER aseder@timesleader.com
Navy Marines 4% 4%
Army 77%
See MILESTONE, Page 16A INSIDE: Tough job to get, Page 8A
Mark Guydish/The Times Leader
TOBYHANNA -- When the U.S. Army first arrived in Tobyhanna a century ago, ice-harvesting operations and the nearby railroad were the primary industries. Now the depot that the military established on 1,296 acres on the Pocono Plateau is the region’s largest employer and the name of the once
Nuisance or gadfly? Kadluboski stands ground
“When you’re forced to sit back and watch what’s been going on and nobody does anything, it’s frustrating.”
To City Council, he’s a pain in the neck, but the tow-truck owner says he’s fighting injustice in high places. By BILL O’BOYLE boboyle@timesleader.com
Bob Kadluboski
PETE G. WILCOX/THE TIMES LEADER
INSIDE
DON CAREY/THE TIMES LEADER
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WILKES-BARRE – Bob Kadluboski says he is not crazy, but he is frustrated and angry. His appearance and behavior may make some people wonder. He wears camouflage clothing and wears sunglasses, almost always. He routinely hurls insulting barbs and makes accusa-
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tions at officials at city meetings. He has oinked like a pig while addressing City Council and Mayor Tom Leighton. He has chanted “Russia, Russia,” while being removed from a meeting. Council views him as an antagonist, and members have said privately they are wary of him. But behind that is a guy who says he feels he has been harmed by the city administration. Kadluboski, 56, has many faces and many personas. He has tracked down criminals to aid police – even detaining some while officers were en route. He has a permit to carry a concealed
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weapon – he has drawn it but never fired it at anyone. He listens to the police scanner constantly. He works long days – usually 12 to 18 hours. He still has private contracts to tow vehicles – a business he learned at an early age and one that, he said, no longer provides the income it once did. Kadluboski never married. “I’m way too smart to get married,” he said. Learned by doing A native of Wilkes-Barre, Kadluboski See KADLUBOSKI, Page 6A
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User: jhealey Time: 03-24-2012 21:44 Product: Times_Leader PubDate: 03-25-2012 Zone: Main Edition: Main_Run PageName: news_03 PageNo: 8 A
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PAGE 8A SUNDAY, MARCH 25, 2012
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THE TIMES LEADER
Getting hired at depot is tough job
E M P LOY M E N T DATA The decision to work at Tobyhanna, for most, becomes The Tobyhanna Army Depot has seen its workforce rise and fall a lifetime career decision. By ANDREW M. SEDER aseder@timesleader.com
TOBYHANNA – Workers at the Tobyhanna Army Depot are well aware of how lucky they are to work at the region’s largest employer. Jobs at Tobyhanna are not easy to come by. Last year, when 300 jobs became available, the depot received 40,000 applications. The new hires were able to be part of a major milestone: achieving more than $1 billion in defense-related work orders. That’s something state Sen. John Blake, D-Archbald, noted in comments about the depot’s impact on the region and many families, including his own. “Within the past five years when the worst economic recession in 80 years visited upon our nation and this commonwealth, Tobyhanna stood strong in service to our military as a robust job growth engine providing family sustaining wages to a skilled
over the past 30 years but in 2007 it topped 5,000 employees for the first time and has yet to dip back under that threshold. 1980: 3,537 1985: 4,553 1990: 3,993 1995: 3,501 2000: 3,071 2005: 4,209 2010: 5,505 SOURCE: Tobyhanna Army Depot
Northeastern Pennsylvania work force,” said Blake, whose father worked at Tobyhanna for more than 30 years. “The Army’s presence in our region had much to do with the quality of life my family enjoyed as I was growing up in Archbald,” said Blake, whose district includes all of Lackawanna County, and portions of Luzerne and Monroe counties, including the depot. Dan Nawrocki, 53, of Duryea, didn’t hesitate to apply when jobs were advertised for Tobyhanna in 2000, even though he was gainfully employed at Ar-
DON CAREY/THE TIMES LEADER
Employees exit through the main gate at Tobyhanna Army Depot.
lington Industries in the Staufer Industrial Park in Taylor. “They were a good company to work for, but when this opportunity arose, I had to give them two weeks’ notice,” Nawrocki, a Pittston Area High School graduate said. “It’s not that I didn’t like my job, but if you can get in at Tobyhanna,” do it. The decision to work at Tobyhanna, for most people, becomes a lifetime career decision. Many employees wind up retiring with the depot, said James Antonelli, a graduate of MMI who lives in Sugarloaf Township and has worked at the depot for 26 years. He said the attrition rate is so low because employees enjoy their jobs, their importance to the country, opportunities for
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Through the years the facility served as -- among other things -a school for militia officers, a signal depot, a World War II German prisoner of war camp and a training center for anti-aircraft gunners, tank operators and ambulance corps. But electronics became the depot’s forté in recent decades, and Tobyhanna now is considered the largest, full-service electronics maintenance facility in the Department of Defense. When it opened as a signal depot in 1953, it employed 625 people. More than 5,500 people are employed at the Monroe County facility today, and some estimates show that it generates $4.4 billion in economic impact around Northeastern Pennsylvania. Workers are drawn from an 11county area but Lackawanna (1,998) and Luzerne (1,409) are the two counties where the most employees live. While electronics has become a catch-all term for what goes on at the depot, it doesn’t do the real work going on much justice. Ed Mickley, the depot’s public affairs officer who served in the
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U.S. Marines, said the insider’s term for what the depot does can be boiled down to an acronym containing four letters and one number. “C4ISR,” Mickley, of Gouldsboro, said. “Command, control, communication, computer, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. That encompasses our mission.” He said the depot is tasked with “repairing, replacing, manufacturing, maintaining, upgrading and renovating” electronics of all shapes and sizes that are used in weapons, vehicles, communication devices and more. There are more than 150 buildings on the sprawling grounds that occupy a footprint of 1.9 million square feet. Though the facility’s name includes just one of the military’s four branches, it does work for all four. The Army, which first used the land, is still the predominant client with close to 80 percent of work performed for it. But the Air Force, thanks to the closing of other facilities that did similar work, now accounts for 15 percent of the work. The Navy and Marines make up the rest. “The joke is that we’re called ‘Joint Depot Purple,’ ” Mickley said, noting the colors associated with the four branches – green, blue and gray – combine to form a sort of purple hue.
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advancement and being part of something unique and rewarding. “There’s a lot of people that want to get into the depot. It’s not because it’s easy work, but it’s a rewarding job experience and career,” said Sue Rudat, 50, of Duryea, who’s worked at the facility for seven years. While many people watch the evening news or read the morning paper and give a cursory look at the goings on in American military operations overseas, workers like Antonelli have a different perspective. They can sometimes catch a glimpse of a piece of equipment Tobyhanna has played a role in repairing or designing and feel a sense of pride that they aided the war effort in some way.
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User: jhealey Time: 03-24-2012 22:19 Product: Times_Leader PubDate: 03-25-2012 Zone: Main Edition: Main_Run PageName: news_10 PageNo: 16 A
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THE TIMES LEADER
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A CENTURY AT TOBYHANNA 1912: The Army first arrived at Tobyhanna after Maj. Charles P. Summerall, given the assignment to find an East Coast location for an artillery training camp, visited the Poconos. Summerall leased land for $300 from Dr. George Rhoads, a prominent local resident, and directed the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery to train there. The unit remained in the Poconos until October. 1913: The initial camp proved so successful that the Army returned the next summer and set up a camp of instruction for militia batteries and a school for militia officers. The 3rd Field Artillery marched to Tobyhanna from Fort Myer, leaving Virginia on June 2 and arriving at Tobyhanna on June 18.
TOBYHANNA WORKFORCE BY COUNTY Susquehanna
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worked at the depot since 1985. Robert Katulka, 48, of Mountain Top, started a year after Antonelli and recalled the fight to save his workplace. “There was a lot of activity and a lot of interest both in the depot and with local officials. In some ways it was very exciting; in some ways stressful,” Katulka said. “It was a display of what the area can do when they focus on a common task. It was an example of a shining moment.” While thousands of their neighbors work at the facility, it wasn’t until they almost lost the depot that area residents really understood what it meant for the region’s economy. “That (1995) was the first time the community realized what was here,” Antonelli.
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1941: Pearl Harbor attack prompted the Army to train anti-aircraft gunners at Tobyhanna. Gun range exceeded boundaries of the 23,000-acre reservation, and farmers complained.
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Source: Tobyhanna Army Depot
Mark Guydish/The Times Leader
viewed for this story used was “devastating.” Antonelli said that what a major downsizing or closing “would do to the local unemployment rate, the local tax base, the value of people’s homes, I would think it would be a significant negative impact. Devastating would probably be a good word.” Steve Zaricki, with the NEPA Alliance, an economic development organization serving the region, said Tobyhanna is unique in that it impacts people and businesses in such a large geographic area. Emphasis on quality “I’m not familiar with any other Thinking back to1985, Katulka industry that comes close to these recalled “it was a different world numbers,” Zaricki said after reel… there were many more depots.” ing off the economic impact associated with the deBut as technology has P U B L I C I N V I T E D pot. More than 5,500 people are evolved and conflicts have The Tobyhanna Army Depot will employed by the Monroe County raged in Iraq, open its gates to the public on Saturday, June 23, from 9 a.m. facility and some Afghanistan, to 4 p.m. for a celebration of estimates show Somalia and the Army’s century-long affilthat it generates Bosnia, the de- iation with Tobyhanna. Guided $4.4 billion in repot has contin- tours of the depot, a car show, gional economic ually met the Humvee rides, historic military activity. challenges and equipment and vehicles on display, a children’s carnival and Other than stepped up pro- drop-ins from the Army’s GoldWyoming County duction. en Knights parachute team will based Procter & “Our employ- be part of the celebration. ees take pride There will also be a 5K run and Gamble Co., Zaricki said nothing when repairing parade at the depot. even comes close. equipment for “Four point our war fighters,” Gibson said. “Best quality, four billion dollars,” Zaricki said, lowest cost, on-time delivery. Our “is a lot of money.” foremost mission is providing the highest quality support to our Unique position now Even with the challenges and armed forces, but we also believe we have an obligation to the peo- uncertainties the depot has faced ple of Northeastern Pennsylvania over its history, those working to maintain Tobyhanna as a key there believe its future is safe. “There’s really no other facility component of the regional econothat can duplicate what Tobyhanmy.” Katulka, a Meyers High School na has,” Rudat said. “So that’s an graduate, said the region’s work advantage we have within the ethic is partly to credit for the de- (Department of Defense).” The depot has become so espot’s success. “I’ll stack our people up against sential that shutting it down any installation in the country,” wouldnotonlyhurttheregionbut could hurt the military, too. Katulka said. “This is an enduring installaWhen the discussion turns to the potential loss of Tobyhanna tion,” said Katulka. “That’s not and its impact on the region, the me saying that. That’s the Army word multiple people inter- that’s said that. We’re going to be around in some shape or form. Tobyhanna Army Like everything else we’re going Depot employee to continue to evolve. … We’ll be Dan Nawrocki around. We think we have a bright sits in front of future not withstanding the chalunits he helped lenges that we’ve got ahead of us.” refurbish. Those challenges, Antonelli said, include “declining defense budgets, the changes to the Army force structure. As they go down there will be less need for our equipment. Disposable technology means big changes. Money’s DON CAREY/THE TIMES LEADER driving most of it.”
Large regional footprint Sue Rudat, 50, of Duryea, said the depot’s footprint is so large – drawing employees from an 11 county area – that rallying around it is unusual. “It took the Katulka BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure Commission) to pull it together,” said Rudat, whohasworked at the installation for seven Nawrocki years. While Tobyhanna was spared in the 1995 and more BRAC closures in 2005, other regions weren’t so lucky. But Rudat their loss was Northeastern Pennsylvania’s gain. More than 100 workers were transferred from California’s Antonelli McClellan Air Force Base to Tobyhanna. As depots and work performed at bases nationwide were cut, Tobyhanna continued to pick up new contracts, which in the military world means survival since there are Department of Defense line items specific to depots. Depots operate on revenue generated from contracts with the armed forces, not dedicated allocations. “We operate as a business. Depots are the closest thing in government to the private sector. It’s our corporate philosophy that has made the organization successful,” said Col. Charles C. Gibson, commander of the Tobyhanna Army Depot.
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DON CAREY/THE TIMES LEADER
A helicopter is on display at the Tobyhanna Army Depot.
MILESTONE
1912
That business philosophy also dictates that there’s always a better, more efficient way to do thingsandemployeesareurgedto come up with ideas and methods that could achieve that goal. “Tobyhanna has survived and grown because of the quality of its products and services, and the efficiency and productivity of our workforce. We constantly stress to our managers and employees that we must continually improve in all areas of our operations if we are to remain the best value for our customers,” Gibson said.
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1945: At the end of World War II, the site became a prisoner-of-war holding facility for German POWs. 1949: The Army gave most of the land to Pennsylvania, which would turn it into Gouldsboro and Tobyhanna state parks and state game lands. 1951: The Army formally announced its plan to reacquire 1,400 acres of the former Tobyhanna Military Reservation for a new $35 million supply depot. Site design and preparation began later that year.
1950
1953: The Tobyhanna Signal Depot is officially established on Feb. 1. 1954: On May 19, the Baltimore Signal Depot is deactivated and consolidated with the Tobyhanna Signal Depot. 1961: When the Decatur Signal Depot in Illinois closed on April 1, Tobyhanna's mission area was extended to include Virginia, West Virginia, and Ohio.
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1982: The Tobyhanna Army Depot, accustomed to visits from military personnel, documented a first when John O. Marsh, the Secretary of the Army, dropped by. The unannounced visit came during a week-long Armed Forces Open House event. 1985: On Aug. 15, the railroad service running to and from the depot ends. Depot-owned rail equipment, including two diesel engines, is transferred to other Defense Department installations. 1993: The military ranked Tobyhanna No. 1 of the 10 Army depots in the country, based on overall quality of job performance, cost effectiveness and expandability. 1995: The region rallied around the depot when it was considered for closure. A Blue Ribbon Task Force coordinated a ”Keep the Best” campaign. The Base Realignment and Closure Commission closed Sacramento Air Logistics Center and directed its ground communications-electronics workload to Tobyhanna. At the time, the depot employed 3,589 people. 2004: The depot begins hiring additional employees to handle increased workloads. Its workforce was at 3,300, more than 1,200 less than a decade earlier. 2005: On Nov. 11, President George W. Bush gives a Veterans Day speech at the depot: “Tobyhanna is a fitting place to commemorate Veterans Day. In the better part of a century, this facility has provided critical services for our armed forces. Around the clock and around the world, personnel from here maintain technology that our troops use to take the fight to the enemy.”
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2012: With a workforce of 5,500, the depot marks 100 years of military presence in Tobyhanna. Information and black/white photos: Tobyhanna Army Depot
George W. Bush Photo: Times Leader Archives
Mark Guydish/The Times Leader