The Army Materiel Command’s decision to close two of its operations in the Netherlands won’t have much of an effect on similar operations in Italy and Luxembourg, a command spokesman said.
Chuck Fick, a spokesman for the command’s European headquarters in Eygelshoven, Netherlands, said Tuesday that it will be pretty much “business as usual” for AMC’s other operations in the theater.
“Livorno’s business will get a slight bump in action, as will Luxembourg’s,” he said. That will mainly involve transferring some equipment stored at the bases in Brunssum and Almelo, which are set to close early next year.
He said sizeable local national work forces — more than 200 have been employed in Livorno for decades — might be worried about their futures.
Fick acknowledged that rumors sometimes run wild in such cases. But military officials in Livorno are more concerned about upcoming construction projects — dominated by new warehouses to house equipment stored there — than closing down facilities.
“The move in the Netherlands stands on its own,” Fick said. “It has nothing to do with activity in Livorno or Luxembourg.
“People often take that inferential leap. But we cannot assume in any form that this action is a precursor [for closing other operations].”
Leghorn Depot, next to Camp Darby in northwest Italy, is a way station of sorts for roughly a brigade’s worth of heavy equipment used in Europe and places such as Southwest Asia. Military and local national workers often make repairs or upgrades to the equipment before it gets shipped out for duty again.