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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowMore than 200 workers at Camp Atterbury will be laid off at the end of the month as the base transitions from a mobilization site for U.S. troops to a mission focusing more on training.
Strategic Resources Inc., based in McLean, Va., told state officials last week that it planned to lay off 207 employees who worked at Camp Atterbury by Sept. 30. Those employees perform functions related to the mobilization, deployment and demobilization of soldiers.
SRI’s contract with the Department of Defense to provide support services at the camp was coming to an end, a company official told the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. SRI has provided services at the camp since July 9, 2007.
The layoffs were a direct result of the base's shift in mission, said Maj. Lisa Kopczynski, Camp Atterbury's spokeswoman.
The majority of workers to be laid off are administrative and clerical employees, craft workers and drivers. The layoffs are expected to be permanent, although the planned layoff date could be postponed, according to the company.
Camp Atterbury, about 40 miles south of Indianapolis near Edinburgh, was built in 1941 for World War II but saw its training role expand dramatically in 2003 when it was activated as a mobilization site for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
With those conflicts winding down, the military wants Atterbury to focus on training both reserve and active military units. It also will continue to stage homeland security training exercises and train defense contractors and employees of the State Department and Department of Defense.
The post doesn't expect to mobilize any service units next year—the first time that would happen in a decade. However, the camp will be prepared to do so if needed, Kopczynski said.
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