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32-674: The Stratford Army Engine Plant ( SAEP ) was a U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command installation and manufacturing facility located in Stratford, Connecticut , where it was sited along the Housatonic River and Main Street, opposite Sikorsky Memorial Airport . Prior to 1927, the SAEP property was farmland. The plant was originally built in 1929 as Sikorsky Aero Engineering Corporations 's manufacturing facility. It occupied

64-412: A pun on Black Friday ). After an extensive series of public hearings, analysis of DoD-supplied supporting data, and solicitation of comments from the public, the list of recommendations was revised by the 9-member Defense Base Closure and Realignments Commission in two days of public markups and votes on individual recommendations (the proceedings were broadcast by C-SPAN and are available for review on

96-483: A 124-acre (50 ha) tract and included 49 industrial buildings and an earthen causeway that was built 800 feet (240 m) into the Housatonic River mudflats to provide for access by seaplanes . The Sikorsky S-39 , Sikorsky S-40 "Flying Forest", Sikorsky S-41 , Sikorsky S-42 "Clipper" and Sikorsky S-43 "Baby Clipper" were built in this plant, which had a seaplane ramp for launching the aircraft into

128-590: A 1991 Environmental Baseline Survey/Preliminary Assessment Screening by the Corps of Engineers , a 1993 Remedial Investigation Report and a 1996 Environmental Baseline Survey Report have been done. Areas of environmental concern include: "Intertidal Flats where runoff and effluent have contaminated sediments with PCBs and metals; a Shoreline Fill Area where subsurface soil and groundwater are contaminated with fuel-related and halogenated volatile organic compounds (VOCs), polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and metals;

160-532: A branch at TACOM, which assists with the training and certification of employees in necessary logistics and acquisition methods for the U.S. federal government . This training and certification is made possible by many highly trained instructors on TACOM and elsewhere, providing lectures and briefings on these crucial logistic and acquisition areas. The BCT Ground Combat Vehicle Program is overseen by TACOM. Base Realignment and Closure The Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 , passed after

192-570: A turbine engine development effort in the plant and the Lycoming T53 , Lycoming T55 , Lycoming PLF1 , Lycoming LTS101/LPT101 , Lycoming ALF 502 , Lycoming AGT1500 and Lycoming TF-40 turbine engines were all designed, developed and manufactured in this facility. By 1968, 10,000 people were employed in the plant. In 1976, the plant was transferred from the Air Force to the Army and renamed

224-994: The Detroit Arsenal in Warren, Michigan , is part of the United States Army Materiel Command (AMC) . The entire complex that houses TACOM's headquarters is located on what is known as the Detroit Arsenal . TACOM has subordinate installations located at Anniston Army Depot in Alabama, Red River Army Depot in Texas, Sierra Army Depot in California, and Watervliet Arsenal in New York, and has significant numbers of personnel located at Rock Island Arsenal , Illinois, and Natick Soldier Center , Massachusetts. The Detroit Arsenal also houses

256-639: The House Armed Services Committee rejected calls by the Pentagon for base closures outside of a 2015 round by a 44 to 18 vote. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta had called for two rounds of base closures while at the same time arguing that the alternative of the sequester would be a "meat-ax" approach to cuts which would "hollow out" military forces. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014 specifically prohibits authorization of future BRAC rounds. In May 2014, it

288-455: The Navy considered cutting 34 military installations. The 1991 Base Realignment and Closure Commission included: The 1993 Base Realignment and Closure Commission included: The 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission included: The Pentagon released its proposed list for the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission on May 13, 2005 (a date given the moniker "BRAC Friday,"

320-736: The United States Department of Defense , recommended closure of the plant. In late 1995, Allied Signal announced that production would be shifted to its facility in Phoenix Arizona . On 30 September 1998, Allied Signal concluded operations in the plant and returned it to the US Army. AGT1500 production was shifted by the Army to the Anniston Army Depot (ANAD) in Anniston, Alabama . For the next 11 years

352-691: The 'Stratford Army Engine Plant'. Production of the LTS-101 and LPT-101 turbine engines was moved to Williamsport, Pennsylvania beginning in 1980. In 1987 Avco was purchased by Textron to become Textron Lycoming and in 1995, Allied Signal acquired the Lycoming Turbine Engine Division in Stratford. By this time, employment in the plant had fallen to 2,900 people. In July 1995 the Base Realignment and Closure of

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384-789: The 1947 reorganization of the National Military Establishment , reduced the number of U.S. military bases, forts, posts, and stations. The subsequent 1950s buildup for the Cold War (e.g., during the Korean War ) resulted in large numbers of new installations, such as the Permanent System radar stations and Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) control centers . By 1959, plans for even larger numbers of Cold War installations were canceled (e.g., DoD's June 19, 1959, Continental Air Defense Program reduced

416-492: The Army was involved with "Team Stratford" to develop the property. On 19 March 2008 the United States Army auctioned the 78-acre (320,000 m) site off with a winning bid of $ 9,612,000 which also included the 1,720,000-square-foot (160,000 m) facility of over 50 buildings. This bid failed to be paid off and was placed for rebid. Robert Hartmann of Hartmann Development has a $ 1 billion plan to develop

448-539: The Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission. The BRAC is an independent nine-member panel appointed by the President. This panel evaluated the list by taking testimony from interested parties and visiting affected bases. The BRAC Commission had the opportunity to add bases to the list and did so in a July 19, 2005, hearing. The Commission met its deadline of September 2005 to provide the evaluated list to

480-589: The Housatonic River damaged much of the facility. In 1951 the US Air Force had purchased the facility and renamed it Air Force Plant No. 43. Avco Corporation became the contractor operating the plant, repaired the damaged buildings, and built dikes. the same year Avco moved its division Lycoming into the plant, which was a contractor to the U.S. Army Aviation Systems Command and began manufacturing Wright R-1820 piston engines and General Electric J47 components there. In 1952 Lycoming had Anselm Franz set up

512-678: The Housatonic River under a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit. Beginning in 1980, waste lagoons were regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and part of a 'treatment, storage, or disposal facility'. The lagoons were closed under RCRA during the 1980s. In 1983 the plant was cited for violations of the Toxic Substances Control Act regarding reporting of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)-containing transformers. Subsurface investigations in 1981, 1983, 1985, and 1986,

544-554: The Housatonic River. When sales of amphibians fell in the late 1930s, due to the growing popularity of land-based aircraft, Sikorsky was merged with the Chance Vought Company by their parent United Aircraft in 1938. The Vought-Sikorsky company then built the Vought-Sikorsky VS-44 , Vought-Sikorsky OS2U Kingfisher , Vought-Sikorsky F4U Corsair and Vought-Sikorsky V-173 in the facility. After

576-671: The Plating and Manufacturing Area, where "greenish-blue" groundwater pumped from the area has been documented to contain metals including chromium and lead, halogenated VOCs, PAHs, and cyanide; the Building B-2/North Parking Lot/West Parking Lot area, where subsurface soils comprise ash and cinder fill and contain PAHs and groundwater is contaminated with halogenated VOCs; Building B-65, where chromium- and petroleum-contaminated soils were discovered;

608-512: The President, who approved the list with the condition that it could only be approved or disapproved in its entirety. On November 7, 2005, the approved list was then given to Congress, who had the opportunity to disapprove the entire list within 45 days by enacting a resolution of disapproval. This did not happen, and the BRAC Commission's recommendations became final. The 1988 Base Realignment and Closure Commission included: In 1990,

640-720: The Research and Development Area, where subsurface soil and groundwater contamination is suspected; the South Parking Lot/Chemical Waste Treatment Plant/Closed Lagoons area, where halogenated VOCs and metals have been detected in groundwater; and the Testing Area, where subsurface soils are contaminated with fuel-related and halogenated VOCs and PAHs, and groundwater is contaminated with halogenated VOCs." Furthermore, surface water and sediment samples downstream of

672-723: The State House of Representatives and the State Senate had passed a bill to create a special tax district at the plant to levy taxes and issue bonds. This will help finance the redevelopment project, particularly road construction, sewage systems, and environmental remediation. 41°10′10″N 73°07′19″W  /  41.16944°N 73.12194°W  / 41.16944; -73.12194 Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command The United States Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command ( TACOM ), and its subordinate Life Cycle Management Command (LCMC) , headquartered at

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704-638: The combined company was broken into Vought Aircraft and Sikorsky Aircraft in January 1943, Vought built the Vought TBY Sea Wolf , Vought XF5U , Vought F6U Pirate and prototype Vought F7U Cutlass in the facility. Igor Sikorsky , given $ 250,000 for helicopter development by United Aircraft, also developed the Vought-Sikorsky VS-300 , Vought-Sikorsky VS-316 R-4 , Vought-Sikorsky VS-327 R-5 and Vought-Sikorsky VS-316B R-6 in

736-481: The developer 'Point Stratford Renewal' DEEP and the U.S. Army as of June 2014 still need to agree on the degree of clean up the Housatonic riverbed. Residential developers have shown the most interest as of 2014, planning up to 1,500 residential units. Point Stratford Renewal is a collaboration of the three Connecticut companies Loureiro Properties LLC, Development Resources LLC and Sedgwick Partners LLC. In May 2014

768-531: The former plant into a destination resort , dependent on the US government selling him the entire property for one dollar. The Connecticut Air and Space Center occupies part of the site. Investigation of the brownfield to understand the extent of releases and to determine cleanup are ongoing as of 2014. The wastes of nearly 70 years of aircraft construction included waste oil , fuels, solvents, and paints. An on-site chemical waste treatment plant released effluent to

800-642: The laboratories and facilities of TACOM's partner for ground vehicle technology and engineering, the United States Army CCDC Ground Vehicle Systems Center (GVSC), formerly known as United States Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC), an element of the United States Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC). Defense Acquisition University (DAU) has

832-399: The network's website). The Commission submitted its revised list to the President on September 8, 2005. The President approved the list and notified Congress on September 15. The House of Representatives took up a joint resolution to disapprove the recommendations on October 26, but the resolution failed to pass. The recommendations were thereby enacted. The Secretary of Defense must implement

864-457: The number of Super Combat Center underground nuclear bunkers to 7). In 1958, U.S. Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) began to replace Strategic Air Command bombers. From 1960 to 1964, the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations closed 574 U.S. military bases around the world, particularly after President John F. Kennedy was briefed after his inauguration that the missile gap

896-403: The plant show contamination with halogenated VOCs, PCBs, and metals. Numerous monitoring wells downgradient of the sources on the plant have been dug, and ground water samples also contain fuel-related and halogenated VOCs and metals. The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) leads oversight of the site's environmental remediation . Before selling the property to

928-535: The plant. Sikorsky's production was moved to a plant in Bridgeport Connecticut in 1943 and Vought production was moved to an empty US government facility in Dallas Texas in 1949. In 1954 Sikorsky moved the majority of their manufacturing to a new plant on the north side of Stratford, further up the Housatonic River. This move left the Stratford plant vacant, and soon afterward, flooding from

960-665: The recommendations no later than September 15, 2011. Major facilities slated for closure included: Major facilities slated for realignment include: Twenty-six bases were realigned into 12 joint bases , with each joint base's installation support being led by the Army , the Air Force, or the Navy. An example is Joint Base Lewis–McChord , Washington, combining Fort Lewis and McChord Air Force Base . The 2005 Commission recommended that Congress authorize another BRAC round in 2015 and every eight years thereafter. On May 10, 2012,

992-590: Was attempted to fund another round of BRAC, although funding was not approved in a vote in May of that year. In March 2015, the Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations, and Environment addressed the possibility of a future BRAC, indicating that the DOD, Defense Secretary Ash Carter was requesting authority to conduct another BRAC. In September 2015, at the tenth anniversary of

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1024-522: Was not a concern. The Defense Base Realignment and Closure Act of 1990 provided "the basic framework for the transfer and disposal of military installations closed during the base realignment and closure (BRAC) process". The process was created in 1988 to reduce pork barrel politics with members of Congress that arise when facilities face activity reductions. The most recent process began May 13, 2005, when Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld forwarded his recommendations for realignments and closures to

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