SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — On Wednesday, Senator Dave McCormick made a stop in NEPA to tour two Army production plants. The purpose of Senator McCormick's visit? To get a firsthand look at how Pennsylvania is helping in our nation's defense.
Senator Dave McCormick, taking a guided tour of the Tobyhanna Army Depot on Wednesday.
The visit focuses on drones and new radar technology.
"Prototypes are being built to essentially create a scaled operation that's gonna support the next generation of war fighters. What I see is invention happening to try to make sure that we have the best state-of-the-art technology for our war fighters. And that's critical to both lethality, which is what Secretary Hegseth talks about, the lethality of our force, but also the protection of our force," Senator McCormick explained.
McCormick served in the army during the first Gulf War and says things have changed quite a bit since then.
"The technology today to be able to keep our soldiers safe and make them more capable in terms of confronting and destroying the enemy is wildly different than when I was a soldier more than 30 years ago," Senator McCormick continued.
The army depot employs around 3,200 people and is planning on expanding its radar campus.
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"Things are changing for us, getting into more software development, microelectronics, and more of the response to that rapid technology, such as the UAS capability, has been really important to us here. Our team has been very responsive in supporting those changes," Tobyhanna Army Depot Chief of Staff Kristyn Smith said.
Staff at the Army Depot say this provides a great opportunity for them to show off their capabilities.
"This is a team effort. The team here, very creative. Again, always trying to stay proactive. Not waiting for the requirement, but rather staying ahead of that. Being more responsive to our war fighters' needs," Smith stated.
The senator also visited the Scranton ammunition plant to see the process of how ammunition is made.
"The nature of warfare is changing, and to know that Pennsylvania can be at the front of that, for me as a West Point guy and a former soldier, is just very exciting," Senator McCormick added.
For context, both the Tobyhanna Army Depot and the Scranton Ammunition Plant have been open for around 75 years.
The senator is next headed to the Little League World Series in Williamsport.
