Quad Cities pleased arsenal is staying open

About 12-hundred jobs at the Rock Island arsenal would be cut if recommendations released today (Friday) by the Pentagon are endorsed by Congress. Quad City Development group president Thom Hart says things could have been worse — the report could have called for the arsenal’s closure. “I think to have a glass that’s 80 percent full — we’re pretty pleased with that frankly,” Hart says. Congressman Jim Nussle, who represents the Quad Cities, says there’s no doubt the Rock Island Arsenal has been on the list for potential closure for some time. “The mere fact that we can talk about the many jobs that will continue and the mission that will continue is a testament to the people (who) work there and the leadership of a community (that) has pulled together,” Nussle says. Nussle says there’s a bright side to this — the arsenal is not on the list of military installations targeted for shutdown. Iowa National Guard officials plan a four o’clock news conference to discuss the Pentagon report’s recommendations for their facilities. If the plan becomes reality, over two-hundred military jobs at the Armed Forces Reserve Center at Camp Dodge just north of Des Moines would be cut but there would be new staff at the Air Guard facilities in Des Moines and Sioux City.