Army General Visits TACOM, Where 'The Art Of Possible' Is Developed

By Edward Cardenas

WARREN (CBS Detroit) - The work done by nearly 7,500 military and civilian employees working at TACOM Life Cycle Management Command in Warren has global reach.

TACOM is one of the Army's largest weapon systems research, development, and sustainment organizations which has responsibility for nearly 65 percent of all the equipment used by U.S. Army's ground forces around the world today and into the future.

It is also responsible for refurbishing equipment that is being returned from Afghanistan.

"TACOM is critically important to the mission not only today but for the future requirements that we will have," said U.S. Army Gen. Dennis Via, commanding general of Army Materiel Command which includes TACOM, during a visit Tuesday.

He met with the media while touring the facility and stated, "we could not accomplish our mission in the Army without what the great folks do here at TACOM do each and every day."

Via added that TACOM personnel work in "the art of possible" as they look develop items to be used in the future including autonomous vehicles which could be used by soldiers and keep them out of harm's way.

While personnel look to the future, Vie recognized the long history the facility has had in the heart of the "Arsenal of Democracy." TACOM was established in 1942 and is the second largest employer in the city with over 7,500 employees and has a $3 billion economic impact on the area.

But more importantly, it is "central to all the ground combat systems that we have" according to Via, a four-star general.

These efforts could be hampered going forward if federal sequestration cuts go into full effect in fiscal year 2016, which starts in October.

At TACOM, this could lead to cuts in employees, which would impact the ability to "sustain equipment and systems in the United States and around the world."

"At the end of the day it's about insuring that we never deploy America's sons and daughters into harm's way without being the best trained, the best led and best equipped that we could provide for them," Via said. "That 's what we owe our men and women who volunteer to serve in our armed forces."

As the current personnel work on the current and future weapons systems, there is also an effort attract the next generation of workforce for the Army Materiel Command. Via has kicked off an effort last month titled AMC 1,000 to hire 1,000 interns a year for the next five years.

The interns from fields including engineering, acquisition, logistics, human resources, financial management and science to work at command's location in across the country, including Warren.