April 10th, 2009 by Reed Allmand 
According to an article in the Star-Telegram, military cuts proposed by Defense Secretary Robert Gates may send more Dallas-Fort Worth workers to the unemployment line.
The article said:
High on the list of military procurement programs that Gates wants to kill is Boeing’s giant, nimble and $180 million C-17 Globemaster III cargo plane, a big part of which is built by Vought in Dallas…The C-17, including manufacturing and support workers, accounts for about 1,000 of the 3,200 jobs at Vought’s main west Dallas plant on Jefferson Street. Vought produces the tail section, the nacelles that enclose the four huge jet engines and other components at that facility.
An additional 200 workers are employed on the C-17 program by Texas suppliers of Vought.
If the proposed military cuts go through, it could cause at least 1200 job loss in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Plus, if production on the aircraft is ended, this would inevitably affect the company’s revenue and could possibly have a domino affect causing them to implement more job losses just to trim costs and remain in the black financially. Workers suffering job losses in the airline industry (manufacturing or carriers) most likely would have a very difficult time finding replacement work in their field because this is an industry that is experiencing severe contractions. And cutting back on the production of military equipment will especially hit U.S. manufacturers and the companies that depend on them hard.
About Reed Allmand
Allmand's vision is rooted in his own financially precarious childhood in Abilene "My father always had difficulty holding a job and supporting our family, so after my parents divorced when I was 12, my sister and I got jobs to help make ends meet," he recalls. "I remember what it felt like as a child to worry that our car would be repossessed or home foreclosed on."
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