The Pentagon has awarded a three-month extension to a contract for refurbishing Army Humvees that provides jobs for 250 workers at Maine Military Authority’s operations at the former Loring Air Force Base, officials said.
The contract, which calls for upgrading the armor and overhauling 42 Humvees a month, is a temporary fix for the authority’s Maine Readiness Sustainment Maintenance Center in Limestone until the Pentagon acts on a new proposal, officials said.
The current contract accounts for 250 of the maintenance center, said General Manager Gary Cleaves. The new proposal will be submitted next month, and Cleaves anticipates that it will be approved.
The center, which is managed by the Maine National Guard, tears downs Humvees, five-ton trucks and bulldozers, and rebuilds them so they function as new.
Most of the work focuses on the military’s workhorse Humvee, known in military parlance as the High-Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle.
Supporters say the Maine facility is so efficient that it saves taxpayers $12,000 to $14,000 per unit. For 2005, the center expects to have overhauled 1,100 Humvees for the National Guard and another 540 Humvees for regular Army units, Cleaves said.
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