The Plant Today

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#3399CC" TEXT="#080000" background="13c785a3.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>GE Ladson</B></FONT><B>    </B><B> |     </B><A HREF="index.asp" TARGET="_top" TITLE="GE Ladson"><B>home</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="history.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="History">History</A>   |   <A HREF="organization.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Organization">Organization</A>   |   <A HREF="china1.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="China">China</A>   |   <A HREF="people.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="People">People</A>   |   <A HREF="photos.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Photos">Photos</A>   |   <A HREF="photos18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Google Earth View">Google Earth View</A>   |   <A HREF="contact_us.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us">Contact Us</A>   |   <A HREF="directory.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Directory">Directory</A>   |   <B>The Plant Today</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=150 BGCOLOR="#3399CC" TEXT="#080000" background="13dd2b03.jpg"> <div> <A HREF="history.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="History">History</A></div> <div> <A HREF="organization.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Organization">Organization</A></div> <div> <A HREF="china1.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="China">China</A></div> <div> <A HREF="people.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="People">People</A></div> <div> <A HREF="photos.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Photos">Photos</A></div> <div> <A HREF="photos18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Google Earth View">Google Earth View</A></div> <div> <A HREF="contact_us.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us">Contact Us</A></div> <div> <A HREF="directory.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Directory">Directory</A></div> <div> <B>The Plant Today</B></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 width="100%" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>The Plant Today</I></div> <div> Tom McLoughlin sent a brochure on work being done in "our" plant now.  </div> <bR> <div> I'm sorry, but to me, Jim Winsness, to see the worlds best turbine manufacturing facility now part of our military-industrial complex, disturbs me.  That it supports our troops is fantastic.  But the loss of such a manufacturing facility with such wonderful people and having a world situation that needs this plant in it's new configuration ....  Scroll down to photos.</div> <bR> <div> A comment from a friend:</div> <div> <B>"This is fascinating stuff and gives new meaning to the terms “war toys.”  Big money always seems to buy big toys.  Not that soldiers’ don’t need the best-of-the-best protective devices, but maybe the best tools are necessary before we start killing one another-namely serious talks with the people who are really in charge.  Nothing’s easy about war…</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Jay"</B></div> <div> -----</div> <div> And another comment concerning the current use of the building was provided by a relative that had returned from Iraq, and while there had been VERY involved with the detection and deactivation of the bombs directed towards our troops!</div> <bR> <div> <I>"I hate to see America loose business to overseas. Everything seems to be driven by the dollar, despite long term effects that will come along with it. Our sinking dollar in the foreign markets has me very worried.</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>I think the vehicles being made in the brochure are amongst the best solutions to the current threat. Unfortunately, make a bigger bomb or shoot those EFPs at them, and you still aren’t guaranteed to walk, or crawl or be carried away alive. One question to ask is, is this long term or only the current fight what we need them for? Is this the future threat? Or do we need something else? The answer being funded and sold right now is FCS, Future Combat Systems. It is probably a whole other discussion to be had on the spending there. I digress…</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>It is interesting and saddening that we have become the superpower that can be seriously engaged via asymmetric warfare methods and on top of that, the diplomacy rules that are “self” imposed make the fight all that much harder to win. I was fascinated by the pieces of “Band of Brothers” that spent some time speaking of looting, rape and other crimes. I’m sure every war ever waged faced those problems. And yet in today’s environment of embedded reporters, we get a disproportionate level of press on what are isolated incidents. Perhaps time will erase those bad memories and this will become the next greatest generation."</I></div> <div> ----</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Tom tells me this is Building 1:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="15420040.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="1028" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="15520040.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="1028" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="15620f30.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="1011" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="15720f30.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="1011" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </td> </tr></table></body>