Louisiana's Military Heritage:

          Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant

Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant

The Louisiana Ordnance Plant came into being in the days just prior to the United States' entry into World War II when the U.S. government acquired 15,868 acres of land near Minden, Louisiana, for the construction of a large shell-loading facility.  Ground was broken by the Vicksburg District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in August of 1941.  By the time it was completed on June 30, 1942, the plant cost a total of $25,336,000.  Operations began shortly thereafter with eight (8) ammunition lines and one (1) ammonium nitrate graining plant.  The facility was operated by Silas Mason, Co., and produced sixty-five (65) different ammunition items, including 20mm and 150mm shells.

Workers at plants like the one shown here keep

vital ammunition flowing to the front lines.

Photo courtesy of Wisconsin Department

of Workforce Development.

With war's end in 1945, the plant was placed on stand-by status.  In August of 1950, the Minden facility was one of eight candidate sites for the location of a new gaseous diffusion plant used in the production of fissionable materials like that found at Oak Ridge, Tennessee.  The Louisiana Ordnance Plant was among the final three candidate facilities to be considered before the Atomic Energy Commission chose to locate the new expansion at Kentucky Ordnance Works in Paducah, Kentucky.

With the recent outbreak of hostilities on the Korean peninsula, however, the plant at Minden saw new life and was reopened in February of 1951 under the management of Remington Rand, Inc.  All ammunition-loading lines returned to operation and a new forging and machining plant was constructed for the manufacture of 155mm metal parts.  Operations continued through 1958 before the facility was again placed on layaway status.

In September of 1961, the facility—now known as the Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant (LAAP)—was reactivated with Sperry Rand Corporation as the contracting manager.  Throughout the Vietnam War, LAAP produced mines, shaped charges, fuzes, boosters, bombs, demolition blocks, projectiles, etc.  Four (4) areas on the site were activated for the production of classified ammunition types.  Peak production occurred in 1969; ironically, the year that also marked the height of the Vietnam War.

Thiokol Corporation (now Morton Thiokol, Inc.) assumed operation of the plant in 1975.  The plant saw a variety of production assignments afterward, including 155mm metal parts and Load-Assemble-Pack (LAP) operations on the M-692 4.2-inch mortar rounds, the M-107, the M-73 grenade, and 2.75-inch warheads.  All production ceased in October of 1994 and the facility closed and was placed in modified caretaker status under the management of Valentec Corporation.

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Sources used in the compilation of this article:

City of Minden website.

Global Security.org website.

Heritage Research.com website.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency website.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

**Copyright 1997-2007 by Louisiana Naval War Memorial Commission**