While the defense budget is shrinking, the Oshkosh Corporation says their layoffs have nothing to do with the looming sequestration cuts that were part of the debt ceiling deal.

Spokesman John Daggett says the military is returning to peacetime spending levels. “We’re ending two years and unfortunately these economic factors really required Oshkosh to rebalance its defense production workforce,” he says.

The company is spreading out 450 jobs cuts over a three-week period starting in mid-January. Daggett says “these were difficult decisions,” and Oshkosh Corp. will help in workers transitioning out. After the layoffs, Daggett says the company will still have about 3,500 defense division workers there.

Meanwhile, the firm is working to boost its international sales and they recently signed a contract with the United Arab Emirates for 700 vehicles.

The mass layoff is the second major announcement in northeast Wisconsin this week. About 400 people will lose their jobs next year when the Kewaunee nuclear power plant closes.

Rick Schuh-WHBY

The Wisconsin Army National Guard’s 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team is on notice that it might be deployed to the Middle East next summer. The brigade’s 3,200 soldiers were notified this past weekend during a regularly scheduled drill. It’s not known at this time how many of those 32nd Red Arrow Brigade soldiers might be deployed, or whether deployment is a certainty. The location of the potential deployment has not been determined.

A notification of sourcing gives a unit advance warning that it has been identified for a deployment; that allows additional time and federal funding for training. Current Department of Defense policy calls for a 12-month mobilization, including nine months overseas.

The 32nd Brigade last deployed in 2009 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.