IAAAP Background

The Iowa Army Ammunition Plant (IAAAP) is a 19,000-acre operational load, assembly and pack munitions facility located in Middletown, Iowa, about 10 miles west of Burlington. Built between 1941 and 1943, the IAAAP has produced conventional missile warheads and a variety of large caliber tank ammunitions, mines, mortars, artillery, demolition charges, and weapons’ component parts. In addition, it is designated as the Midwest Area Demilitarization Facility for disposing of old and/or obsolete ammunition.

In 1947, the IAAAP was designated as the first plant in the nation to assemble atomic weapons for the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). For nearly three decades, conventional and nuclear weapons were manufactured at the plant under separate U.S. DoD and AEC contracts. In 1975, production of nuclear weapons was terminated and transferred to Amarillo, Texas.

It is estimated that the workforce, servicing conventional weapons’ lines, varied in numbers from 15,000 around WWII, 7,500 during the Korean conflict, to 5,500 during the Vietnam conflict. Employment at IAAAP remained around 2,000 through most of the 1980s. The current workforce stands at approximately 850.