Military personnel fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan have the Slidell facility of the Textron Marine and Land Systems to thank for their safety.

Tuesday afternoon, with several hundred Slidell residents, politicians and Textron workers looking on, Textron delivered the 2,000th M117 Armored Security Vehicle to the U.S. Army.

“This is a milestone in Textron history,” said Textron President and CEO Frank Tempesta to the large crowd gathered in the cavernous building where Slidell workers help to put together the ASVs.

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The large, heavily armored four-wheel drive vehicles are not pretty to look at, but they have been instrumental in keeping U.S. troops safe and alive in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Textron has been building the ASV in the New Orleans metropolitan area since 1999, mostly at their plant in New Orleans East. However, after Hurricane Katrina wiped out some of their facilities, the company moved part of its production line to Front Street in Slidell. There, the armored shells of the ASV are brought in, and Slidell workers install the undercarriage, suspension and tires. From here the ASV is shipped out to the U.S. Army.

The 2,000th vehicle is the culmination of an assembly process that produces 48 ASVs a month, according to Tempesta. Textron spokesman Jack Giovo said a completed ASV comes off the assembly line every six and half hours.

Tempesta said Katrina slowed production down a bit, but by 2006, the company was back to producing 48 ASVs a month.

Textron said this is the 44th continuous month in which the company has made on-time delivery to the Army.

Lt. Col Kent Moorhouse, the Army liaison with Textron and product director of the ASV program, said the workers were the ones to commend for keeping production on time and continuous.

“The military is only as strong as the industrial base,” Moorhouse said. “The workers never complained, they just kept producing a high-quality vehicle. You can all be proud of doing a fine job.”

Moorhouse said the M1117 ASV has proven invaluable in Iraq because it can withstand most improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, that the enemy plants on the side of the road.

“The ASV has proven it can survive,” Moorhouse said.

Tempesta read a letter from a soldier who had been stationed in Iraq and depended on the ASV. “It felt very safe. This vehicle rocks. It got us home in style,” Tempesta read from the letter.

Slidell Mayor Ben Morris expressed his gratitude to the company.

Textron has helped spur the city’s economy. Of the 1,000 Textron employees in the metro area, 750 of them are in Slidell. Last year, Textron moved its headquarters into the former DISA building on Gause Boulevard, adding more jobs for Slidell. Textron also pays Slidell about $1 million a year in rent for the building.

“We are so proud to have Textron here,” Morris said. “They are great neighbors and build a very fine vehicle.”

Building 2,000 of these vehicles is quite an accomplishment, said Tempesta.

“It is the result of hard work and a team of dedicated professionals,” he said.

Morris was optimistic about the future of Slidell and Textron.

“Hopefully, in several years, we will be back here again to celebrate the completion of the 10,000th ASV,” Morris said.