Yesterday John Tomillo was an employee of the Hawthorne Army Ammunition Depot. Today found this Hawthorne native 60 miles away in Fallon looking for work.

Tommilo is one of 8 members of his extended family who worked at the base. He and two others were among the 91 employees getting pink slips yesterday. More could follow in the months ahead.

"I was the first one out the door looking for work," he says. Tommilo checked out possibilities in Hawthorne first, then moved further out. He'd prefer to stay in the town he grew up in, but says he will do whatever is necessary.

The Army has extended the contract of Day Zimmerman Corporation to operate the base which stores and demilitarizes all sorts of ordnance, but it has not signed a new contract and work is running out. As it does, more jobs will be lost.

Hawthorne's vulnerability was underscored in 2005 when the base was targeted by the Base Relocation and Closure Commission. The town rallied, saved its base and worked even harder to diversify its economy.

Shelley Hartmann, the director of the Mineral County Economic Development Commission, says she has companies interested in locating in Hawthorne, "but the banks aren't lending any money for startups."

Even worse than the layoffs is the uncertainty. Will the base get a new contract? If it doesn't it may close. We may not know the answer for several months. The contract extension lasts until June.

It's a tough blow for a community that calls itself America's Patriotic Home and a new challenge for those who've made a home in this corner of Nevada's high desert.
"I'm taking it better than some," Tommilo says, "I've seen some people crying. I'm just trying to hold to the whole 'hope floats' thing."

These are tough times and they just got tougher in this corner of rural Nevada.

"This is a tough little town," Hartmann says fighting back tears, "but it has a lot of heart."