A short history of America's only Army tank factory, which Trump is about to tour

• President Trump toured a sprawling manufacturing site in Ohio that has been building Army tanks and armored vehicles since World War II.
• It nearly shuttered in 2012 under the drastic "sequestration" cuts, but it now produces about 11 tanks a month and employs a growing workforce of 580.

President Donald Trump is touring the US's last tank facility on Wednesday in a move to highlight the impact of his soaring defense spending in a politically crucial state.

The Joint Systems Manufacturing Center in Lima, Ohio, has been building Army tanks and armored vehicles since World War II. It nearly shuttered in 2012 under the drastic "sequestration" cuts, but it now produces about 11 tanks a month and employs a growing workforce of 580.

The plant's assembly line is roaring back under Trump's defense spending hikes, including $718 billion proposed for fiscal year starting in October.

"In terms of economic security, the Trump defense budget is helping to create good manufacturing jobs at good wages, including in communities like Lima that have fallen behind economically," Peter Navarro, White House director of trade and manufacturing policy, wrote in a New York Times op-ed. "The revitalized Lima plant will directly employ a little more than 1,000 employees."

Here's a history of the sprawling tank plant, a still-operating legacy of World War II America's so-called arsenal of democracy.