BRAC or not, missile jobs ahead
MDA chief expects city to get about 2,200 if plan OK'd
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Huntsville could gain about 2,200 Missile Defense Agency jobs if the Pentagon's recommendations survive the Base Realignment and Closure, or BRAC, process, said Lt. Gen. Trey Obering, MDA commanding general in Washington, D.C.
Obering told The Times Tuesday that, even though reorganization of MDA is part of the Pentagon's BRAC recommendation, it is also part of an overall plan to consolidate the Missile Defense Agency.
"There will be a reorganization even if the BRAC recommendations are not approved," Obering said.
Obering said if the Pentagon's BRAC recommendations are approved, "then we will move more than 2,000 (jobs)." If the panel's recommendations are not approved, a smaller number would be relocated and the majority would stay in the Washington area after a central headquarters facility is built.
In May, the Pentagon asked the president's BRAC panel to move MDA research and management jobs to Huntsville. It was part of an overall recommendation that would move anywhere from 2,000 to 5,000 jobs to North Alabama, depending on the number of contractor positions that follow the government work.
Obering didn't say exactly how many of the 2,200 MDA-related jobs are contractor positions, or if the 2,200 figure is in addition to about 1,600 government jobs set to come here from other BRAC recommendations. The Pentagon has recommended that the headquarters of the Army Materiel Command and the Space & Missile Defense Command move to Redstone Arsenal, along with a bulk of MDA's work.
All of those commands are headquartered in northern Virginia, where high rent and questionable security are a problem for the Pentagon.
If the Pentagon's recommendations stand and 2,200 jobs do move here, overall command of MDA would remain in Washington, Obering said.
"There is quite a bit of oversight (in Congress) that goes on for this agency and" it makes sense for the MDA commander to remain in Washington, he said.
"I would spend a lot more time in Huntsville, though," Obering said.
The BRAC panel is finalizing its recommendations, based on the Pentagon suggestions released in May, and should forward its report to President Bush by Sept. 8.
Congress should begin deliberations on the BRAC and Bush recommendations in November and has until the end of this session to vote on the suggestions.
U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Mobile, said Tuesday if the Pentagon's full recommendations for work relocation are approved by the BRAC panel, then it would be "very good for Huntsville."
"Lord willing and the creek don't rise, then the BRAC recommendations will stand and Huntsville will have a lot more to do with" the Missile Defense Agency, Sessions said.
The Kinetic Energy Interceptor, a Northrop-Grumman program managed in Huntsville, is in a slowdown because of budget problems, Obering said. The $4.5 billion program could create a Patriot missile-type interceptor that would destroy enemy missiles shortly after launch, or in the boost phase as military planners call it.
Obering said technology innovations and a powerful booster designed for KEI could create a missile that would destroy enemy missiles after launch, in flight and just before they strike a target.
But the value of the program is not widely known on Capitol Hill, Obering said. "It's an education problem," he said. "We have to educate" members of Congress about the value of the program.
Obering said members of Congress are confused about the KEI missile's role and don't understand what type of missile it is or where it would strike.
KEI could be used across the board, on land and on ships, Obering said, which makes it a very flexible defensive system.
In a perfect world, Obering said, the KEI program would be accelerated and put into the hands of soldiers as soon as possible.
"We live in reality, however."
© 2005 The Huntsville Times
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