The South Potomac Community Relations (COMREL) Council met Nov. 6 in Colonial Beach, where the group discussed an initiative that helps military children transition to new schools, international opportunities for the defense industry and the results of an environmental impact study of Potomac River Test Range activities.
Rob Wittman, U.S. Representative for Virginia's 1st Congressional District, was a special guest speaker at the meeting and discussed the effects of the ongoing sequester cuts to the Department of Defense.
"I'd like to welcome you today's meeting of the South Potomac Community Relations Council," said Capt. Pete Nette, commanding officer of NSASP, told the audience. "We're pleased to have you here today.
Nette also took a moment to praise Gary Wagner, NSASP public affairs officer, whose efforts helped establish the COMREL Council in 2009. Wagner will retire at the end of the year after 38 years of service.
"This is Gary's last COMREL in this capacity," said Nette. "Gary will be retiring after many years of honorable service. I truly appreciate his support and what he's done over the last several years, not only for the installation, but also for the community. Gary was a big player in putting [the COMREL Council] together—it was a big effort in two states and he has the right frame-of-mind into what community engagement is all about. Thank you."
Rep. Rob Wittman
Wittman told the COMREL Council he was happy to be in the company of his constituents and thanked military and civilian leaders for their service. "This is where the rubber hits the road," he said. "What you all do on a daily basis is critical to the region and to our state."
Ongoing budget uncertainty in Washington was "frustrating," said Wittman. "We have those challenges and we have to address them in a way that gets things done."
Wittman hoped Congress would choose a new path in the future. "This idea of shutdown politics is just counterproductive," he said.
Wittman proposed a solution to the recent budget quagmires: If appropriations bills are not completed on time, Congress should stay on the job until they are finished.
"We have to change the way Washington functions if we're really going to turn this around," he said. "This cycle of continuing resolutions is not governance, period."
Wittman added that if something wasn't done about the ongoing sequester, the $1.2 trillion cuts over 10 years would devastate the country's military capabilities. "You can see the path we're on and it's not a good path for this nation," he said.
Junior Student to Student Program
Students from King George Middle School addressed the COMREL about the Junior Student to Student Program, which helps military children adjust to new schools and make friends.
Dominic Thomas, himself a military child, joined the Junior Student to Student (JS2S) Program to "help new kids who move around a lot, such as myself, make new friends."
Thomas's own experiences as a military child help him understand the needs of new students. "I know it's hard to have to move around a lot," he said. "You lose friends that were close to you and that is why I help. I become their friend until they can make friends on their own and I stay their friend for a long time."
Emma Headly, student and member of JS2S, described the training that helped her help new students. Student members of the program pass on that knowledge to next year's members. "We had a party and we trained all the new seventh graders," she said.
"Basically, what we do [with] the meetings is get together once a month and we talk about what we're going to do," added DaChar Lane, student and JS2S member. "We check up on everybody to see how they're doing."
Much of the work done by JS2S members is showing new students around school. "We show them where we sit at lunch, so we can make sure they get everywhere and make sure they have friends and [know] how to make it to class," said JS2S member Emily Hill.
The young people received an enthusiastic round of applause from the COMREL Council.
Going Global Defense Initiative
John Elink-Shuurman, international trade manager for the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, discussed opportunities for Virginia-based defense companies to earn overseas business. VEDP's Going Global Defense Initiative helps Virginia companies win overseas contracts by leveraging in-country consultants and arranging travel.
"[The initiative] has a singular focus on helping Virginia companies grow examine opportunities and win business overseas," said Elink-Shuurman.
For more information, visit www.exportvirginia.org/defense.
Environmental Impact Statement for RDT&E activities at NSF Dahlgren
Capt. Michael Smith, commander for the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division, spoke to the COMREL Council for the last time before his organization's change of command ceremony Nov. 8. Smith presented the findings of the Final Environmental Impact Statement about outdoor research, development, test and evaluation activities undertaken by NSWCDD at NSF Dahlgren. The study evaluated the effect of those activities on diverse group of concerns, from impacts on endangered species, to land use and cultural resources.
The study found that all concerns sustained either minor impacts or no impacts as a result of NSWCDD outdoor RDT&E activities. The goal of the study was to enable Dahlgren's largest command to "meet current and future mission-related warfare and force-protection requirements by providing RDT&E of surface ship combat systems, ordnance, lasers and directed-energy systems, force-level warfare, and homeland and force protection."
The study will allow NSWCDD to expand its outdoor RDT&E activities along the Potomac River Test Range, Explosives Experimental Area range complex, Mission Area and special use airspace at Dahlgren. "What this Environmental Impact Statement does is allow for a modest increase in activities that will allow us to continue our work for the next ten to 15 years or so," said Smith.
Future testing will include Dahlgren's traditional evaluation of guns and explosive ordnance, as well as high-power electromagnetic energy, high-energy lasers, and testing incorporating chemical and biological simulants.
"Part of our mission is to be able to detect chemical and biological agents," Smith explained. "We don't use actual agents here; we use things that are not harmful to the environment, but have some properties that are similar."
Very little of the stepped up testing is expected to produce a noticeable increase in noise. One major area of increased testing, for example, will involve small arms. That noise will not travel far off the base, said Smith. "Overall, we see use of the Potomac River Test Range increasing from about 750 hours when we're doing testing on an annual basis up to about 1,000 [hours]… so about a 25 percent increase in the actual use of the range, but very little increase in what is going to add to the noise going forward."
After he completed the briefing, Smith thanked the COMREL Council for all its support for NSWCDD during his tenure. "I want to thank everybody for what they've done supporting the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division for the three and a half years that I've been here," he said. "Thank you very much."
Dahlgren Joint Land Use Study
Linwood Thomas, director of economic development for King George County, briefed the COMREL Council about the progress of the ongoing Joint Land Use Study. The goal of the study is to align the future development goals of the communities surrounding Dahlgren—King George and Westmorland Counties and the town of Colonial Beach in Virginia, and Charles and St. Mary's Counties in Maryland—with the future missions of the base.
The study is funded by the Department of Defense Office of Economic Adjustment and sponsored by King George County.
"[JLUS] protects the communities' health, safety and welfare so they can maintain a quality of life and continue the quality of life they are used to without any change," said Thomas. "It also helps our economic development so [the installation's mission] doesn't change and if it does change, we know about it in advance. From the military perspective, the main objective is to maintain military readiness so they can support defense missions."
King George County has established a Policy Committee and a Technical Advisory Group as part of the JLUS process. The process includes a chance for public comment.
"It's important that we hear the public's feedback," said Thomas.
More information about JLUS can be accessed at www.dahlgrenjlus.com.