Defense Communities 360 Headlines

The Army has sent the necessary documents to the Virginia attorney general’s office to convey 313 acres at the former Fort Monroe to the commonwealth, but the transfer won’t occur until Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) signs off on it. Since a surprise announcement two months ago, the Army has been pointing to May 28 to complete the transfer. The Army created a 60-day transition period “to make sure buildings are maintained, and to provide a smooth and orderly transition to state of Virginia’s management …

The House is expected to take up the fiscal 2014 appropriations bill for military construction and veterans affairs next week, one of the few spending measures expected to make it to the floor this year. The House Appropriations Committee approved the bill, H.R. 2216, on May 21. The committee recommended $10.0 billion for military construction and family housing programs in FY 2014, a figure which falls $1.1 billion short of the Pentagon’s request …

The leadership at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., has been the driving force behind a series of partnerships with its neighbors designed to bolster the skills of its workforce and increase the commitment to education in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) in public schools. Last month’s opening of the Army STEM Education Outreach Center at APG represents the installation leadership’s most recent initiative to further science and technology education throughout the Chesapeake Corridor …

With the Army already slated to cut its active-duty end strength by 72,000 troops to 490,000 by 2020 and the looming prospect of further personnel reductions if sequestration continues, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno warned against making the wrong bet about the nation’s future combat needs. “The thing I worry about is that in everybody’s declaration that there’s going to be no more ground wars, we need no more ground forces, that we’re going to make the Army too small …

Four Washington think tanks faced with the challenge of preparing 10-year defense budgets under sequestration included funding to carry out additional base closures despite the lack of a short-term payoff. “At some point, it begins to get even too silly for Congress not to do BRAC,” said Clark Murdock, who led the team from the Center for Strategic and International Studies …

The Small Business Administration (SBA) last week announced a new initiative designed to increase the availability of loans to veterans to start or expand small businesses. The SBA Veteran Pledge Initiative offers a commitment from SBA’s top 20 national lending partners and about 100 additional regional and community lending partners to help an additional 2,000 veterans obtain loans. The commitment would increase lending by $475 million over the next five years …

The former Walter Reed Army Medical Center offers District of Columbia officials an unprecedented opportunity to transform several northwest Washington neighborhoods near the D.C.-Maryland border through in-fill development. The city’s reuse plan calls for preserving many of the campus’ historic buildings, while adding a mixed-use redevelopment featuring a town center. The city is rapidly moving ahead with the project; two weeks ago it issued an RFP to its shortlist of five prominent development teams competing to become the master developer for the 67-acre site …

Concerns about the impact of encroachment and environmental laws on the use of installations and training ranges is prompting the House Armed Services Committee to direct the Government Accountability Office to review the Pentagon’s efforts to address the potential for such restrictions to hinder military training. “The committee wants to ensure that the department is effectively preventing or mitigating these restrictions to ensure that U.S. force readiness remains high …

Georgia’s three Army installations almost certainly will be affected by the service’s plan to trim its active-duty end strength by 72,000 soldiers by 2020. “You can’t draw down 80,000 [troops] and not impact every installation,” said Gary Jones, executive vice president for economic development and military affairs at the Greater Columbus Georgia Chamber of Commerce …

The Defense Department began sending furlough notices on Tuesday to most of its 750,000 U.S. civilian employees stating they would need to take 11 unpaid days off starting in July. The mandatory furloughs are set to begin July 8 and run through Sept. 30, reported Government Executive. The impact of the mandatory days off will be widespread at defense communities …