Posts Tagged ‘growth communities’

San Antonio didn’t earn the moniker “Military City USA” for nothing. The economic impact of the military accounted for $27.7 billion and 189,000 jobs, directly and indirectly, in the region in 2011, city officials reported Thursday. The study, sponsored by the city’s Economic Development Department and Office of Military Affairs, found that DOD accounts for over 132,000 direct jobs in San Antonio, with Joint Base San Antonio the largest single employer in the community employing more than 92,000 personnel …

The Navy will reassess where on Guam it will house thousands of Marines relocating from Okinawa and where it will construct a firing range in response to a substantially smaller realignment than officials previously considered. Among the new options officials will study for the main cantonment and family housing areas are Andersen Air Force Base and Naval Base Guam, which were initially dismissed because it was not believed they could accommodate a large force of Marines …

Harnett County, N.C., which lies on Fort Bragg’s northeastern border, is struggling to accommodate 776 new students this school year, with overcrowding school buses presenting the biggest problem. The county school system has capped enrollment at a high school close to the post when it became swamped with unexpected students after the new school year started, reported WTVD-TV. New students now are being sent to another county high school …

Officials held a ceremonial groundbreaking this week at Redstone Arsenal for the final phase of a complex that, when completed, will house more than 5,700 professionals working on air and missile defense. The last phase of the Von Braun Complex, scheduled to open in 2014, will provide space for 850 employees of the Missile Defense Agency, reports the Huntsville Times. The complex also houses Army Space and Missile Defense Command …

Tens of millions of dollars in road projects are under way at three Maryland installations that have gained significant new missions and personnel as a result of the 2005 round of base closures, reports the Baltimore Sun. An $18 million project to upgrade a key intersection leading to Aberdeen Proving Ground recently has begun, with work slated to continue for another year. Average daily traffic on one of the highways passing through the intersection has grown has grown almost 60 percent since the BRAC recommendations were announced. The other highway has experienced an increase in traffic of 3,000 daily vehicles …

St. John Properties expects to have completed 12 office and R&D buildings at Aberdeen Proving Ground early next year, after breaking ground on two new office buildings at its Government and Technology Enterprise (GATE) project. At that point, the Baltimore-based developer will have constructed more than 640,000 square feet of space in the past three years at the 416-acre enhanced use leasing project …

While the realignment of a mission due to BRAC typically forces civilian workers to decide whether to move with their job or not, several hundred employees of the Army’s Communications-Electronics Command have kept their homes in central New Jersey and are commuting to Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. Some are making the four-hour, roundtrip commute daily while others return to New Jersey only for the weekend, reports the Baltimore Sun …

Montgomery County, Md., and Lakewood, Wash., will receive construction grants to improve transportation access to military medical facilities, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced Monday during his remarks at the ADC 2012 Annual Conference. Montgomery County’s $40 million grant is intended to provide an easier commute for patients, service members and civilian employees of the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda. Lakewood is receiving $5.7 million for improvements to the Freedom Bridge overpass near the Madigan Army Medical Center gate at Joint Base Lewis-McChord …

The military’s existing force structure in the Asia-Pacific needs to realigned and should include a greater presence on Guam and the Mariana Islands, the authors of an independent review of the nation’s force posture in that region told lawmakers this week. Some steps can be taken immediately, David Berteau, senior vice president and director of the international security program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told the House Armed Services’ Readiness Subcommittee on Wednesday. “There are some initial investments in Guam and the Marianas that make sense, both in terms of robust infrastructure and in terms of training capability that are to some extent not dependent on the total number of Marines that are going to move …

The congressionally mandated study of the U.S. defense posture in the Asia-Pacific region suggests that fewer than 5,000 Marines should move from Okinawa to Guam, according to a statement from Guam Delegate Madeleine Bordallo. “While the report is positive overall for Guam, it also includes a vague suggestion that fewer than 5,000 Marines on Guam might be more operationally viable. I do not agree with this suggestion; however, it is important to note that the recommendations included in this report do not represent the views of the Department of Defense …