Summit brings military, N.C. leaders together to plan for future

By Sandy Aubrey
Paraglide

November 10, 2011

The final North Carolina Military Summit was held Nov. 3, at the Fort Bragg Club. It was sponsored by the North Carolina Military Foundation and hosted by Fort Bragg.

The purpose of the summit was to leverage the military and defense industries and discuss how to best support the military to ensure a mutually beneficial relationship.

More than 250 military and civilian officials met for the day to summarize findings of the previous regional summits which had been held throughout the state during the year, to discuss the lessons learned and courses of action in the way ahead.

Among the participants were North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue; retired Gen. Dan K. McNeill, chair of the North Carolina Military Foundation; Maj. Gen. Rodney O. Anderson, deputy commanding general, XVIII Airborne Corps; representatives from the N.C. National Guard; the U.S. Marine Corps; the U.S. Air Force; mayors and city managers from a host of cities in North Carolina; representatives from the aerospace and defense contract industries; as well as representatives from the education sector.

In his opening remarks, and setting the stage for the day’s events, Allen Jones, mayor of the City of Winston-Salem and the president of the North Carolina Economic Development Board, discussed the unique relationship between the State of North Carolina and the military community.

“North Carolina is the home of the third largest military population in the U.S. and of course Fort Bragg is the largest Army installation in the world. The Department of Defense and the Coast Guard employ over 150,000 active-duty and civilian personnel in our state. Military activities contributed $23.4 billion, or seven percent of North Carolina’s gross domestic product …” said Jones.

“I think this is an extraordinary day we are living here, because even though we have made great progress in moving our economy forward, we are still seeing it’s a bit tenuous out there. So anything that we can do to figure out ways to create jobs and help our economy, it’s important to do so,” said Jones.

In a video presentation, Senator Kay Hagen said North Carolina possesses a unique understanding of the challenges the military and their Families face when they’re deployed, when they’re at home and when they transition into civilian life. Of the 100 counties in North Carolina, 87 perform or provide defense-related work. Hagen said she wanted North Carolina to be known as a “defense village” a place where the defense industrial base can play a major role in helping the DoD improve access to the latest and best technology available, specifically citing unmanned aerial vehicles, renewable fuels and maintenance improvement of our DoD ground systems. It’s also important FRC East remains a robust economic entity and the proper infrastructure exists to support easy, efficient and cost effective ways to transport military equipment and personnel.

“Defense opportunities are available, but they are changing and we must change with them. The state that can best adapt, will be the state that can best grow and create the best jobs. And I know that state can be North Carolina. When North Carolina puts its best foot forward, we can become the most sought after state for defense work,” said Hagen.

The monies generated by military and defense activities in North Carolina represent the second biggest source of revenue after agriculture said Perdue, stressing the importance of listening to the needs and requirements of the military, and then working together to ensure needs are met.

Citing that 8 percent of employment in North Carolina is military related, officials did not try to downplay the seriousness of the current economic difficulties, but maintain that the situation wasn’t hopeless. With planning and a willingness to work together to change and adapt to the times, challenges could be met in the most beneficial way to the state as well as the military community.

“Fiscally it’s been tough for us and it’s going to get tougher,” said McNeill. “Some of us have been through this before, It’s a cyclical thing in our country … but we’ll get through this,” he added.

“People have gone away, but the work has not. The forces are not going to get bigger, they’re going to get smaller. The Army is looking to lose between 10 to 15 brigade combat teams,” McNeill continued.

“If we don’t change, don’t adapt, (don’t) do things for less fees and not so much profit, we’re probably not going to find much work. “But, bottom line, I am still optimistic about what’s going on in this state and especially what’s going on at the installation level in this state,” he said.
As the summit continued, the top 10 “take aways” from the regional events were listed as:
Joint Strike Fighter is critical to our nation, the Marine Corps and North Carolina.

Land use and encroachment concerns are widespread.

Rapid growth around installations has led to transportation and infrastructure concerns.

Workforce development and veteran hiring must improve.

Education is a good news/good opportunities issue.

Troop levels will come down, but deployment time will too.

Special operations community has experienced tremendous growth (they’ve double the number of personnel, tripled their budget and quadrupled their deployments.)

There are significant opportunities for veterans.

Healthcare is a great concern to all military communities (behavioral health specialist, primary care and dental care.)

Presenters acknowledged the challenges of the current economic environment, but likewise remained optimistic and stressed the importance of change and adaptation for survival in the new fiscal reality.

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