August 29, 2005

Working group chairman lauds EW decisions in BRAC hearings

Washington—Congressman Joe Pitts (R, PA-16), Founder and Co-Chairman of the Electronic Warfare Working Group (EWWG), said today that decisions made by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) last week will help the nation maintain and enhance its electronic warfare capabilities by deferring several recommendations made by the Department of Defense.  The decisions align closely with a letter sent by the Working Group to BRAC Chairman Anthony Principi on July 26, 2005.

“Electronic Warfare is indispensable in defeating the enemy and keeping our soldiers safe,” said Congressman Pitts, a former EW officer in the United States Air Force.  “I am pleased that the BRAC Commission thoroughly examined many of the recommendations that directly impact our EW capabilities and understood the importance of intellectual capital and real-time war fighter support being provided to our forces fighting the War on Terror.”

Among its final decisions, the Commission voted to keep EW functions intact at Naval Air Warfare Center (NAWC) Point Mugu, CA; Army Research Laboratory ( ARL ) White Sands Missile Range, NM; Eglin Air Force Base, FL; and Naval Support Center ( NSC ) Crane, IN.

The EW Working Group letter to Chairman Principi expressed concern that several BRAC recommendations submitted by the Department of Defense may have a negative impact on U.S. EW capabilities, especially in the areas of intellectual capital and war fighter support.  The letter stated in part that “EW/IO capability is critical to our ability to defeat any future conventional or asymmetric threat.  DoD and the BRAC Commission must move carefully so as not to disrupt the maturation of this capability.  The DoD BRAC report, itself, recognizes a degree of uncertainty in predicting, and planning for, probable threats from peer competitors over the next 10 years.”

In addition to sending the letter, the EWWG also participated in a joint meeting with the AOC (The Electronic Warfare and Information Operations Association) and the BRAC Commission on August 18, a week before the final votes were cast by the Commission.  The goal of the EW Working Group was to raise awareness as to the unique and valuable role that EW plays in our national defense.  While several final decisions by the BRAC Commission have a positive impact on EW, one recommendation that was upheld by the Commission, the closing of Fort Monmouth , may have a negative impact.

“The EW work done at Fort Monmouth is critical to the War on Terror in Iraq and Afghanistan .  The Department of Defense must be very careful through the BRAC implementation process to ensure that EW capability is not diminished, which may place the lives of our men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan at risk,” said Congressman Pitts.

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