Gov. Mark Warner tries his hand at video teleconferencing with Camp Smith in Hawaii during his tour at Dahlgren yesterday. smc View More Images from this story Visit the Photo Place

Dahlgren expertise eyed

Gov. Warner is wowed by NSWC-Dahlgren's homeland-security capabilities.

By RUTH FINCH

Date published: 6/21/2003

Governor impressed by technology center

The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division, could take on a significant homeland-security role if Gov. Mark Warner gets his way.

Warner visited the base yesterday as part of his preparations for the next round of military base closings and realignments due in 2005.

Though much of his visit involved sampling the next generation of advanced war-fighting systems being tested this month at Dahlgren, what seemed to interest the governor most was the base's new National Innovative Technology Mission Assurance Center.

NITMAC is a loose coalition of several programs at Dahlgren that are dedicated to helping secure America's commercial and industrial base from enemy attacks.

Some functions of NITMAC include chemical and biological defense, counter-drug technology, a center to analyze vulnerabilities in the country's infrastructure and recommend steps to mitigate risks, and a center to analyze how to defend the country by shutting down enemy infrastructure.

Though many of the programs in NITMAC have been around for decades, the coalition of programs was formed last year to try to create more synergy between the various programs.

Warner, who has governed through the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the Pentagon, the anthrax outbreak and last fall's sniper attacks, said he already has ideas on how the state could use NITMAC to assure statewide security.

"I saw a whole set of capabilities I wasn't aware of for integrating technology, science and communication to be used in homeland security," Warner said.

He said that Virginia, because of its high concentration of military installations, needs a more vigilant homeland-security program than some other states.

But the implications aren't limited to Virginia, he said.

"As I discuss homeland security with my fellow governors, they need to know about NITMAC."

Base leaders said they are happy to share their capabilities with Warner, the Office for Homeland Security and other civilian agencies. But they cautioned that the orders to do so must come down the military chain of command.

NWSC Executive Director Thom-as Pendergraft said that many of the NITMAC agencies are experiencing the same growing pains NASA officials did as people discovered the civilian applications of the technology it developed.

Follow us on

Read more stories about King George
Date published: 6/21/2003