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Chairman Anthony J. Principi and other member sof the BRAC commission deliberate in Arlington in August. Their recommendations will be sent to the president by Sept. 8. |
Our community enjoyed a huge success recently when the Base Realignment and Closure Commission overturned several of the recommendations that negatively impacted Dahlgren and supported the recommendations that were beneficial to the Quantico Marine Corps Base ["BRAC vote applauded locally," Aug. 27].
This action represents months of work by the board, staff, and volunteers of the Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce; Paul Hirsch and his team at Madison Government Affairs; our legislators--Sen. John Warner, Sen. George Allen, Rep. Jo Ann Davis, and Gov. Mark Warner; and the staff at the Virginia Commission on Military Bases.
All five local governments, the Fredericksburg Regional Alliance, the Fredericksburg Regional Council, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and many local businesses funded this endeavor.
We are especially appreciative of our Strategy and Technical Team, co-chaired by Ted Hontz and Ted Williams, for the hours spent developing the information about the military installations in our region to educate the Department of Defense and other groups.
These gentlemen developed and delivered presentations to the BRAC Commission asking that the Department of Defense recommendations relative to two very important mission areas for Dahlgren be overturned.
One was the nonmedical Chemical Biological Defense Research, Development, and Acquisition work that was slated to move to Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland.
The other was the Guns and Ammo Research, Development, and Acquisitions, slated to move to Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey.
The community was rewarded as both recommendations were overturned, jobs were saved, and all three military installations are poised to assume additional missions.
We owe a debt of gratitude to all of those who assisted us in this endeavor. The mark of a community can be measured by the commitment of those who reside there.
William Young
Fredericksburg
William Young is co-chair of the Military Affairs Committee, Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce.
