SSMCP Announces New Program Manager

The new South Sound Military & Communities Partnership (SSMCP) Program Manager is William (Bill) Adamson. Bill recently retired as a colonel after 30 years in the United States Army. He and his family are happy to return to the South Sound after two previous duty assignments at (then) Fort Lewis.

NCFA Visited MARAD Vessels at Sperry

An earlier blog article wrote of the upcoming visit by the National Commission for the Future of the Army’s (NCFA) to JBLM and the public hearing available to the community to share its comments with the commission.

The NCFA is a non-discretionary Federal advisory committee established by the Secretary of Defense to conduct a comprehensive study of the structure of the Army, and policy assumptions, related to the size and force mixture. The NCFA visited Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) September 22-25.

During the public hearing, members of the community, including the Tacoma-Pierce Co. Chamber, the South Sound Military & Communities Partnership, the Washington (State) Military Alliance/Washington State Dept. of Commerce and the City of Lakewood spoke of logistics, the Great Circle, quality of life, the Pivot to the Pacific, relationships with the Washington National Guard and other matters relevant to a grand design for tomorrow’s Army from the perspective of the Pacific Northwest and JBLM.

However, an aspect of their visit not reported has been the NCFA’s visit to the MARAD vessels in ready reserve condition at Sperry Ocean Terminals (aka Sperry Dock) at the Port of Tacoma, Commencement Bay.

On September 23, Miguel Jimenez, Director PNW-D and Christopher Donohue, PNW-D Marine Cargo Specialist joined with the Port of Tacoma (Andre Elmaleh, Military Liaison; Sean Eagan, Director Governmental Affairs, Robert Meyer, Senior Manager Port Operations, Gerry Fiola, Chief of Security, Louis Cooper, Senior Director Security and Labor Relations, and Bari Bookout, Executive for Non-Containerized Business and Commercial Strategy) and Military Sealift Command (MSC) (Bruce Leach, Director), and the USCG (Captain of the Port,CAPT M.W. “Joe” Raymond) to welcome the NCFA members at the Port and aboard the Ready Reserve Force (RRF) vessel CAPE ISLAND berthed at the Sperry Ocean Terminals. The joint team facilitated the continuation of JBLM's presentation to the NCFA addressing the unique regional power projection capabilities at JBLM and the PNW Strategic Seaport.

Jimenez began the discussion by setting the stage with some history about military port operations in the PNW, transitioning to present SDDC PNW-D capabilities. He explained the difference between Strategic and Alternate Seaports noting all of the key ports in the PNW and the metrics measured through Strategic Analysis through the Ports for National Defense program conducted by SDDC, Transportation Engineering Agency. The Port of Tacoma highlighted their ability to rapidly receive, stage, and load military cargo. MSC discussed how they are postured regionally and along the West Coast to support rapid movement from the PNW. The Commission asked questions regarding the life of steam powered ships (both CAPE I vessels berthed at the Sperry Dock are steam powered). The Captain of the Port discussed water side security response and relationships through committees like the Port Readiness Committee.

The Commission members included Thomas Lamont, former Assistant Secretary of the Army for Manpower, former Sergeant Major of the Army Raymond Chandler, III (retired), and LTG Jack Stultz (retired).

The Commission will issue its report no later than February 1, 2016.  Contact:

Col.Kristen Dixon, Public Affairs Officer, Commission Staff, 571-294-2914, NCFA or Joe Eule, 571-256-2643, or at 2530 Crystal Drive, Taylor Bldg., Suite 5000, Arlington, VA 22202, (o) 571.256.2651. 

Business Survey for the Military Markets

The South Sound Military and Communities Partnership (SSMCP) is conducting a survey to gather business perspectives on military-community ties in the region of Joint Base Lewis-McChord and Camp Murray.

For this study to be representative of the South Sound business community, it is vital that we hear from you. 

Your answers are anonymous and confidential, and no one in any government will see your individual responses. It will take less than 10 minutes to complete.

The survey is being conducted by Elway Research, Inc.  Elway will collect and tally the results, and the SSMCP will publish an aggregated summary analysis in October of 2015.

We hope you will participate! Your input will be essential as we gather information about how the military affects the economy in Pierce and Thurston Counties and work to improve community and business relationships. 

We know you are very busy, so we appreciate you taking the time to help shape efforts in the region. If you have any questions, please contact the South Sound Military & Communities Partnership. 

Please go HERE to complete the survey online, and thank you!

Pierce County Talks JBLM's Forces Reduction

Pierce County Talks is PCTV's talk/discussion program that explores topical issues with the people on the front lines.

Thousands of JBLM personnel got the news that the Army will not reduce their numbers by 11,000 but some troops and civilians will still have to go.

Host Erich Ebel speaks with Pierce County Councilmember Doug Richardson and South Sound Military and Communities Partnership’s Tiffany Speir about what this means for the future of Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

Watch now HERE.

Army Community Listening Session Huge Success

A Message from South Sound Military and Communities Partnership:

Hello and THANK YOU for your participation in the Army's listening session about a proposed 11,000 reduction in force (active duty and civilian contractors) at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

Over 500 people attended today's event and 67 people testified in person, including WA Governor Jay Inslee, Pierce County Executive Pat McCarthy, Thurston County Commissioner Sandra Romero, Mayors and Council members from Lacey, Lakewood, Yelm, University Place, DuPont, Olympia, Orting, and many more.  The event ran an hour longer than scheduled due to the large turnout.

If you were in attendance but were not able to speak and have comments to provide, please send them ASAP to:

HQDA G3/5/7
Attn:  DAMOFMO
400 Army Pentagon
Washington, DC  20310

Please be sure to state that you were in attendance but were unable to stay the entire time to testify:  "I was there but I couldn't stay the whole time."

The Northwest Now show regarding possible cuts to JBLM will air January 23, 2015 on KBTC at 7:30.  If  you are unable to watch tonight, here’s a link to where you can see the show on our website after 1/23 at 8:00pm:  http://www.kbtc.org/page.php?id=369

Today's listening session was recorded by PCTV, and it will be part of the Pierce County News Broadcast that will run daily between 1/29 and 2/5 at 7:30 pm.  You can link to PCTV's website HERE.

Again, thank you for showing your support for and concern about JBLM!

South Sound Military & Communities Partnership

UPDATE:  JAN. 22, 2015
OTHER RESOURCES

Q13 Fox

http://q13fox.com/2015/01/21/local-leaders-small-business-owners-worry-about-possible-troop-cuts-at-jblm/

KOMOnews.com

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Community-rallies-against-plan-to-cut-11000-JBLM-soldiers-289385691.html

KING 5 News

http://www.king5.com/story/news/local/2015/01/21/army-listening-session-jblm/22139815/

KIROtv.com

http://www.kirotv.com/news/ap/washington/army-thinking-about-cutting-jobs-at-lewis-mcchord/njsQn/

The News Tribune

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2015/01/21/3599153_forum-addresses-effect-that-proposed.html?rh=1

The News Tribune (editorial)

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2015/01/21/3599729_defense-needs-not-robot-math-should.html?rh=1

Business Examiner Daily Biz Briefs

http://www.businessexaminer.com/blog/January-2015/Communities-argue-for-JBLM/

Daily Journal/AP
http://www.dailyjournal.net/view/story/6d9d93b1a4bd47b38d480e31a1129fb3/WA--Lewis-McChord-Reduction/

Regional View/PSRC
http://blog.psrc.org/2015/01/region-rallies-to-support-jblm/

The Suburban Times
http://thesubtimes.com/2015/01/23/lakewood-region-sound-off-on-jblm-reduction/?utm_source=The+Suburban+Times+email+edition&utm_campaign=1ad99bb98d-TST+email&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_4a8f53e3e2-1ad99bb98d-8741 

Association of Defense Communities
 http://www.defensecommunities.org/headlines/south-sound-stands-up-for-jb-lewis-mcchord/?utm_source=dc360&utm_campaign=645dab0276-RSS_dc360_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_04f8ff45e8-645dab0276-55781657&ct=t(RSS_dc360_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN)#