Legislature(2001 - 2002)
05/03/2002 01:40 PM Senate ASC
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA LEGISLATURE
JOINT ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE
May 3, 2002
1:30 p.m.
SENATE MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Gary Wilken, Co-Chair
Senator Randy Phillips
Senator Loren Leman
Senator Ben Stevens
Senator Alan Austerman
SENATE MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Bettye Davis
HOUSE MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Eldon Mulder, Co-Chair
Representative Lisa Murkowski
Representative John Harris
Representative Jeannette James
HOUSE MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Reggie Joule
OTHER LEGISLATORS PRESENT
Representative Gary Stevens
Representative Ken Lancaster
PUBLIC MEMBERS PRESENT
Mr. Frank Love
Mr. George Vakalis
Mr. Dean Owen
Mr. John Hoyt
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
Speakers:
Mr. Pat Ladner, Director Alaska Aerospace Development Corporation
Mr. George Vakalis' presentation of the "Advantage to Alaskans"
brochure
Mr. Larry Crawford, Anchorage Economic Development Corporation
th
Admiral Thomas Barrett, U.S. Coast Guard 17 District
WITNESS REGISTER
Mr. Pat Ladner
Alaska Aerospace Development Corporation
4300 B Street
Anchorage, AK 99503
Mr. George Vakalis
JASC Committee Member
PO Box 196614
Anchorage, AK 99519
Mr. Larry Crawford
Alaska Economic Development Corporation
th
900 W 5 Ave., #300
Anchorage, AK 99501
Mr. Michael Kean
Anchorage Economic Development Corporation
th
900 W 5 Ave., #300
Anchorage, AK 99501
Mr. Paul Fuhs
1635 Sitka #301
Anchorage, AK 99501
Ms. Janice Nielsen
Governmental & Legislative Affairs
USARPAC
Fort Shafter, HI
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 02-3, SIDE A
1:40 p.m.
CO-CHAIR GARY WILKEN called the Joint Armed Services Committee
(JASC) meeting to order at 1:40 p.m. and recognized the presence of
Representatives John Harris, Gary Stevens and Lisa Murkowski and
Senator Ben Stevens. He announced that Co-Chair Mulder, Senator
Leman, and Senator Phillips were attending another meeting. He then
welcomed JASC public members Mr. George Vakalis and Mr. Frank Love;
Mr. Dave Lewis from the Civilian Advisory Board; Ms. Janice Neilsen
from USARPAC; and Barb Mee, JASC committee staff. Mr. John Hoyt
and Mr. Dean Owen were participating via teleconference.
SENATOR STEVENS moved to approve the minutes from the previous JASC
meeting dated February 5, 2002. There being no objection, the
minutes were approved.
CO-CHAIR WILKEN informed members that their packets contain an
article from AIR FORCE Magazine entitled, "The Defense Budget at a
Glance," and noted the Department of Defense's budget will increase
from $299 billion in FY 2001 to $384.2 billion in 2007, a
significant increase.
Senators Leman and Phillips arrived.
CO-CHAIR WILKEN asked Mr. Pat Ladner to address the committee on
missile defense at the Kodiak Launch complex.
1:43 p.m.
MR. PAT LADNER, President and CEO of the Alaska Aerospace
Development Corporation (AADC), gave the following background on
the AADC launch site.
The AADC was created by statute in July of 1991. He came on board
in August of 1992. The AADC has struggled, but he is proud to say
the launch complex construction was completed in 1998 without any
general fund money from the State of Alaska. Regarding future
possibilities as they pertain to missile defense in Alaska, he
noted the Northern test bed was funded this year and work has begun
on the environmental impact statement for the Northern test bed,
which includes Kodiak. Scoping meetings were held in Kodiak and
Anchorage about two weeks ago. Those meetings went well.
MR. LADNER then showed a video of the Kodiak launch site facility
and grounds and an actual launch. [A handout that accompanied the
video is available in the committee file.]
MR. LADNER informed members that if everything goes according to
plan, the infrastructure of the Kodiak launch site can be doubled.
The launch complex was built for $40 million; that could not be
done again. Expansion of the facility will create many jobs. The
U.S. Air Force estimated the last launch at the Kodiak site brought
$5 million to the state. Future plans include construction of a
missile assembly building, possibly two additional target pads and
two silos to intercept, a motor storage facility, and a maintenance
and storage facility. Eight launches are planned during a 12-month
time period.
CO-CHAIR WILKEN asked when that will begin.
MR. LADNER said the environmental impact statement is supposed to
be finished in February of 2003. He stated, "We're trying to tell
them right now you need to start designing facilities to be ready
to start construction, you know, like we did on the launch complex.
30 days after the record of decision's signed, we ought to be
pouring concrete. So we're pushing them on that." He noted the
Kodiak Synchronization Workshop was held last month as a kick-off
for infrastructure and operations planning for Kodiak. The AADC
took it upon itself to start the initial design process and came up
with a notional for the missile assembly building.
CO-CHAIR WILKEN asked what the new construction is contingent upon.
MR. LADNER explained:
There's two contingents. There's one - there's an
interceptor and then there's the targets. The targets are
going to happen. We're already doing those. There are
some studies, continuous studies and studies and studies,
by Boeing to determine whether or not they want to put
two silos and interceptors - test interceptors - at
Kodiak. Now, the infrastructure that I showed you, if,
for whatever reasons Missile Defense and Boeing decide
that we don't want to put two silos at Kodiak, we're just
going to do it at Vandenberg, then the only things that
won't happen is that IFIC building and the two silos. The
target pads, the missile assembly building, the motor
storage facility and - one of the things I didn't point
out because I didn't have a picture - is it would
probably increase the size of the launch control center.
So the majority of the infrastructure probably is going
to happen just to support targets so we're working very
closely and, in fact, since our next launch is not
scheduled until August of '03, my VP of operations, Ed
Allen who is 30 years in this business, is going to be
spending a majority of his time in Huntsville working
very closely with Boeing and the Missile Defense people
because what we found out is if you don't have a
presence, people tend to make assumptions and we know all
about assumptions. So, as I told the General, we want our
people down there so that if you make a bad assumption,
then it won't be our fault. So we're pretty happy with
that.
CO-CHAIR WILKEN asked what the committee can do to help.
MR. LADNER said that Senator Therriault has proposed allowing the
AADC to begin construction without coming to the Legislature for
approval. The statute that established the AADC requires it to get
approval from the Legislature during the legislative session before
spending funds for a project that will cost more than $1 million.
Therefore, if a customer comes to the AADC after session and is
willing to spend hundreds of millions of dollars in Alaska but
wants work to begin immediately, the AADC must wait to get approval
the following January, at the soonest. Mr. Ladner said the AADC has
been a good steward when it comes to funding, managing its affairs,
and the environment. The AADC's business is primarily with the
federal government, which has accounting system requirements in
place. Contracts are audited by the Department of Defense. The
state accounting system does not have the same requirements. AADC
recently installed an accounting system that is compatible with the
state's.
CO-CHAIR WILKEN thanked Mr. Ladner for his presentation and
recognized the presence of Representative Lancaster and Major
General Phil Oates of the Department of Military and Veterans
Affairs. He then asked Mr. Vakalis to present to the committee.
2:14 p.m.
MR. GEORGE VAKALIS, public member of the Joint Armed Services
Committee, gave the committee the following update on a brochure
being produced by the Anchorage and Fairbanks Chambers of Commerce.
This brochure is being produced in a three-phase approach for the
purpose of informing the public of the benefits derived from having
military bases in Alaska. During the Base Realignment and Closure
(BRAC) process, BRAC commissioners have the opportunity to visit
different military sites proposed for closure. The commissioners
hold town meetings to get feedback on how supportive the community
is of the military in that location. Such support helps formulate
their decisions and recommendations.
The brochure points out the advantages of having a military base
located in a community. Even though Anchorage and Fairbanks are
highlighted in the brochure, coastal Alaska is also mentioned.
MR. VAKALIS distributed copies of the final brochure and asked
members to provide recommendations regarding changes or additions.
He stated the committee has discussed providing funding for the
production of the brochures and estimates of the cost have been
made available.
MR. VAKALIS said the second phase of this project entails a second
brochure that will explain why it is advantageous for the military
to be located in Alaska and what Alaska has to offer. Again, he is
working with the Anchorage and Fairbanks Chambers of Commerce on
Phase 2. They are also creating a power point presentation to be
used when interfacing with decision makers so that everyone is
working from the same sheet of music. He encouraged members to
offer suggestions while both projects are underway.
CO-CHAIR WILKEN recognized the presence of Co-Chair Mulder and
acknowledged that the funds for the first brochure were provided.
He mentioned that Ms. Mee has suggested the funds for the second
brochure be solicited from industries that would be involved.
CO-CHAIR MULDER complimented Mr. Vakalis on the brochure and
suggested looking into the cost of having the brochure inserted in
all of the major newspapers throughout the state.
SENATOR PHILLIPS asked Mr. Vakalis to meet with him to review a
survey he took of his constituents regarding support for spending
money to protect Alaska's military interests through the BRAC
process. He noted he represents the largest military district in
the state and he was surprised at the results.
MR. VAKALIS responded that through the BRAC process, it has been
found that many communities that have benefited most from military
bases have not realized the benefits so the public needs to be
educated early on.
CO-CHAIR WILKEN recognized the presence of Senator Austerman and
then asked Mr. Larry Crawford to present to the committee.
MR. LARRY CRAWFORD, President of the Anchorage Economic Development
Corporation (AEDC), introduced Michael Kean of the AEDC and Paul
Fuhs, a consultant to the AEDC.
TAPE 02-3, SIDE B
MR. CRAWFORD gave the following introduction and a power point
presentation.
AEDC began the Military/Commercial Global Logistics Initiative in
2000 and is now completing Phase 2. Funding has been provided by
the state and private sector. The AEDC Board has been very
supportive of this project. Steering committee members are from
Anchorage, Fairbanks, and the Mat-Su Borough, so the focus has been
on the Railbelt. During Phase I, initial efforts were focused on a
military logistics study that was done by Price Waterhouse Coopers
(PWC). PWC concluded that opportunities exist in the areas of
distribution and maintenance. PWC recommended that the AEDC work
with third party logistics providers and with Department of Defense
prime source vendors because it is clear that the military is using
a considerable amount of commercial infrastructure.
With those recommendations, AEDC moved into Phase 2 and engaged a
company with experience in transportation issues to look at the
global logistics operations as they currently exist worldwide. The
company did an analysis of the growth and trends of logistics and
of the strengths and weaknesses of the Anchorage area. It also
established a set of criteria to identify and pre-qualify a number
of companies it would meet with to discuss how Anchorage would fit
into their supply chains. They are also preparing a sales plan,
which is a detailed approach to meeting with interested companies.
The conclusions of the Phase 2 study were to continue to focus on
high value time sensitive products and to target specific
industries. AEDC is looking at narrowing its focus to aviation,
automotive, electronics, information technology, pharmaceuticals
and high value consumer goods. The study also recommended targeting
specific services and operations: aircraft maintenance, parts
distribution, packaging of components, automotive parts
distribution and others. The study recommended that AEDC conduct
structured site visits and present opportunities available in the
Railbelt to specific companies. The last recommendation was to
facilitate formulation of joint ventures.
AEDC will be entering Phase 3 in the first part of July. That will
entail following up with prospective companies it has already met
with to have more detailed discussions about how they might benefit
from being located in the Railbelt. The AEDC plans to do more
marketing in Asia and will conduct site visits to Anchorage for
Asian companies. AEDC will also be working with major cargo and
passenger airports. The consultant has recommended that the
Anchorage airport partner with other airports such as Los Angeles,
that make more money on passenger traffic, so that those airports
do not have to handle as much cargo.
MR. CRAWFORD concluded by saying that facilitating joint ventures
involves packaging, that is, putting together a specific package
that includes a logistics provider, manufacturers and shippers as
customers, and a developer with an interest in financing and
operations. AEDC has done a lot of marketing, knows the
opportunities and who the players are and is at a point where it is
ready to start packaging and getting involved in specific sales.
Potential benefits include jobs and a larger tax base.
MR. CRAWFORD said that AEDC has advertised the fact that Anchorage
is nine hours from 95 percent of the industrialized world often.
After further analysis, the AEDC found that Anchorage is very close
to a majority of the world's gross product, so it is in the center
of most of the world's buying power.
SENATOR LEMAN asked where the consultant will meet with the AEDC on
May 22.
MR. CRAWFORD said it will probably be held in CIRI's conference
room in Anchorage.
SENATOR LEMAN asked the name of the transportation consultant.
MR. CRAWFORD replied the consultant is a company named Transfair.
MR. KEAN clarified that the Los Angeles airport is landlocked and
does not have room to expand its harbor facilities. If the harbor
transfer work is done in Anchorage, flights could terminate in Los
Angeles, download, upload and take off again to their place of
origin. He added that the military may be able to piggyback onto
the maintenance and recalibration work, from the standpoint of
having parts recalibrated within the state, rather than in another
state, as is the case now.
MR. CRAWFORD added that the AEDC has worked closely with Fairbanks
and the Mat-Su Borough to make this a Railbelt project. The Mat-Su
Borough would benefit from any development at the airport and
Fairbanks would benefit because it markets a lot of fuel to the
Anchorage airport. When AEDC makes presentations to groups, it
shows slides of the Fairbanks airport as well.
MR. PAUL FUHS, consultant to the AEDC, pointed out the military is
in the "midst of a revolution" regarding how it treats parts in
storage. Right now, when an aircraft is purchased, it is purchased
with a complete contract for maintenance and parts supply so when
Mr. Crawford explained the concept of packaging, a manufacturer,
logistics distributor and carriers are necessary to compete in this
new world. He added the AEDC learned from the Pacific Command about
the issue of maintenance of aircraft parts, and how that is where a
bottleneck occurs. Aircraft parts are constantly being switched out
and sent for testing and recalibration so that offers Anchorage an
opportunity to be a global maintenance facility for all
international air traffic in Anchorage.
CO-CHAIR WILKEN thanked Mr. Crawford, Mr. Kean, and Mr. Fuhs and
asked Major General Oates to address the committee.
MAJOR GENERAL PHIL OATES, Commissioner of the Alaska Department of
Military and Veterans Affairs (DMVA), gave the following update on
the Alaska National Guard and the military as a whole.
He just returned from Washington, D.C. where he received an award
for the youth talent program in the Alaska National Guard. Alaska
has received this award three years in a row. Also, Alaska's
aviation battalion in the Army Guard is being recognized as the
best Army aviation battalion in the entire Army Air Guard
nationwide. A new combined support maintenance shop was recently
opened in Ft. Richardson. That shop is absolutely the best in the
entire Department of Defense. It will allow the National Guard to
expand and do maintenance operations and repairs for the entire
military in Alaska. Alaska's 104 Civil Support Team was just
certified and, in fact, the fifth Army came down and certified
them. They certified every team in the country and, in their words,
the team in Alaska is the best they have seen yet. That team is
critical to rapidly assess, identify and detect nuclear,
biological, chemical, radiological or high explosive events, set up
a command post, and operate in a hazard protective environment and
give advice and recommendations to DMVA.
MAJOR GENERAL OATES continued.
We recently had the National Guard bow and I went through
three pages of one-line bullets of what we had done over
the last year and it was absolutely staggering. And the
National Guard, as you know, is your military. There's a
lot of military here but, you know, the National Guard is
the legislative and the state military and it's because
of your strong support that we've done as well as we
have. There are also some changes that you see happening
in Alaska that go back, I would say, to the mid-80s,
probably with Senator Stevens back when Barb was working
for him, and seeing a vision of what Alaska could be, not
only in the Guard but in the active military and a lot of
what you see coming together now is the vision from back
in that era and now you see us adding to it the component
of a Pacific test bed. And that adds to our ability to
have a fully integrated missile defense testing and
exercise capability here. It allows us to integrate that
with our air and ground test facilities and it allows us
to take advantage of - the real jewel in the crown is our
broad expanse of training areas from the air, the land
and the sea.
All that is happening right now as we think about the
military here but there's also another dimension of this
that is just happening that you may not be aware of - is
we've got another 'CINCdom' [Commander in Chief -
Northern Command] coming to Alaska. We have both unified
and combatant commands, our four star war fighters if you
will, and we will now have four of those with a foothold
here in Alaska, a mission in Alaska and force structure
in Alaska.
Now adding to PACOM's presence here, Pacific Command,
where we're missioned to go to the Pacific, added to
NORAD's presence here to defend our air sovereignty and
our air defense, added to U.S. space commands presence
here with clear and the rapidly evolving missile defense
activity, will come Northern Command and Northern Command
is being stood up by our nation as a combatant command to
provide our homeland security. It will cover the United
States, it will include Alaska less Hawaii, and it will
also have as its air of operation Canada, Mexico, part of
the Caribbean, and 500 nautical miles out to sea. This
command, it looks like it will be located in Colorado,
and it's very important that we make Alaska a very, very
strong presence in that command and you can see it's easy
from a military perspective to be an afterthought when
the Lower 48 is the center of the universe, if you will.
So one thing that's important for this committee and
important for the military is make sure our needs are
known well in that command and as that is evolving and
standing up this October, I think that's probably worthy
of your time to get more information. And what this
command will do, it will bring the military support to
civilian authorities and it will provide the federal
military assistance to the agencies on the crisis
response, which is headed by the Department of Justice
and the consequence management response, which will be
headed by FEMA. We're doing a lot in homeland security
but, again, added to everything we have in Alaska, we
have four unified or combatant commands that are located
in Alaska as well in this area of operation, which has
really become a microcosm of the Department of Defense.
We've got a joint subordinate unified command here, we've
got a combined presence with Canada. We've got full
service representation. We've got broad training areas
that are becoming more and more used and we've got a
fully integrated National Guard.
And let me just conclude with just talking about the
National Guard and where we're going. There are really
three legs to our mission. The first [is] our
mobilization or go to war missions and for us that's our
tactical airlift, our combat search and rescue, our
combat communications, our aerial-refueling, and our
critical site security in our Army aviation battalion.
Those are our mobilization and go to war missions where
all our war planned in those missions. In fact, some of
our forces now are currently deployed in their war plan
areas for the ongoing fight against terrorism. The second
mission area [is] where we're a force provider. We're
very, very unique in Alaska and I think leading the
nation as a force provider.
Now what do I mean by force provider? The National Guard
recruits the forces, initially trains the forces, equips
the forces, professionally develops the forces, takes
care of the families and then we provide a package to the
active duty on a daily and operational basis but those
forces are still available to the state and to the
governor through a memorandum of agreement. Which areas
of those? It's the rescue coordination center, it's the
th
aerial-refueling mission, rescue coordination for 11
Air Force aero-refueling for NORAD and now beginning the
second year of manning the regional air operations
center. It's the space surveillance mission at Clear that
we just started to recruit for and it's also the missile
defense activity that we'll man once this becomes more
than just a test bed operation.
And then the third area that's very unique is homeland
security and we're uniquely structured for that with our
rd
103 Civil Support, our scout group that is organized
for critical site defense in a hazardous environment, our
Army aviation, our communications capability and our
rd
103 Civil Support team. So we're becoming very unique
and integrated in the National Guard for homeland
security.
So, I will conclude by saying that a lot of this is
possible because of you and those that preceded you, not
only the support that you give to the military, but the
fact that you make it a very key part of the legislative
process here and I'd like to thank you for that.
MAJOR GENERAL OATES informed members that Boeing is starting the
process of opening offices in Anchorage and Fairbanks and asked
members to encourage that effort.
CO-CHAIR WILKEN noted that last year the Legislature funded a
second one-star position for missile defense and asked for an
update.
MAJOR GENERAL OATES said the nominee, Jim Welsh, is going through
the legislative confirmation process right now. Mr. Welsh, an
executive with British Petroleum, was selected by the Governor. He
has an extensive background in project management and has unique
military and industry skills.
CO-CHAIR WILKEN asked about the status of legislation that allows
the state to pay the difference in wages when National Guard
members who are state employees are called to duty.
REPRESENTATIVE JAMES thought the bill was still in the House State
Affairs Committee.
MAJOR GENERAL OATES informed members that due to many deployments,
National Guard members no longer serve just one weekend a month and
two weeks a year. Many businesses are realizing the critical need
of having individuals ready to serve our country, and that those
individuals should not be penalized for doing so. Many of those
individuals earn less while on military duty, yet they incur the
same financial obligations that civilians do, such as home
mortgages. Nationwide, the trend is to help pay some of the burden
for those who serve; many other states have passed similar
legislation. He noted it is not unusual for National Guard members
to be called to duty for 9 to 12 months in a year's time.
CO-CHAIR MULDER asked Major General Oates if he was familiar with a
bill that relates to the Army site at Eagle River.
MAJOR GENERAL OATES said he was not.
SENATOR STEVENS clarified that legislation is SB 371.
MAJOR GENERAL OATES noted a major environmental clean-up occurred
in that area because of white phosphorous fired into it. He thought
the military has become more environmentally conscientious but he
noted the more Alaska restricts the military's ability to train,
the more the military will be driven to train elsewhere.
CO-CHAIR WILKEN noted that legislation will be heard at 3:30 in the
Senate Resources Committee. He then thanked Major General Oates for
his service and asked Ms. Nielsen to address the committee.
MS. JANICE NIELSEN, Director of Governmental and Legislative
Affairs for USARPAC, Fort Schafter, Hawaii, gave the committee the
following update on some movements within the military.
Yesterday, the Commander in Chief of the Pacific had a change of
command. Admiral Dennis Blair relinquished command to Admiral
Fargo, who was the Commander of CINCPAC fleet at Pearl Harbor.
Also, President Bush, in conjunction with Secretary Rumsfeld,
announced recently that General Keane will replace General Shinseki
as Chief of the Army next year. Regarding the change of command for
the Commander of the Pacific of the Army, no date has been set of
when Lt. Gen. Smith will relinquish his command to Lt. Gen.
Campbell. She will work with the committee to arrange a visit by
Lt. Gen. Campbell once a firm date is set.
CO-CHAIR MULDER said that when General Myers was in Anchorage
during the Salute to the Military, he was asked for suggestions
regarding what Alaska could do to enhance its position nationally.
General Myers recommended hosting an annual event in Washington,
D.C. for Pentagon officials to put names to faces and locations and
heighten awareness. The committee has discussed hosting such an
event in September. He asked Ms. Nielsen to assist the committee in
organizing that event and said he intends to appropriate funds to
the Joint Armed Services Committee for that purpose.
MS. NIELSEN agreed to work with the committee and noted that she
has helped the Hawaii Chamber of Commerce host a similar event
every year.
CO-CHAIR MULDER said the committee intends to host the event with
the Anchorage and Fairbanks Chambers of Commerce. Co-Chair Mulder
then apologized for having to postpone the first Salute to the
Military - Southeast Style event until next year.
CO-CHAIR WILKEN thanked Mr. Love and Mr. Knapp for the work they
did on that event. He then asked Ms. Mee to update the committee.
MS. MEE said the problems at Eagle River are one reason that the
brochure was created. She then announced that she plans to depart
as staff in the near future but will help put the September event
together in Washington, D.C. She noted that three things were on
her priority list when she began working for the committee last
June. The first was to get Anchorage and Fairbanks talking. She
believes the work the two chambers did on the brochure is a good
start. The second priority was to make sure all players in Alaska
are "playing from the same sheet of music" and she believes that is
being accomplished. The third priority is to entertain the "movers
and shakers." The committee will have an opportunity to touch base
with some movers and shakers from Washington, D.C. on June 2 who
will be coming to Alaska. She encouraged committee members not to
get ahead of Senator Ted Stevens, who is working tirelessly with
Senator Inouye and others to see that the military is placed where
it should be. She said it is important to continue to make people
aware that Anchorage is 7.5 hours from any possible hot spot in the
country. Although she believes the military structure and
components in Alaska may change over the next decade, she still
believes Alaska remains the "best game in town" so keeping each
other informed will help keep it here.
CO-CHAIR MULDER asked members to plan to attend the June 2 event as
it will provide a great opportunity for committee members to touch
base with Senators Reed, Hagel, and Thompson and Congressmen Kolbe,
Tauscher and Snyder. Also, on June 3, Anchorage kicks off its
military appreciation week with a Chamber of Commerce luncheon. Co-
Chair Mulder then thanked Ms. Mee for her wonderful work as
committee aide.
CO-CHAIR WILKEN announced that Major General James Lovelace has
been promoted to Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff, the G-3 position
in the Pentagon. He also announced that Admiral Tom Barrett will be
receiving his third star and moving to the Coast Guard headquarters
as Vice Commandant. He will be replaced by Rear Admiral James
Underwood. Last, Brigadier General Doug Fraser has left the Third
Wing at Elmendorf and has been replaced by Colonel Dutch Remkes.
TAPE 02-04, SIDE A
CO-CHAIR WILKEN noted the Legislature recently passed a resolution
in appreciation of the Yukon government's assistance to Alaska when
allowing a Korean Air jet to land in Whitehorse on September 11.
His office worked very closely with Premier Duncan's office to make
sure that everyone who participated was thanked. He then asked
members if they had further comments or questions.
MR. VAKALIS said he plans to have the second brochure and power
point presentation finished before the committee hosts its
September event in Washington, D.C. so they will be available for
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the committee's use. In addition, on June 7, the Anchorage Chamber
of Commerce will feed about 8,000 military members and their
families. This event has been held for the past three years. He
noted that volunteers are needed.
MR. LOVE informed members that Admiral Barrett's change of command
will take place on Monday [May 6] in Juneau. His successor is an
Alaska veteran who formally commanded the Sweetbriar out of
Cordova.
REPRESENTATIVE HARRIS noted, regarding Northern Edge, the marine
aspect of that program in his district is going very well.
CO-CHAIR MULDER asked for suggestions for the next meeting.
MS. MEE said the committee had hoped to go to Kodiak before Admiral
Barrett left. If the committee meets in Kodiak, it could visit the
world's largest Coast Guard base and the Alaska Aerospace
Development Corporation.
SENATOR LEMAN commented that the Coast Guard base is not only
large, it is incredibly clean.
MR. DAVE LEWIS, Citizens Advisory Committee, encouraged committee
members to think homeland defense priorities and although it will
take a lot of money, it would be a shame to approach the
anniversary of September 11 less prepared. He urged members to
leave it up to the folks who really know what needs to be done to
protect Alaskans. As current chairman of the Armed Services YMCA of
Alaska, he thanked all participants for their efforts on the YMCA's
behalf. He noted this year, the Armed Services YMCA of Alaska
worked with Ft. Wainwright and Eielson Air Force Base; next year it
will work with the Coast Guard.
CO-CHAIR WILKEN pointed out that discussions about homeland defense
funds are underway in the Legislature at this time.
MR. LADNER said he would e-mail members with an update about the
June 2 workshop in Kodiak.
MR. VAKALIS noted the bill referred to by Senator Stevens [SB 371]
is very important because if the suing party prevails in the Eagle
River military range case, it will set a precedent, affecting the
military throughout the United States.
CO-CHAIR WILKEN acknowledged that bill is in committee members'
sites.
CO-CHAIR MULDER introduced Admiral Thomas Barrett, and informed
members he will be receiving his third star, a tremendous
promotion. Committee members congratulated Admiral Barrett.
th
ADMIRAL THOMAS BARRETT, U.S. Coast Guard, 17 District, introduced
Rear Admiral Jim Underwood, presently the National Security Advisor
to the Secretary of Transportation. Rear Admiral Underwood will
relieve Admiral Barrett on Monday; he knows Alaska and will do well
by Alaska.
ADMIRAL BARRETT thanked the Alaska Legislature, and the members of
the Joint Armed Services Committee in particular, for their support
of the Coast Guard. He also thanked members for their support of
the military in general. No other state in the nation provides
better support to men and women in uniform, whether that be
resource support to get the infrastructure, training, or equipment,
or better services for their families. Admiral Barrett then gave
all committee members a medallion commemorating the Coast Guard's
commitment to operational excellence in Alaska in appreciation of
members' efforts.
ADMIRAL BARRETT then gave a power point presentation to update
members on what the Coast Guard is doing in Alaska at this time.
The highlights of that presentation are as follows.
· The cutter Monroe is underway in the Bering Sea, headed up to
the maritime boundary with Russia to patrol. Ships are coming
to the area as the ice has fallen back.
· The icebreaker Healy is in transit to Nome and is scheduled to
arrive within two days. The Healy will be going further North
to do polar research with a National Science Foundation team.
· The Acushnet, another cutter, just left for law enforcement
patrol in the Aleutians.
· The cutter SPAR is doing law enforcement and navigational aids
work in Unimak Pass.
· An HC-130 is flying today over the Western Aleutians and the
Bering Sea and a Canadian Orion is staged out of Shemya doing
high seas drift net patrols. So far, it has not seen any drift
net activity in that area.
· The Coast Guard has an H-60 in the Eastern Aleutians
supporting the Acushnet.
· The Liberty is on patrol in Prince William Sound; another
cutter, the Mustang, is just leaving there after working with
Northern Edge.
· Two new small boats have been deployed in Valdez for port
security and a helicopter and crew was deployed to Cordova for
the summer months to provide support to the fishing industry.
· The Coast Guard is providing vessel escort for submarines.
· An H-60 is flying out of Sitka, doing law enforcement and
cruise ship watch patrol.
· The cutter Sycamore is en route to Cordova.
· Other activities involve presenting boating safety awards and
participation in contests involving school children.
ADMIRAL BARRETT noted that key areas of homeland security from the
Coast Guard perspective are the Valdez Marine Terminal and the
tankers transiting to and from there. The Coast Guard just
completed participation in Northern Edge, which focused for the
first time on port security. He noted Alaska is ahead of the rest
of the country on port security. The Coast Guard was the lead
federal agency in that training exercise, and ALCOM, the Alaska
Army National Guard, the Air National Guard, U.S Army, Navy and
Marines dive teams and boat units from the "Lower 48" participated,
as well as the FBI, Alaska State Troopers, Alyeska Pipeline Service
personnel and the Valdez Police Department. He complemented
Representative Harris and the community of Valdez for their
support. Safety and environmental concerns with oil transportation
is a major issue for Alaska. He believes Valdez is the safest oil
transport port in the country.
Passenger vessels are also an issue. In addition to security risks,
there is a personnel protection issue. Those ships carry 2,000 to
3,000 passengers. The risk of fire or a grounding is of concern to
the Coast Guard, for which it exercises a high capacity Search and
Rescue Transponder (SART) system. Again, because of the work of a
lot of people, Alaska has a much better posture with regard to the
environmental concerns with cruise ships. Senator Murkowski closed
the "donut holes" with federal legislation last year. On the state
level, the Legislature worked to get a better regime in place. In
addition, the Legislature passed a recreational boating law two
years ago. The boating related death rate has decreased by 40
percent since that legislation passed.
Fisheries remain a big issue for the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard
has had some good operational successes over the last year when
working with the Russians. It is trying to show Russians to see how
the U.S. regulates fisheries and, for the first time, the Coast
Guard brought in some representatives from Russia to appear and
testify before the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council with
the Coast Guard. The net result is fewer incursions on the MBL
(Maritime Boundary Line). The Coast Guard has reached an agreement
with the state to delay openings in high-risk fisheries when
weather conditions require such action. The Coast Guard deploys
helicopters to St. Paul and Cold Bay during the winter fisheries.
The Coast Guard is very proactive on boating safety, including
charter boats and small vessels. The number of SAR cases is slowly
decreasing. The Coast Guard is still saving about 200 to 250 lives
per year, but the caseload is starting to decrease as the result of
prevention efforts.
Regarding the Coast Guard's budget, President Bush and the Alaska
Legislature have been highly supportive of the Coast Guard, which
will see about an 18 percent increase in FY 03. That increase will
not immediately solve the homeland security issues confronted by
the Coast Guard on a nationwide basis, but the Coast Guard hopes to
ramp up to that level over the next three years. About 6,000 people
will be added nationwide, as well as several thousand reservists.
The Coast Guard needs better support in the St. Paul area. Fueling
capability is not adequate. This winter, the Coast Guard had to fly
a fuel truck from Kodiak to St. Paul to refuel its helicopters, an
expensive and unreliable way to do business. Penn Air has always
been willing to help out the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard is
looking for private and public partnerships to address its housing
problem. An ice radar project is coming on line in Valdez - that
will solve a major problem for the Coast Guard. The port was closed
to transits a few days this week because of ice in the shipping
lanes. The Coast Guard has partnered with the weather service in
Alaska so that it can broadcast weather from its high sites, which
increases range by about 300 percent.
REPRESENTATIVE GARY STEVENS asked Admiral Barrett to elaborate on
the housing needs.
ADMIRAL BARRETT estimated the number of housing units needed in
Kodiak is about 200. Congressman Young and President Bush have been
supportive of improving housing. In Cordova, the number is about
30.
CO-CHAIR WILKEN thanked Admiral Barrett on behalf of the committee
and welcomed Rear Admiral Underwood. There being no further
business to come before the committee, he adjourned the meeting at
3:40 p.m.
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