Local & State Headlines

Committee supporting state bases

• A Georgia-based group is working to ensure the success of the missions of the state's military bases.

Barbara Rivera Holmes

ALBANY — Col. Les Martin of the United States Air Force is familiar with the latest in military equipment, including the MRAP, or mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicle.

But until recently, Martin, of Moody Air Force Base in Valdosta, had no clue about the role that neighboring Marine Corps Logistics Base-Albany — and specifically, tenant Marine Corps Logistics Command (LOGCOM) — plays in supporting the MRAP operation.

“I didn’t know this was all here or what they are doing, taking the vehicles down to the frame (and rebuilding them),” Martin, commander of the 23rd Mission Group Support, said recently during a visit to the base.

Martin is one of 12 on the governor-appointed Georgia Military Affairs Coordinating Committee, which for hours Monday toured MCLB-Albany and on Tuesday got to better know its chiefs.

The committee, said director (Ret.) Brig. Gen. Philip Browning, has three objectives:

• To improve the mission value and quality of life of active military bases in Georgia
• To oversee state support for military growth
• To smooth the process of turning a closed base into usable property.

“Since they (active military personnel) are living and fighting together, it’s a good idea for us to know (how each branch supports the other),” Martin said of one of the reasons for the tour. “We do so much together in the spirit of jointness that we didn’t do 10-15 years ago.”

Browning said that the group visits one of Georgia’s nine military bases about every three months.

The Albany base is one of two national distribution and storage points for the MRAP, of which varying models are used in the four military branches as well as agencies including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, said Chris Berry, land program support for MRAP.

Berry, who is based in Albany and Virginia and who spent nearly three months setting up an MRAP support facility in Iraq, said that Albany also plays a role in maintenance and supply support for the vehicle.

“We should be receiving several MRAPs at Moody,” Martin said. “To know that the resources are here ... now I have a phone number.”

GETTING TO KNOW YOU

For military chiefs, one of the obvious advantages of the committee is discussion.

“I think one of the biggest things is (sharing) some of the management practices at the center,” Browning said. At Maintenance Center Albany, he said as an example, best practices include lean manufacturing, theory of constraint and Six Sigma, a quality improvement methodology.

“It’s an opportunity in many different ways ... to show off the base and many of the great things that we are doing,” said Col. Christian N. Haliday, commanding officer of MCLB-Albany.

It also highlights the variety of work that goes on at the base.

“There are a lots of smaller things that happen out here in terms of the amount of resources,” Haliday said.

For him, meeting other Georgia instillation commanders is a plus.

“It gives me the opportunity to talk to them. ” he said. “There might be something we’re doing that they can learn from and (vice versa).

“It’s an opportunity to make connections with other services.”

Moody’s Martin said that today there is increased interaction between the branches.

BRAC ON THE BRAIN

While GMACC allows officials to share best practices, it also plays a role in identifying weaknesses.

“If I find an issue that has state implications, I will go to the commissioner,” said Browning, whose $200,000 annual operating budget comes through the One Georgia Authority. Browning also provides updates to the governor, who may make some calls.

“There’s been occasion where I’ve written a letter to the (U.S.) Department of Defense and every member of the delegation has signed it,” Browning said.

Another critical role of GMACC is facilitating conversation.

“It has to be local, state and federal (cooperation), no doubt about it,” he said.

Through that communication, officials can work on details that could become issues for the Base Realignment and Closure Committee, better known as BRAC. It is BRAC that recommends to the federal DOD which bases will close and which will remain open.

The last BRAC cycle was in 2005, when the Albany-Dougherty community led an extensive campaign to help preserve MCLB-Albany.

Although BRAC and its potential negative implications are never far from the thoughts of officials, the base’s role in the mission of the U.S. Marine Corps is unique.

“People just don’t need to worry as much about BRAC,” said Haliday with a reassuring grin. “This is an important base. I have a hard time imagining how they would replace it.”

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