July 29, 2005

The Honorable Anthony J. Principi
Chairman
Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission
2521 South Clark Street, Suite 600
Arlington , VA 22202

Dear Chairman Principi:

As members of the Congressional Electronic Warfare Working Group, we write regarding the impact that certain BRAC recommendations may have on U.S. electronic warfare (EW) and information operations (IO) capabilities.

EW/IO capabilities are rapidly forming a military core competency through which we are accomplishing military objectives across the spectrum of conflict.  The development and employment of EW/IO assets, especially in an urban warfare environment, have proven to be invaluable in neutralizing or degrading unconventional threats such as remote controlled Improvised Explosive Devices (RC IEDs) and shoulder launched missiles. 

This said, we believe EW/IO should be considered a mission area, and BRAC recommendations should be evaluated in this context.  EW/IO capability is critical to our ability to defeat any future conventional or asymmetric threat.  DoD and the BRAC Commission must move carefully so as not to disrupt the maturation of this capability.  The DoD BRAC report, itself, recognizes a degree of uncertainty in predicting, and planning for, probable threats from peer competitors over the next 10 years.

In addition, critical to the U.S. EW/IO mission area is a trained and experienced workforce.  The backbone of this workforce is comprised of a limited number of highly educated, technical engineers spanning a variety of disciplines.  Mastering the art and science of EW/IO requires time and training to integrate these disciplines to provide real-time battlefield solutions to the war fighter.  However, unlike other mission areas, there is relatively little continuation training (official educational requirements and accredited programs) to build and maintain an adequate supply of EW/IO expertise.  The vast majority of current expertise is attained through on-the-job training (OJT) under intense mentorship of senior EW/IO experts.  We believe that the BRAC Commission should consider the unassessed cost of developing new models of education and training for EW/IO personnel relocated or replaced as a result of implementation of BRAC recommendations, so as not to deplete intellectual capital.

Finally, we are also concerned about any effect of diminishing critical warfighter support during ongoing operations.  Ground and air forces, which rely heavily on EW/IO capabilities, require access to immediate reach-back to domestic EW/IO personnel and labs for optimum mission execution.  Few mission areas have the reach-back capability and execution that EW/IO has, and requires.  EW/IO experts stationed domestically provide day-to-day support for our warfighters by transmitting relevant and timely information to the operators carrying out missions against asymmetric threats in Iraq and Afghanistan . 

EW/IO operations and expertise is central to overall U.S. military superiority.  They are among the most flexible, cost effective and creative of the warfighting disciplines, and may be the best suited to counter unconventional and asymmetric threats.  As such the value of EW/IO capabilities should be weighed accordingly through the BRAC process.

We appreciate your hard work and that of the entire Commission in evaluating U.S. base structure to ensure that we can respond to any challenge or emerging threat around the world.  We look forward to any insight you can provide as to the impact of BRAC on U.S. EW/IO capabilities.

Sincerely,
Joseph R. Pitts
Member of Congress

Electronic Warfare Working Group

Congressman Joe Pitts, Founder and Chairman

420 Cannon House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515

202 225-2411 phone    202 225-2013 fax