[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 129 (Thursday, September 24, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1791]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E1791]]



          SOUTHWEST DEFENSE COMPLEX: AMERICA'S FUTURE DEFENSE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. WILLIAM M. THOMAS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 24, 1998

  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Southwest 
Defense Complex, a proposal to consolidate defense research, 
development, testing, evaluation, and training in the Southwest United 
States. This proposal links 12 bases in 5 states (California, Utah, 
Nevada, New Mexico, and Arizona) and will focus on addressing two of 
the challenges facing defense in the future: the use of communication 
technology to transfer information across great distances in order to 
attack efficiently and with higher success rates and the ability to use 
resources to their maximum in a time of decreasing defense budgets. 
This consolidation is vital to the future of U.S. national security and 
for the Department of Defense to achieve optimum use of its facilities. 
The Southwest is ideal for defense research and training because of the 
large amount of land, air, and sea space in the region.
  Future warfare promises to be very different from war in the past. 
Dependence on technology is steadily increasing; as such, the ability 
to manage information will be the key to battle. A futuristic attack 
may play out like this: knowledge about the enemy and targets to be hit 
are obtained from large distances. Then the armed services evaluate 
targets based on priority and decide what resources to use against 
them. Decisions about each step may be made by individuals who are 
thousands of miles away from each other: the soldier on the ground who 
obtains the information about possible targets, the commander who 
decides which targets to hit, and the pilot who fires the weapons. The 
effect of the attack can be assessed within moments and the pilot can 
be updated as he travels. The coming dependence on technology that 
provides fast, accurate transmission of information will cause the 
coming years to be unlike any other era in history.
  The Department of Defense is reevaluating how it researches, 
develops, and tests new technologies and trains personnel. We are 
developing tactics to use our superior information systems to maximize 
use of equipment and fighting personnel, thus decreasing costs and 
human risk. As technology becomes cheaper and more accessible, we must 
be ready to confront others with sophisticated technologies. Lastly, 
our need to adapt our defense strategy and structures comes at a time 
when our military budget is decreasing. This change makes it even more 
critical for the Department of Defense to find a more streamlined way 
to squeeze the maximum out of its resources.
  These challenges require our military to respond with increased 
integration and consolidation of research, development, testing, and 
training, and the Southwest provides the perfect opportunity to perform 
these activities. Multiple use of resources between branches of the 
service is necessary in order to make sure that precious resources are 
used to their fullest. For example, it makes much more sense to develop 
missiles in one place instead of in five different locations. Bases in 
the Southwest have already begun to share resources and cooperate in 
testing. Navy and Air Force facilities in California share the use of 
optical sensors for visual tracking of aircraft, so that each service 
does not have to duplicate investment. The western range bases have a 
common data display format so that they may easily share information. 
F-15 aircraft stationed at Edwards Air Force Base are flown against 
unmanned drones at the Naval Air Warfare Center at Pt. Mugu, both in 
California, so that they do not have to fly cross-country. We need to 
encourage the services to continue taking such efficient and cost-
effective steps. This resource use is the foundation of the proposed 
Southwest Defense Complex and is the reason that the Complex is 
critically important.
  The Southwest provides a great deal of space to test new technology 
and train soldiers to use it, both of which are vital to the successful 
defense of our nation in the future. In order to develop technology in 
the most cost-effective manner, lab and field-testing need to be in 
close proximity to each other. Technology can then be developed, tested 
in the field, and sent back to the lab in order to be adapted further 
to the battle environment. Commercial technology can be quickly adapted 
to military uses in order to decrease costs. The most cost-effective 
way to test and train commercial technology is to have the lab that is 
adapting it in the vicinity of the field where it is being tested. On 
the human side of the operation, in order for operations to run 
smoothly, military personnel need to train as they expect to fight. 
Soldiers should practice and train maneuvers using technologies in a 
real-world environment. In this way, both the technology and the people 
that use it will be as prepared as possible for future threats to 
national security while utilizing military resources to their maximum.
  Physical space is vital to the type of testing and training just 
described. A single open-air test range requires nearly two million 
acres of open land. The Southwest is the only region of the country 
that offers land of this size, as well as air and sea space needed for 
other kinds of testing. The Southwest offers over 335 million acres of 
federally owned land. Over 490 thousand square miles of air space is 
available in the Southwest, and 484 thousand square miles of sea are 
open for training activities. This land can be used without the 
interference from civilians or substantial electromagnetic 
interference--both of which are a problem in the rest of the country.
  Climate and weather considerations are also critical to testing and 
training under the most efficient conditions. The Southwest's weather 
and climate are ideal for these purposes. For example, China Lake Naval 
Air Warfare Center in California has 260 clear days per year and has 
very low levels of atmospheric distortion. Visibility at China Lake is 
frequently over 100 miles and seismic activity is very low. However, 
there are a variety of climates in the Southwest Complex: arid deserts, 
cold and icy climates, and mildly humid and moist seashores. These 
conditions provide optimum circumstances for training and testing since 
the region combines a variety of climates for real-world testing with 
optimum weather for maximum efficiency in use of time.
  Thus, the Southwest offers advantages that no other area of the 
country can. We have large amounts of open air, land, and sea space for 
testing and training, particularly of new and commercially-adapted 
technology. We offer existing facilities with personnel with experience 
in sharing of equipment in order to have maximum benefits from scarce 
resources. These assets make the Southwest Defense Complex critical to 
the future of defense and national security and they allow the 
Department of Defense to thoroughly prepare for future threats using 
state-of-the-art technology while decreasing costs. This is an 
opportunity that the United States cannot afford to pass up. I thank my 
colleague, Rep. McKeon for his support of the Southwest Defense 
Complex. I especially want to thank those in my district who have put 
forth great efforts to advocate this proposal such as Steve Perez, Ken 
Peterson, and John McQuiston of the Kern County Board of Supervisors.
  I strongly urge my colleagues to support the Southwest Defense 
Complex in order to enhance our national security for the future.

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