The Central Coast's Military Installations

Defense Language Institute

The Defense Language Institute is the world's largest foreign language institute. The mission of the DLI is to educate, sustain, evaluate, and support foreign language specialists, thus providing the Department of Defense and other Federal agencies with linguists fully capable of supporting United States national interests worldwide. In order to fulfill this mission and ensure that our military forces are prepared to meet global foreign language requirements, DLI remains flexible and responsive to the changing world order and on the cutting edge of technological innovations in foreign language education for the twenty-first century.

Naval Postgraduate School

NPS offers specialized degrees and research that focus on counterterrorism techniques, post-conflict reconstruction, engineering, policy and management. Programs include:

• Center for Stability and Reconstruction Studies - Provides direct support to the Navy-Marine corps team in meeting the interagency and international challenges of post-war reconstruction and stability operations planning. Includes masters Degree program, Executive Education courses, and research.
• Center for Homeland Defense and Security - Offers the nation's premier graduate education programs in Homeland Defense and Security.  Funded by the Department of Homeland Security and NORTHCOM, the Masters Degree has 120 students currently enrolled, and is well positioned to expand its service to the Navy.

Fort Hunter Liggett

Established in 1941, Fort Hunter Liggett is situated about 25 miles southwest of King City, California. The installation encompasses approximately 165,000 acres of terrain varying from valleys to steep, rugged mountains providing opportunities for "real world" training and defense technology testing.  Today Fort Hunter Liggett is operated primarily as an Army Reserve training center for active and reserve components.

Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center

Fleet Numerical combines innovative technology with the best available science in order to provide the best weather and oceanographic products, data and services to the operating and support forces of the Department of Defense anywhere, anytime. It provides weather numerical analysis and prediction, with increasingly accurate weather products and data, at the best resolution achievable, from the edge of space to the bottom of the sea.

Defense Manpower Data Center

DMDC maintains the largest archive of personnel, manpower, training, and financial data in the Department of Defense. The personnel data holdings, in particular, are broad in scope and extend back to the early 1970s to cover all aspects of our armed forces. In addition to maintaining large amounts of data, DMDC operates major programs such as developing aptitude tests for entry into the military; conducting personnel surveys; helping ensure access to military medical facilities; managing the military ID card issuance program; helping identify fraud and waste in Pentagon pay systems; and assisting departing military and civilian members and their spouses to transition back into the civilian sector.

Base Closure and Realignment

In 2005 the Department of Defense underwent a process to close down or streamline military installations that did not contribute to the efficient operation of the department's military mission. As the process ramped up, I worked hard with local leaders to make sure the DOD did not include local military facilities on the list for closure. However, the Base Closure and Realignment Commission chose to take a closer look at the Naval Postgraduate School for possible closure or realignment. This resulted in a formal hearing in Monterey where the strengths and military values of NPS were laid out to the commissioners. Ultimately, the BRAC Commission chose not to close NPS. Its only recommendation was that NPS work more closely with a sister school in the Air Force, the Air Force Institute of Technology. That recommendation -- and all others submitted to the president by the BRAC Commission -- became law in November 2005.

To make the NPS-AFIT relationship stronger, I am working with representatives from both schools and the military services to construct a joint Board of Trustees that would be charged with coordinating and expanding curriculum between the two schools.

For more information on BRAC, see the official military web site at: http://www.defenselink.mil/brac/