Southern Indiana Business Report
BLOOMFIELD — The White River Military Coordination Alliance held its third quarterly meeting of 2023 Aug. 18 at the Greene County Community and Events Center in Bloomfield.
Attendees included community members, economic development representatives, elected officials and NSA Crane leadership, who received updates from the Alliance on key initiatives. Cmdr. Luis Martinez, the newest commander for Naval Support Activity Crane, provided an overview of his future plans and initiatives for the installation as he steps into the position for the next three years. “I appreciate the opportunity I had to meet and brief the members of the White River Military Coordination Alliance on NSA Crane’s current and future operations,” said Martinez. “I’m looking forward to their 5-year anniversary in November and hope to continue strengthening our partnership.”
Kent Parisien, chair of the Crane Regional Defense Group, provided an update on the organization’s success throughout the year, including its recent trip to Washington D.C. to host the annual Crane Congressional Reception in coordination with the Team Crane Congressional Breakfast. CRDG plans to host three more events before the end of 2023.
Hypersonics office overview
Following the CRDG update, Annie Bullock Yoder with the Joint Hypersonics Technology Transition Office (JHTO) at NSWC Crane provided the group with an overview of JHTO, including what hypersonics means, what the organization’s mission is and how it’s implemented, and how important this sector of defense is and will be in the future of the warfighter. To help prepare and develop our future workforce, JHTO has created a set of curriculum available to educators and established the University Consortium for Applied Hypersonics (UCAH), an inclusive, collaborative network of universities working with government, industry, national laboratories, federally funded research centers, and existing university affiliated research centers. Alliance members were able to ask questions about how they can become more involved in their communities with JHTO, and better understand a major focus of the installation as it becomes more relevant.
Additionally, Adam Tscherne with the Indiana Economic Development Corporation shared his passion for government and defense sector program growth and expansion. “We have a lot to be proud of with our footprint of defense installations, missions, and assets in Indiana with activities at NSA Crane, Grissom ARB, and with the Indiana National Guard.” said Tscherne. “The commitment to expand our military and federal programs is evident through the strong relationships with organizations such as the White River Military Coordination Alliance, Uplands Science and Technology Foundation, and Grissom Regional Defense Alliance to continue to make our military communities resilient and bring defense jobs to Indiana.”
Attendees also took part in a brainstorming exercise to identify topics for the upcoming State of the Installation Address, the outreach committee presented their bi-annual community outreach material, and the group heard an update on the current status of the Joint Land Use Study implementation progress.
Lastly, details were finalized for the upcoming five-year anniversary celebration of the Alliance. The celebration will be held Nov. 14 at NSA Crane and feature key speakers from military, state and local government, demonstrations from NSA, NSWC and CAAA, a lunch and networking session and more. The Alliance will also have an opportunity to reflect over the past five years of accomplishments and share goals for the future.
The annual WRMCA State of the Installation Address will be presented by Cmdr. Martinez at the CRDG Key Leader Series event Tuesday, Nov. 21 at 11:30 a.m. at WestGate Academy. This event is open to the public and lunch will be provided.