Carol Johnson | Southern Indiana Business Report
ODON – Crane Regional Defense Group hosted Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division and Crane Army Ammunition Activity for its first Connect to Mission of 2026 Wednesday Feb. 25 at WestGate Academy.
The event provided updates on NSWC Crane reorganization, CAAA developments, panel discussions and the State of the Installation address from Naval Weapons Station Crane Cdr. Luis “Homie” Martinez.
With 425 people representing 210 companies in attendance, the conference was the largest Connect to Mission event since CRDG formed in 2020.
“Seeing such a large crowd – not just from Indiana, but from across the nation – coming to the event shows just how eager contractors, community leaders, and legislators are to hear from and connect with NSWC, CAAA, and NWS Crane,” said Kent Parisien, President of Crane Regional Defense Group. “For our first Connect to Mission of the year, we were thrilled to have such a phenomenal turn out, and much of the credit goes to our partners at Crane who helped us put together a long line-up of speakers and panelists, all of which gave valuable insights into their department’s needs.”
The agenda also featured multiple networking opportunities and remarks from NSWC leadership, including NSWC Crane Capt. Rex Boonyobhas, NSWC Technical Director Angela Lewis and CAAA Deputy Commander Anthony Fabrizio.
There were also overviews from NSWC Crane’s Expeditionary Warfare Weapons and Energy Systems Department, Power and Energy Systems Division and others.
“NWS Crane and their tenants, NSWC Crane and CAAA are performing critical work for the Department of War,” said Janna Foxx, CRDG program manager. “They need critical partnerships with industry and academia to succeed. We are excited that CRDG can be part of bringing these entities together in a manner that provides companies and academia insight into the government’s needs as well as the government getting a glimpse of potential partners with needed capabilities.”
State of the Installation
As commander of the third largest naval base in the world, Martinez shared with the audience why the defense industrial base matters to the state of Indiana, the surrounding communities and the southern Indiana economy.
Naval Weapons Station Crane’s annual direct economic impact is between $4 billion and $5 billion. Proposed and ongoing construction projects will further strengthen the base’s economic heft. Projects at NSWC Crane represent an investment between $183 million and $233 million. Over the next six years, $675 million in new investment is coming to CAAA.
To maximize these investments, Martinez said the region surrounding Crane will need to boost recruiting pipelines for top talent. Communities can play a vital role by providing quality schools, housing, healthcare, quality of life amenities and entertainment options.
A critical priority for the base is in infrastructure modernization. To illustrate his point, a picture of a B-17 bomber was projected on the screen behind him. B-17s were used in World War II, which is about how old the Crane base is. The screen also had pictures of the more modern B-52, first built in the 1950s, and B-21 bombers. After describing each bomber’s capabilities, he asked the audience who would choose to fly the B-17 into combat. No hands were raised.
“If you wouldn’t take a B-17 into combat, why would we take a World War II base into combat?” he asked.
“I’m glad NSWC and CAAA got to speak before me because it’s the perfect set up,” Martinez said. “NSWC, imagine them being a hypersonic cruise missile. CAAA is a smart munition of 2050. If you imagine, can I put those two munitions on the wings of that B-17. Absolutely not. One they’re two heavy, two I can’t integrate the avionics, three that plane is not survivable.
“I bring this up often because this gets lost in translation sometimes. Our partners at NSWC have so many awesome facilities and capabilities to support the warfighter and the mission and so are parts of CAAA but when we liken them to weapons, it doesn’t matter how awesome they are if I can’t get them to the fight to employ them. That’s what all our naval installations are dealing with,” he said.
In-kind considerations and community partners are key to making progress with base modernization, he said.
In his three years leading the Crane base, Martinez said the base has made tremendous progress.
With respect to defense spending, Indiana was in the middle of the pack a few years ago. Indiana in FY 2023 was No. 28 out of 50 states with $6.4 billion spent in the state, according to the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation 2023 Annual Report. He anticipates when the 2025 report is issued that Indiana will move up on the list.
“We’ve come very far,” he said.
The next C2M is May 5.