AMCOM chiefwants to createlocal engineers

As more military work moves to Huntsville, the defense industry should invest in higher education and not rely totally on the federal government to finance university education programs, a senior leader of Redstone Arsenal said Tuesday.

Creating home-grown engineers and keeping an eye on future needs are two of the most important forward-looking programs local defense leaders can begin today before the 2005 BRAC decisions bring almost 5,000 federal jobs and several major military commands to Redstone, said Army Maj. Gen. Jim Myles, head of the Army Aviation and Missile Command, or AMCOM.

Myles' concern is that skilled workers will move from AMCOM to the Army Materiel Command or the Missile Defense Agency when those organizations complete their moves to Redstone by 2011.

"It would do us no good to just transfer people from AMCOM to AMC or elsewhere," Myles told about 500 industry leaders during the 10th annual Association of the U.S. Army Tactical Missiles Conference at the Von Braun Center. "We need to bring people in from the outside and from industry."

Current estimates show that for every BRAC job coming to Redstone, another contractor job will follow, Myles said. "I think those are very conservative, and it could be something like a 2-for-1" or larger ratio, he said.

Myles pointed out that the Pentagon already works with UAH and Alabama A&M University to develop engineers, but that Redstone poured more than $4 billion in salary and contracts into the area last year.

"I submit to you that there is enough money in there somewhere to grow your own people," he said.

The missile business in Huntsville is likely to increase over the next four years, said Army Brig. Gen. Genaro Dellarocco, program executive officer, Missiles and Space, on Redstone.

"This place is going to have a lot of business," Dellarocco said, "and to execute that mission we have to do it as a government and industry team."

Dellarocco pointed to Army figures that estimate foreign military sales of missile programs managed at Redstone could exceed $51 billion over the next four years. Current programs already have the potential to exceed $20 billion, he said. Dellarocco's program employs 1,453 people on Redstone.

Myles also challenged industry leaders to continue to improve efficiency and to stockpile the proper materials, such as metals, that will be needed to build weapons and aircraft in the future.

"We are going to be using missiles and helicopters for a long time to come," Myles said. "You pretty much know where we are going to go."

Wednesday, May 21, 2008 By SHELBY G. SPIRESTimes Aerospace Writer shelby.spires@htimes.com