WASHINGTON, DC – The House of Representatives has approved $1 million to start design work on the proposed Homeland Security Training Center at the Massachusetts Military Reservation (MMR), an initiative promoted by US Rep. Bill Delahunt over the past four years.

"Years from now, this will be seen as the start of a whole new chapter in the history of the base," Delahunt said.

The Homeland Security Training Center was endorsed in a 2004 Pentagon-funded feasibility study that concluded that the base’s training facilities, large military airfield and close proximity to two major commercial airports makes the installation the ideal location for a regional facility.  The study called for bringing together military, academic, and private-sector homeland security experts in state-of-the art facilities that will be used to train military, Coast Guard and other civilian law enforcement personnel. 

The MMR is already a multi-use military training and operations facility that regularly hosts exercises by various military, first-response law enforcement and public safety personnel.  It is home to several Coast Guard operations, including Air Station Cape Cod, Otis Air National Guard Base, Camp Edwards Army National Guard Training Site, Cape Cod Air Force Station, and various government agencies. 

"While we may have won the battle to keep Otis, our work to save the installation is far from over. While the BRAC took our F-15s, we will keep working to obtain new Air Guard missions, while promoting a long-term agreement for Coast Guard operations and the establishment of a new Homeland Security Center"  Delahunt said today. 

The federal funds will be used to design facilities that can be used for a multitude of training scenarios. These operations include counter-terrorism, urban military maneuvers, civil emergencies, police training, urban fire-fighting situations, narcotics response training, organized crime response actions and joint military/civil operations.  

Over the years Delahunt has promoted a number of initiatives at the MMR: the development of a long-range water supply plan; Upper Cape Water Supply Reserve; the Upper Cape Water Supply Cooperative; the MMR Long Range Master Plan; and a number of important environmental and civil works projects, including the new base fire station now under construction.   

In the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, Rep. Delahunt authored legislation that directed the Pentagon to consider the establishment of a regional center for homeland security training at the MMR. Delahunt argued that establishing a center for regional training was consistent with the long-range  Master Plan for the base and would be ideal given the multitude of agencies now using the installation.

Last year, when the Bush Administration proposed closing the Otis Air National Guard Base, Delahunt joined with local municipal, civic and business leaders in fighting the plan.  While the BRAC Commission called for relocating the base’s F-15s to Barnes Municipal Airport, Delahunt has been working with Governor Romney and Senator Kennedy to obtain new missions for Otis personnel and on a long-term agreement for the Coast Guard to sustain all operations at the base.   
 
In conversations with his colleagues in support of the design funds, Delahunt argued that modernizing facilities at the base was not only critical for the National Guard, but for the Coast Guard and other first responders.  In recent years, the Coast Guard operations at the MMR have become essential to regional port security, law enforcement and maritime safety, and military police training, emergency communications, combat simulation -- are integral elements of homeland defense.

The funding was contained in the Fiscal Year 2007 Defense Department Appropriations bill that passed the House by a vote of 407-19.  The bill now moves to the US Senate for its consideration.
 

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