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Pallone & Holt Work to Expand Fort Monmouth's Mission Beyond 2005

March 16, 2004

Washington, DC --- U.S. Reps. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Rush Holt (D-NJ) announced today that they'll be hosting a town hall meeting later this month to discuss Fort Monmouth's future and their efforts to expand the Fort's mission beyond 2005. The town hall meeting will be held onSaturday, March 27, at 2 p.m. at the Eatontown Borough Community Center. It is open to all who are interested in the role the Fort plays in our national security and in the lives of New Jerseyans.

The two congressmen continue to work with the Save Our Fort Committee to develop a strategy that strengthens the Fort's future as the military prepares next year for another round of Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) in 2005. Pallone and Holt say Fort Monmouth is an extremely valuable resource to our nation's military.

The Save Our Fort Committee is now identifying programs that it performs for other branches of the military and exploring ways to bring other joint military programs to Fort Monmouth in the future. Such integration of missions is critical to the Defense Department's new approach to our military in which one base does work for other branches of the military. Under BRAC selection criteria developed by the Defense Department, significant emphasis is placed on a military installation's ability to perform joint service missions.

Currently, the Fort's Communications and Electronics Command (CECOM) provides more than $20 million worth of developmental and post production software support for joint defense programs. The fort was also awarded two significant joint system contracts for network management and tactical radio systems. Fort Monmouth repairs and overhauls communications electronics for both the Air Force and Navy through its Team Command, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (Team C4ISR).

Fort Monmouth also performs numerous joint tasks with other New Jersey installations. For example, the fort's CECOM has an office at Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst and its Team C4ISR performs testing and evaluation exercises at Fort Dix and McGuire Air Force Base.

Pallone and Holt also said New Jersey could create one of the largest research, development, testing and evaluation centers in the military by linking Fort Monmouth to the "MegaBase," which consists of three bases---McGuire Air Force Base, Fort Dix and Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst.

The Save our Fort (SOF) Committee has been in existence over a decade and worked to protect Fort Monmouth during three prior rounds of BRAC. The Committee, co-chaired by the two New Jersey congressmen, is made up of local elected officials, community activists, labor unions that represent Fort Monmouth employees, local business and industry leaders. The SOF committee meets regularly to establish a proactive strategy to both defend the current jobs at Fort Monmouth as well as work to expand the Fort's mission.

TOWN HALL MEETING INFORMATION

WHAT: Pallone/Holt Town Hall Meeting on Fort Monmouth

WHO: U.S. Reps. Frank Pallone, Jr. & Rush Holt

Members of the Save Our Fort Committee

Interested citizens

WHEN: Saturday, March 27th at 2 p.m.

WHERE: Eatontown Borough Community Center