On Tuesday, Chamber President and CEO Richard Perez joined other city and community leaders at St. Philips College to provide testimony before the Texas House Committee of Defense and Veteran’s Affairs, chaired by State Representative Roland Gutierrez. The hearing was held to discuss an interim charge of assessing ways the State of Texas can further aid federal military installations and their communities in order to minimize the negative consequences of a Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) round by the federal government.
As President of the largest business member organization in San Antonio, and as one of the Tri-Chairs of the San Antonio Military Transformation Task Force, Perez relayed immense community and business support of Joint Base San Antonio’s (JBSA) Military missions and the Service Members and Civilians who are critical to their success.
Perez opened his remarks by recognizing what the Military brings to our great city and state. Since 2005, when the Department of Defense (DoD) received Congressional authorization for a BRAC Round, JBSA has grown to be the largest joint base in the DoD with more than 260 mission partners. “We are proud to have our military neighbors in our communities and even more proud to know that JBSA is integral to national security, both in education and training and with operational units,” said Perez. JBSA is the home to US Army North, the operational headquarters which supports homeland defense and defense of the Western Hemisphere. “We also house the only Tier One Trauma Center in the entire Department of Defense. San Antonio Military Medical Center (SAMMC) treats patients from our region, as well as to our southernmost Texas borders, which is a benefit to not only our military, but also civilians faced with serious trauma. We have an added bonus of a first-class burn unit and an innovative center for transitioning wounded warriors, which is second to none in the country,” continued Perez. Joint Base San Antonio is comprised of three installations, 11 geographically separate parcels of land, more than 46,539 acres, and more than 34,000 square feet in facilities. There are more than 80,000 uniformed personnel that serve our installations and 382,000 total supported service men and women, civilians, and families who serve throughout Joint Base San Antonio.
JBSA’s economic data is just as impressive, having a direct economic impact to San Antonio of almost $15.5 Billion dollars, covering 20 small communities, 4 counties and 4 congressional districts. JBSA contributes $48.7 Billion to the Texas economy in a larger scale and supports over 283,000 Texans in some capacity stretching far outside our city’s boundaries, contributing about $17 Billion in disposable personal income.
In 2011, the Department of Defense awarded nearly $4 Billion in contracts, affecting nearly every industry in San Antonio, the largest being manufacturing, followed by construction, trade, transportation, utilities, and retail. Cybersecurity, Information Technology, Aerospace, and Bioscience and Healthcare continue to push the needle forward in innovation and the DoD’s contracts in these areas provide more than $1.5 Billion in tangible opportunities for employment.
“With such a gem in our city and state that positively impacts our economies writ large, we cannot rest on our laurels and anticipate that these missions will stay here forever. We must be proactive in engaging our military, as well as advocating for sustaining and growing missions,” Perez requested. Widely known, as well, is the fact that Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis has requested another BRAC round in 2021 and our branches of service are seeking ways to reduce inefficiencies and identify excess. Federal sequestration and the ever present federal budget reductions have greatly impacted the military’s ability to maintain, sustain, and improve aging and failing facilities, systems and infrastructure.
The many communities that surround our military installations in Texas have proven worthy partners in coming together with the military to aid in solving these challenges utilizing both local and state resources. There is a positive impact those partnerships have had on our Military members’ ability to accomplish their critical missions. “The efforts of the Governor’s Office and the Texas Military Preparedness Commission with Keith Graf’s direction, the Texas Military Value Task Force, and the State’s Defense Economic Adjustment Assistance Grants have all done yeoman’s work in getting us to where we are today,” said Perez.
While individual communities and the state have invested and leveraged local dollars to shore-up our military, there is more to be accomplished to enhance the investment in our future and the future of our military in Texas, in order to retain and grow the immense military footprint in Texas. Without this enhanced and targeted effort by the State of Texas, we could risk sustaining current missions and growing future missions. Other states, such as Alabama, Florida, Oklahoma, Maryland and North Carolina have approved to spend real dollars and have focused people and resources with the same end goal. With more installations inside its borders than any other state, Texas’ 15 military installations require a proactive strategy with real dollars invested.
Perez concluded with a charge for our State representatives to approve these additional dollars toward securing our military missions and affirming to others throughout the country that we appreciate and honor our military men and women, that we will show to our Armed Forces that we aren’t just military friendly in words but more importantly in actions.
Your San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, through the initiatives of our Military Affairs Council and efforts of our business and community members, will continue to seek opportunities to advocate for our valuable military members and their critical military missions.
