WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Fiscal Year 2007 Defense Appropriations conference report today that contains funding important to Indian Head Naval Surface Warfare Center and Southern Maryland.
"Indian Head is home to some of our nation's finest scientists and engineers, a large segment of whom are nearing retirement age," Hoyer said. "This workforce revitalization initiative will help produce and sustain the next generation of energetics experts."
"The University of Maryland and the Navy had the foresight to found the Center for Energetic Concepts Development (CECD) in 1998, in anticipation of an impending energetics workforce crisis," Hoyer added.
Energetics Science & Technology Workforce Revitalization Initiative, $5 million
Energetic innovations have provided America's military with new weapons, like the thermobaric 'cave busting' bomb, to meet unforeseen military objectives, such as the assault on the al Qaeda caves in Afghanistan. In order to maintain future dominance in military energetics, it is imperative for the U.S. Navy to develop its next-generation energetics workforce to offset the loss of the critical mass of its current energetics workforce, one-third of whom are nearing retirement age. To prevent this impending energetics workforce crisis, in 1998 the Navy and the University of Maryland established the Center for Energetic Concepts Development (CECD), a cooperative research, development, technology transfer, and science & technology workforce development alliance. Working in collaboration with the Naval Academy, the Naval Post Graduate School (Monterey, CA), and other institutions, this successful energetics workforce revitalization program is developing a new energetics workforce to meet the Navy's future tactical requirements and provide both the DOD and related private industry with the intellectual capital required to maintain America's energetics dominance and an ability to counter new ordnance developed by adversaries.
The following funding included in the FY07 Department of Defense Appropriations conference report will benefit both Indian Head-Naval Surface War Center (NSWC) and Stump Neck-Naval Explosive Ordinance Disposal Technology Division.
- $1.9 billion is provided for the Joint IED Defeat Organization of the Department of Defense in order to test and field new jammers to counter improvised explosive devices (IEDs) employed by our enemies in Iraq and Afghanistan.