SENEDIA Leadership Meets with MG Bray of RING
On Friday August 1, 2008, members of the SENEDIA Board of Directors and Leadership Committee met with Major General Robert Bray, the RI Adjutant General who commands the RI National Guard and is head of the RI Emergency Management Agency. The meeting was hosted by the RI Economic Development Corporation at their headquarters in Providence.
MG Bray provided a presentation on the State of the RI National Guard, its AF and Army units, their deployment schedules and the character of the personnel manning these units to “never say no” when asked to deploy. The General outlined the following:
· Current billets (FY08) at 3,364 and authorized billets of 3,531 by FY15.
· MILCON in excess of $110M with projects at Camp Fogarty in E.Greenwich, Quonset Air Base, and several other state locations.
· Acknowledged that the AF CYBER solicitation is good for the State of MA, RI and the rest of N.E. Mentioned the 102nd Warfare Communications Squadron as one example of a RI unit working with Cyber security.
The Q&A session can be summarized as follows:
- A renewed interest in addressing interoperability at the RI EMA – as mandated by DHS. This new mandate is shifting funds from other programs to address and complete interoperability challenges. EMA is on course to complete the 800 MHz system statewide, and is currently reviewing the 700 MHz spectrums for streaming video – broad band capabilities.
- General Bray outlined EMA’s need for asset tracking capabilities. Chuck Larcom of Rite Solutions mentioned that Blue Force/maritime tracking systems are available, and that R.Solutions is working with other State National Guards on similar issues.
- C.Larcom mentioned how DHS requires State EMA’s to submit proposals and that the industry could support these applications, but the industry needs to know that EMA will indeed pursue them.
- General Bray mentioned Lt. Elizabeth Roberts as the Chair of the Emergency Management Council (EMAC) that meets monthly, and we should consider how to interface with the council.