The Missouri Military Preparedness and Enhancement Commission (MMPEC) was created with passage of Senate Bill 252 and House Bill 348 in The Commission’s duties and responsibilities were expanded with the passage of House Bill 1678 in 2008 The Commission’s mission, responsibilities and directives include: Advise the governor and the general assembly on military issues and economic and industrial development related to military issues; Serve as a clearinghouse for: Assisting communities in the design and execution of programs that enhance a community’s relationship with military installations and defense-related businesses, including regional alliances that may extend over state lines; Considering all current and anticipated base realignment and closure criteria; and Developing strategies to protect the state’s existing military missions and positions the state to be competitive for new and expanded military missions What is MMPEC?

5 Appointments by Governor —Mike Dunbar, (Chair), Waynesville —Lt. Colonel Michael R. Sloan, St. Charles —J. Stanton Thompson, Rear Admiral USN, Higginsville —Robert Hagedorn, Blue Springs —Robert Russell Warrensburg 4 from the General Assembly Senator Will Kraus, Lee’s Summit —Senator Holsman, Kansas City —Rep. Michael Frame, Eureka —Rep. Charlie Davis, Webb City Ex-officio Members —Mike Downing, Director, DED —General Larry Kay, Executive Director, MO Veterans Commission Advisory Members MMPEC Members

Governor Nixon launched an assessment of where Missouri stands regarding potential budget and other threats to our military installations General Assembly provided funding (thanks to Senator Brown, Representative Lynch, and Representative Ross) and support Kit Bond Strategies (KBS) hired to do an initial assessment “Missouri’s Military Infrastructure: A Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Preparatory Assessment published in February 2013 State, led by KBS and MMPEC, has been working with communities on local/regional strategies to help grow or retain Missouri’s installations Sustainable Ozarks Partnership (SOP) is part of that collaboration with the state Initial Assessment

The assessment explored key questions about the challenges and opportunities our state would face in preparing for a new BRAC round: – To understand what is at stake in a potential BRAC, what is the Defense Department’s economic impact on the State of Missouri? – What is the nature of the defense planning and funding environment over the next decade, which would shape the goals and implementation of BRAC? – What are the strengths and weaknesses of Missouri’s bases, in terms of how they fared in the last BRAC round and their status today, and what challenges and opportunities might they face in a new BRAC round? – What strategic recommendations does the analysis imply for an effective Missouri base defense and expansion effort? Key Questions in the Assessment

Findings: DOD Economic Impacts

FLW Impacts The total economic output of Fort Leonard Wood’s personnel spending was $2.1 billion, of which, household earnings accounted for $1.2 billion The operation of Fort Leonard Wood supported approximately 36,400 direct and indirect jobs in the state of Missouri Out-­of­‐state visitors to Fort Leonard Wood spend an average of $57.3 million annually in Missouri, which results in $167.3 million in total economic output, $38.6 million in household earnings, and supported approximately 1,500 jobs in the state. Missouri’s Military Infrastructure Report; KBS and the Missouri Hawthorn Foundation, 2013

From FY2011 to FY2012 the state of Missouri received an average of $16.8 million, in 2012 dollars, in Impact Aid to its school districts. The Waynesville R-IV School District (Fort Leonard Wood) received almost 80 percent of this allocation and the Knob Noster School District received almost 20 percent. All other school districts in the state received less than one percent of the total allocation of Impact Aid for Missouri. The total economic output of Impact Aid in the state was $48.4 million, of which household earnings accounted for $15.9 million. Impact Aid supported approximately 580 jobs in the state including an estimated 280 jobs for teachers, administrators, and other employees of Missouri school districts. Impact Aid to School Districts

After years of a growing Fort Leonard Wood, the federal budget is in serious deficit and there will likely be large reductions in military spending Short term threats: —Army planning to cut its size from 562,000 to 420,000 by 2020 because of Sequestration (smallest Army since before WWII) —2013 reduction of about 1,200 on FLW; new 2014 SPEA study examining cuts of 5,400 of the 9,161 authorized, uniformed positions on FLW (59%) reduction Many believe BRAC is coming in 2017 What are the strategic actions the FLW community needs to take to protect/enhance/support FLW in the short term, and build a better case for why FLW should remain in operation for the long term? Situation Facing FLW

Speak with a clear, unified voice. Formalize state efforts to support and grow Missouri military installations. Foster the creation of community organizations, partnerships and agreements. Protect military families in Missouri through financial literacy. Build Missouri’s military brand. Understand specific challenges and opportunities for installations and the Missouri National Guard and US Army Reserve What Needs to be Done?

Conclusion We must continue a path that protects and enhances the national security investments made in Missouri. We must focus on improving quality of life, strengthening economic development opportunities, supporting the installation’s strategic missions and providing the resources the installations in Missouri need. We must work with military and congressional leaders in the changing budgetary and national security environment. Every branch of the military will be impacted. Missouri and the communities surrounding the installations must be in a position to emphasize and capitalize on the unique strengths we provide to the armed forces and service members. DOD spending in Missouri results in $40 billion in economic activity and hundreds of thousands of quality jobs. Military members and installations in this state play a key strategic role in the protection of this country and citizens around the globe. Quite simply, military is a way of life in Missouri. One we intend to keep.