Government Security News

gen electric hybrid fuel cell buses
and allow the agency to offer
expanded transit service in the
Coachella Valley area of Southern
California.
• San Joaquin Regional
Transit District (RTD) will receive
$ 4,702,011 and purchase
five Proterra battery-electric buses
and a charging station. RTD,
the transit provider for Stockton
and San Joaquin County
in California, plans to add the
zero-emission buses and charging
station to expand service and
increase capacity at the Stockton
Downtown Transit Center, which
is the transfer point for nearly all
of the RTD’s routes. Under a previous
grant from the California
Energy Commission the RTD
purchased its first two zero emission
electric buses.
About CALSTART
CALSTART and its 140+ member
companies are dedicated
to expanding and supporting a
clean transportation industry
that cleans the air, creates jobs
and economic opportunities, reduces
greenhouse gas emissions
and secures our transportation
energy future. For further information
visit www.calstart.org/
International training essential
to global stability and security
By Scott Seavers,
Salient Federal Solutions
As long as there are people
on this great planet, there will be
conflict and a natural tendency
toward instability, regionally at a
minimum. While we can’t change
that, we can set the best conditions
possible to avoid escalation
and to minimize the periods of
insecurity and security assistance,
specifically international
training, plays a critical role in
the overall outcome.
The U.S. military is shrinking,
the U.S. alone cannot maintain
global stability, and security
assistance missions are some of
the first cuts as the U.S. defense
budget wanes. While cutting U.S.
defense budgets is a stark reality
of our time, cutting security assistance
runs counter to President
Obama’s recently released
2015 National Security Strategy
which highlights the need for the
U.S. to “lead with capable partners”
and acknowledges the fact
that global problems require U.S.
participation, but that few can be
9
solved by the U.S. alone. While a
robust Department of Defense is
absolutely essential and a critical
component in ensuring national
and global security, increasing
partner nation capability is a costeffective
force multiplier. Now is
hardly the time to pull back from
training our partners to defend
themselves and to function effectively
in coalitions.
Language and cultural differences
make training together
far from easy, yet militaries have
been training together for centuries.
Foreign militaries that can
defend their homelands autonomously
and contribute to coalitions
enhance global security exponentially.
We are all firsthand
witnesses to the results effective
international training can attain.
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