April 2006 - Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce

Foreign exchangeRedstone to become InternationalShopping Mall for Army ProductsIIf your international shopping list includesitems such as Apache helicopters and TOWmissiles, then you are probably already awareof Huntsville, Alabama, home to the Army’sAviation and Missile Command (AMCOM).To our international allies, Huntsville is the“go-to” place for Foreign Military Sales (FMS)support for U. S. Army helicopters, missilesand missile defense products.Huntsville’s already large role in FMS isabout to become significantly larger in theeyes of the international community withthe relocation of the U.S. Army’s SecurityAssistance Command (USASAC) to RedstoneArsenal as a result of the 2005 roundof Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC).Huntsville’s heightened international profileportends some fascinating possibilities.While the State Department managesand develops our nation’s policy regardingsecurity assistance to our allies, USASAC iswhere the rubber meets the road in the executionof that support for Army materiel.USASAC is responsible for managingabout $49 billion in sales of U.S. Armyweapons systems to our 140 allied nationsand organizations. Of that total, AMCOM wasresponsible for approximately $23 billion, byfar the largest single commodity commandsupplying materiel. The next largest was theTank and Automotive Command providing$15 billion in foreign sales.Foreign military sales and security assistancesupport are important to the U.S. forseveral reasons.Security assistance promotes regionalstability, deters aggression, maintains alliances,and disseminates democratic valuesbetween the United States and its allies.Foreign military sales also provide thousandsof U.S. jobs in a valuable export market.For each billion dollars in FMS, 22,000jobs are created. It’s also one of the waysthat the defense contracting community candefray the heavy R&D costs of developingthe new U.S. systems.Today, USASAC is increasingly respondingto support of U.S. government emergencyassistance, humanitarian relief, andoperations other than war, including UnitedNations peacekeeping operations. USASAC’smotto is “Strength in Cooperation.”• Mike WardCourtesy of U.S. ArmyOH-58D Kiowa andAH-64 Apache helicopters185 Chateau Dr . Suit e 302256.489.8600www.surgicalso luti onspc.com“We see the person in the patient”Now doing Stereotactic Needle Breast Biopsies.Dr. Zaria C. MurrellBoard CertifiedTraditional and Advanced Laparoscopic Surgeries003759590037598123Initiatives April 2006