Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed the Honorable Andrea Seastrand, Executive Director, California Space Authority, as one of 20 members on the Governor’s statewide Council on Base Support and Retention. The Council will work closely with the Governor’s Office of Military and Aerospace Support on Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Strategy, recommending actions to optimize the retention and realignment of military installations, missions and commands in California. The 20-member Council is comprised of retired military officers and civic leaders and is co-chaired by former White House chief of staff Leon Panetta and businesswoman and former Deputy Secretary of the United States Department of Commerce Donna Tuttle.

In addition to CSA representation and that of the co-chairs, the Council members include: US Army and defense contractor consultant Major General Edward Andrews, US Army (Ret.); Major General Alice Astafan, acting chief executive officer, Federal Technology Center, USAF (Ret.); Phillip Coyle, senior advisor to the president of the Center for Defense Information, former Assistant Secretary of Defense; Robert Grady, partner and managing director, The Carlyle Group, former deputy assistant to President George H.W. Bush and executive associate director of the Office of Management and Budget; General Richard Hearney, US Marine Corps (Ret.), former Deputy Chief of Staff for Requirements and Programs, and Aviation at Headquarters Marine Corps and Vice President of Military Aircraft and Missile Systems Group, The Boeing Company; Vice Admiral Pete Hekman, US Navy (Ret.), technology consultant and former Deputy Director, National Military Command Center, Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Major General Daniel C. Helix, US Army (Ret.), member of the US Army’s Infantry Hall of Fame, former councilman, City of Concord, former director, Bay Area Rapid Transit District; General Joseph Hoar, US Marine Corps. (Ret.), a contract consultant to American companies doing business in the Middle East and Africa, former successor to Norman Schwarzkopf as head of US Central Command; Elizabeth Ann Inadomi, a public policy attorney with work experience including the U.S. House and Senate, NASA, local government and non-profit centers, former Counsel to both the U.S. House Science and the Senate Commerce Committees; Major General William Jefferds, US National Guard (Ret.), former director of the Department of General Services and director of the Office of Military Base Retention and Reuse in the Administration of Gov. Davis and special assistant to the Chief, National Guard Bureau at the Pentagon; Admiral Henry Mauz, US Navy (Ret.), president, Naval Postgraduate School Foundation, former Commander, U.S. Seventh Fleet in the Far East, all naval forces in the Persian Gulf, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Navy Program Planning; Major General J. Michael Myatt, US Marine Corps. (Ret.), president and CEO, Marine’s Memorial Association, former commanding general in Camp Pendleton, combined command of U.S. forces in Korea and director of expeditionary warfare in the Pentagon; Roger “Ted” Rains, US Marine Corps. (Ret.), volunteer member of the Board of Directors of the Ventura County Strategy Committee for BRAC 2005 Task Force, former civilian executive with the Department of the Navy in both Washington D.C. and California; Major General Orlo Keith “O.K.” Steele, US Marine Corps. (Ret.), independent consultant on military and security projects, former administrator for Civil Aviation Security, Federal Aviation Administration and U.S. Department of Transportation; Lt. Gen. Eugene L. Tattini, USAF (Ret.), Deputy Director, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), former commander, Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base; Admiral John Weaver, US Navy (Ret.), board member of several boards including the Naval Academy Foundation Executive Committee, former EVP, Raytheon Company, Chairman/CEO of Raytheon International, Inc. and Commander, Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command; Paul M. Wythes, founder and special limited partner, Sutter Hill Ventures, and a member of Business Executives for National Security.

The Council has held a series of public forums in January in which the public was invited to provide input on military base retention efforts. Public inputs will be used in enhancing California’s BRAC strategy.

Visit the CSA website (www.californiaspaceauthority.org/html/government_pages/brac.html) for more information.

“In today’s national security arena, mission success is absolutely critical,” stated Seastrand. “Thanks to its wealth of intellectual capital and the synergies among its considerable intellectual and infrastructure assets, California has a record of success that is unequalled anywhere in the country. Conveying the importance of maintaining this mission success for the security of the country and our forces overseas is a critical factor for the Governor’s Council.”

Visit CSA’s New Online Museum Exhibit!

“Visions from Above: Satellites in Our Lives” is an overview of the role satellites play in everyday life. Content is based on a California State History Museum exhibit developed by Tracie MacPherson.

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