Kaine's support of Virginia's military facilities on display in visit to Rivanna Station

In his first visit to Rivanna Station, Sen. Timothy M. Kaine said maintaining congressional and community support for Virginia’s military facilities is a legislative priority.

Kaine spoke to reporters outside the Albemarle County base’s Col. James N. Rowe Building, which is home to the Defense Intelligence Agency, which employs about 800 civilian and military personnel locally.

In addition to supporting national security interests, the base’s presence is “increasingly important to the Charlottesville economy,” said Kaine. With a substantial number of employees, contractors and businesses involved, “It’s important to pay attention and take it seriously,” Kaine said following his tour, which was closed to the media.

According to Kaine, between active duty service members, veterans, civilian workers and their families, about one in three state residents has some sort of military connection, which makes Virginia “more connected to our military mission than any other state,” said Kaine, who is a member of the Senate Committee on Armed Services.

The Charlottesville region, Kaine continued, is a microcosm for Virginia, where agriculture, the military and technology are the foundation of the economy.

Rivanna Station is a sub-installation of the Army’s Fort Belvoir, which is in Northern Virginia. The National Ground Intelligence Center and National Geospatial Intelligence Agency also are located at the base.

The DIA’s missions at Rivanna Station include analysis of defense forces; assessment of the threat posed by foreign weapons of mass destruction; and forensic intelligence collection, according to information provided by DIA spokesman James M. Kudla.

Although agriculture and forestry are still Virginia’s largest industries, “we are also the state that has the highest percentage of workers who work in technology jobs. Both of those things are true. And that’s what you want — you want the diversified economy.”

In 2010, when the DIA began to move personnel to Albemarle from the Washington area, community leaders and local legislators indicated that base expansion was appreciated on multiple levels, said Tom Francis, the agency’s senior executive at Rivanna Station.

“We’re the fourth-largest employer in the region,” Francis said. “So that’s what we’ve brought to the community with us all being here now.”

Although Rivanna Station supports high-tech, high-profile missions, Francis acknowledged that no entity is immune from potential defense spending cuts.

In a joint statement released Tuesday evening, Kaine joined Virginia’s other U.S. senator, Democrat Mark R. Warner, in commending the Navy for moving forward with plans to overhaul and refuel, rather than decommission, the USS George Washington.

“[As] the Defense Department at large is taking some cuts, we would expect to also take some cuts,” said Francis, who added that uncertainties about federal spending aren’t diminishing the drive or passion of DIA workers.

“We are a world-class intelligence organization … providing support to deployed forces worldwide,” Francis said. “And the people [here] do that day in and day out. It’s selfless service.”

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