L.A. Lorek
San Antonio Express-News Business Writer
Web Posted: 06/10/2005 12:00 AM CDT

A group of 100 government and business people plans to lobby Pentagon officials to keep a group of military intelligence jobs here.

During a trip to Washington on Sunday, "We do intend to bring it up to the (Base Closure and Realignment) commission," said retired Air Force Brig. Gen. John Jernigan, who heads San Antonio's military missions task force. "We believe there is a benefit to the customer to keep them here."

Under the BRAC recommendations, the Defense Department will relocate the Cryptologic Systems Group at Lackland AFB to three bases, eliminating more than 700 intelligence jobs in San Antonio.

The move will result in an economic loss of $3 billion of future defense dollars, according to Oscar Balladares, Lackland's public information officer.

But more important, it will hurt San Antonio's growing intelligence community and decrease the nation's national security readiness, said Scott Gray, vice president of OnBoard Software, a military contractor in San Antonio.

"This proposed BRAC realignment can jeopardize our national security posture," according to a paper written by Gray, OnBoard founder David Spencer and other concerned citizens. "The imminent expansion of NSA in the San Antonio region will also suffer as a result of losing this key support organization."

If San Antonio loses the group, called CPSG, it would lose more than 200 military, 300 civilian and 200 contractor jobs. The various functions are to be moved to Tobyhanna Army Depot, Pa., Robbins AFB, Ga., and Hanscom AFB, Mass.

In addition, CPSG works closely with the Air Intelligence Agency at Lackland and the National Security Agency in San Antonio.

CPSG supports missions such as intelligence collection, homeland security, counter-terrorism, military operations, cyber security and law enforcement. It includes the Signals Intelligence, Communications Security, Information Assurance and Cryptographic Modernization units.

CPSG's customers include the National Security Agency, National Reconnaissance Office, all military services, NASA, foreign allies and other agencies.

During the 1995 BRAC, the Pentagon excluded the CPSG from the recommendation to close Kelly AFB. The local lobbyists hope to get it excluded again.