Congressman Chris Smith (R-Hamilton) is being honored tonight by Friends of Navy Lakehurst for his consistent leadership and hard work in preventing the military from closing the Naval Air Engineering Station located here. The dinner, being held at the Circle Landmark, will also honor Friends of Navy Lakehurst President Emil Kaunitz.

    In the mid-1990s, Smith led the effort that reversed the Pentagon’s plan to close or radically realign the base, which is Ocean County’s largest employer and which contributes millions of dollars each year to the local, state, and regional economy.

    In the ensuing years, Smith has targeted approximately $55 million in line-item funding to support critical projects and keep Navy Lakehurst strong and in good shape to fend off another round of base closings. This year alone Smith has secured nearly $27 million in federal aid for projects specific to Navy Lakehurst.

    “I am honored to receive this award from Friends of Navy Lakehurst and I look forward to continuing our successful local-federal partnership to keep our base strong and healthy.  None of this success, however, would have been possible without the tireless work of Friends of Navy Lakehurst and, Emil Kaunitz, who I am privileged to share this award with,” Smith said.

    “With close to $27 million on the way to Navy Lakehurst this year, Fiscal Year 2004 has proven to be a banner year for us.  Rest assured that we will continue our work to secure even more federal aid in the coming years to protect this critical asset for our military and our state,” Smith added.

    More than $20 million of this money will support the EMALS (Electromagnetic Aircraft Launching System) Project, a $373 million Navy program to replace the current generation of steam-based catapults on aircraft carriers, and install new systems to launch aircraft using electromagnetic energy.  The CVN-21 next-generation aircraft carrier, which will begin construction in 2007, will be the first carrier to field the EMALS system.

    The additional money will help advance the research and development phase of the Aviation-Shipboard Information Technology Initiative (AS/ITI) project.  The $4 million follows $3.75 million already invested by the government into this project, which will redevelop and enhance the systems used to launch aircraft from carriers.

    Smith has also secured money to build a new Army recruiting headquarters on the base; and last year obtained funds for a new fire station which will consolidate fire-fighting operations to ensure the base is adequately protected.

    Last year, Navy Lakehurst opened a brand-new, $15 million Superlab which has helped consolidate research and development work previously done in about a dozen laboratories throughout the base into one state-of-the-art research facility.