A quiet proposal inside the Pentagon could dismantle a $6.5 billion economic engine in Orlando – and gut one of America’s most critical national defense assets in simulation and training.

Last month, Breaking Defense reported that U.S. Secretary of Defense Peter Hegseth had been exploring moves that could increase efficiency within the military.

One of those ideas would mean paring down the U.S. Army’s Program Executive Offices from 13 to nine.

To accomplish this, it would merge some existing programs and eliminate PEO-STRI, which employs as many as 1,000 in Orlando.

The impact of that move would be felt beyond just the defense industry, local leaders said.

“We cannot afford to treat this as a niche defense issue,” said Sheena Fowler, CEO of Innovate Orlando. “The removal of PEO-STRI would gut a $6.5 billion innovation engine that powers breakthroughs in everything from national defense to healthcare and entertainment. This is a call to action for the entire tech ecosystem.”

Beyond its own workforce, the agency also empowers defense companies across the region to bolster employment to work on contracts.

According to CompTIA’s annual “State of the Tech Workforce,” more than 76,000 people in Central Florida have jobs in technology.

A good number of those are likely defense-related, though that data was not specified.

Still, it’s partially a result of PEO-STRI’s 75-year collaboration agreement with the Navy that dates back to their original location in Long Island, NY. In the early 1960’s, both the Army and the Navy moved to the old Naval Training Center in what is now Baldwin Park.

Spurred by a 40 acre incentive in the startup Central Florida Research Park, the Navy built its new simulation headquarters and established a new base in the Research Park adjacent to the UCF campus in the 1980’s.

They were soon joined by the Marines and Air Force, the National Center for Simulation was formed, and Orlando became known as the epicenter for modeling and simulation.

The agency is part of Team Orlando, which includes research and tech efforts of most major military branches that develop cutting-edge training solutions that prepare soldiers for the complexities of modern warfare.

The environment has enabled the creation of technologies that might start as military capabilities but often find applications benefiting civilians, through theme park attractions, medical training and advanced engineering, for instance.

Unprecedented collaboration and economic impact

“We received word of this two and a half weeks ago,” said Waymon Armstrong, who has helped spearhead the effort to get a better understanding of what this would mean. “There is not a day that goes by that I’m not talking to leaders, reaching out through the community.”

Armstrong said it amounts to an “all hands on deck” effort, with economic, political and industry leaders all on board to explore the potential effect and how to avert it.

The organization develops, acquires and otherwise sustains programs that provide simulation, training and testing for the U.S. Army.

“There is mission critical work done in Orlando that you cannot replicate anywhere else,” said Armstrong, whose company Engineering & Computer Simulations has been in business here 28 years. “Any reduction or relocation from STRI would have an adverse impact, not just on us as a local business but on the rest of Team Orlando.”

Orlando has the distinction of being the only region in the country where all military branches work side-by-side with universities and commercial simulation leaders like Disney, Electronic Arts and Lockheed Martin.

That has enabled local companies like Talon Simulations to thrive while providing work for each industry.

Talon has worked on military contracts and has built on-site simulators at venues like Dave & Buster’s.

“Those two industries have been two critical components for us since we are in this region and have access to organizations that specialize in those markets,” said CEO Brandon Naids, whose company turned 10 this year.

As technology has advanced, the overlap between defense and theme park tech has grown.

Naids said the same underlying technology used in a ride simulator, for instance, is used in military simulators.

“It’s definitely unique,” he said of Orlando. “There is nowhere else in the country where you have a hub for companies specializing in these two unique fields. You can’t get that anywhere else.”

The elimination of PEO-STRI would have an adverse effect on companies that do contract work for the military in Orlando.

As it is, the organization “is a national model for public-private innovation,” Fowler said.

A united front against proposed changes

PEO-STRI helps rally the industry for the widely attended Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference every year.

That show is the largest simulation and training show for the defense industry in the world, drawing close to 20,000 people to Orlando annually.

“My chief worry would be that the collaborative nature of things would break down because proximity matters,” said Tim Hill, former commanding officer of the Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division. “That’s the thing that I think is unique about what we have created here.”

Hill’s company, Design Interactive, uses digital transformation to optimize performance.

Before that, he had been intimately familiar with the organizational structure and operations of the simulation and training arms in Orlando after five years as CO.

“It’s hard enough to collaborate across services, across programs and across cultural lines when you’re right next door,” said Hill, a U.S. Navy veteran. “It just becomes that much harder when you’re not.”

As the industry continues to learn more, its leaders have likened the mobilization to a 2019 effort that helped shield the region from a military process known as Base Realignment and Closure, or BRAC.

When rumors started that the federal government had planned for a round of closures, representatives from University of Central Florida, National Center for Simulation, Orlando Economic Partnership and others in academia and industry flew to Washington D.C. to present a united front to stave off a closure.

This time, however, there are other factors in play.

“This one came out of the blue,” Armstrong said. “For BRAC, we had time to prepare. So, we are having to be more reactive than we might want to.”

As word trickled out about the potential for PEO-STRI’s closure, Armstrong credited NCS CEO George Cheros with getting everybody involved.

Cheros is cautiously optimistic that when the Orlando contingent makes its case to those leading the process, Army officials will spare the region.

“Our role, as a community, is to give them enough information that makes it an easier decision for them,” he said. “I’m not saying they need to leave it, as is. There is always room for improvement.”

Hegseth’s focus on readiness, efficiency and modernization could ultimately be a positive for Central Florida, Cheros said.

“If we give them enough, there is a chance with their talk about modernization that we could play a bigger role,” he said. “That’s what we are trying to educate them about.”

Political and community support

Orlando defense industry leaders remain in constant contact with Washington, D.C., officials.

In February, for instance, the National Center for Simulation led a delegation that met with 27 Congressional offices to explain the importance of modeling and simulation.

That was months before the news of PEO-STRI’s potential closure.

“I didn’t want to wait until something like this happened and try to introduce ourselves to Congressional representatives and then ask them to save a significant portion of our M&S business,” Cheros said.

Cheros said losing PEO-STRI would devastate both Team Orlando and the local economy.

The next step, he said, is to reach out to the Secretary of the U.S. Army directly.

Cheros said the outreach has bipartisan support from U.S. Senators Rick Scott and Ashley Moody along with U.S. Reps Darren Soto and Cory Mills.

Orlando and Orange County mayors Buddy Dyer and Jerry Demings and leaders with Orlando Economic Partnership, UCF, Innovate Orlando and Florida High Tech Corridor have signed on, as well.

“This should not happen, but let’s say Team Orlando went away,” Cheros said. “Probably the only thing worse than that (for Orlando) would be to see Disney or Universal going away.”

Because of the efforts of the Partnership and NCS, there is no public call to action, other than to stay informed.

Credit: Marco Santana, Orlando Tech News
Originally published on orlandotechnews.com

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