Catherine MacRae Hockmuth, special to InsideDefense.com

SAN DIEGO -- Defense contractors in charge of developing the Army's Future Combat System want subcontractors, elected officials and everyday citizens to know just how much the massive modernization program means to the nation in dollars, jobs and soldiers' lives saved.

That's why they're engaged in a public relations campaign to get the word out in a series of regional conferences.

Acting Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England has asked the services to trim a collective $32 billion from their FY-07 through FY-11 budgets, placing the Army's $161 billion modernization program squarely on the chopping block. /InsideDefense.com/ reported Nov. 2 that Army officials have offered to trim their future force structure to save money instead, insisting that they are unwilling to make any cuts to FCS.

Senior service officials have said publicly that the service cannot afford cuts to FCS.

At a regional FCS conference here, contractors said the program is getting a bad rap in the press because of recent criticisms from lawmakers, the Government Accountability Office and a Pentagon selected acquisition report that shows the programs costs rose 63 percent since last year. In fact, the program is on schedule and 2 percent under budget, said Dennis Muilenburg, Boeing's FCS program manager and a company vice president, during an interview. The program costs rose because of an Army decision to restructure the program to accelerate delivery, not because of performance issues, contractors said. Boeing is the lead systems integrator for FCS.

"There's a lot of concern about risks," said John Guardiano, an FCS program spokesman for Science Applications International Corp., the co-lead systems integrator for FCS. He referred specifically to a recent GAO report that said DOD has an unsustainable pattern of moving immature technologies like FCS into system development and demonstration.

"You're not reading 'FCS failed,'" said Guardiano. "What you're reading is there's a concern. There's risk. That's legitimate. It's legitimate to raise that as a concern and a risk. But despite all the concerns and the carping, the reality is we have performed as a program. We are on schedule and on cost and we are performing the plan."

FCS contractors are making the case that risk is a positive word -- much like the risk associated with the Apollo space program that first sent men to the moon, for example. It's seen as the type of cutting-edge work that makes engineers want to get out of bed in the morning.

The size of the program gives backers the opportunity to tap a large number of lawmakers for support: The FCS industry base spans 159 congressional districts over 35 states, with 363 companies on board, according to materials released by the program's industry team.

The bulk of the work is done in California, where companies account for approximately 1,000 of the 7,000 high-tech jobs provided nationwide by the program. Those 7,000 jobs provide about $3 billion in salaries each year, said Muilenburg.

Muilenburg and industry colleagues are pushing the case for full funding with their representatives in Congress. Their conference this week -- one of nearly a dozen being held around the country -- is designed to ensure that all FCS contractors are on message regarding the program and its benefits. He expects the FCS program eventually will encompass more than 500 contractors, a total that would add another 1,000 to 2,000 jobs.

"We're trying to make sure that we're building consistent advocacy across the industry team," said Muilenburg.

Similar programs have been held in Dearborn, MI; northern California; Scottsdale, AZ; Austin, TX; Orlando, FL; Melville, NY; and Huntsville, AL. Additional meetings are being planned for Boston and the Pacific Northwest.

The half-day conference agenda included updates on the program's progress as well as budget and congressional issues. Attendees representing the FCS team's Pacific South Region also heard from San Diego's city manager, retired Rear Adm. Ronne Froman; and received a presentation on "FCS Advocacy" from Carol Chavez and Rick Pinos of Lockheed Martin Orincon, which is handling data fusion for the program.

Guardiano said Boeing and SAIC want to educate the entire team about the political and budgetary issues that surround FCS' development -- much like a trade association educates its members so they can speak knowledgeably with lawmakers.

"There's a tendency among scientists to think that great technical work speaks for itself," said Guardiano. "There are other things that impact and affect the program that have little to do with our performance."

"It's not simply good enough to be doing great work," he said later. "You need to understand so you can engage and be a good citizen."

Muilenburg and Terry Magee, vice president of Lockheed Martin Orincon, a wholly owned San Diego-based subsidiary that will fully merge with the defense giant in January, said they are not worried about possible budget cuts.

"Every program is going to be scrutinized," said Muilenburg. "We expect that to happen every year."

Muilenburg wants to ensure lawmakers understand that FCS is not only providing jobs: "It's about saving soldier's lives," he said.

Contractors also are banking that the military's performance in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is more evidence favoring FCS. After days of disorganization by federal and local emergency management officials, military units stepped in and quickly appeared to get things under control.

The military is the only entity that is organized and equipped to provide the relief that's necessary in a disaster, said Magee. Toward that end, the industry team has been advertising how well FCS could work in a "Katrina-like" event.