REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. -- Together, the Tennessee Valley and Redstone Arsenal are stronger.
Redstone Arsenal demonstrated those bonds and the importance of its partnerships by hosting a delegation of Tennessee Valley Authority employees and congressional staffers from Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Georgia June 12-13.
"To those who are part of Redstone present, past and future, thank you for your partnerships," Redstone Arsenal Senior Commander Lt. Gen. Ed Daly told attendees at lunch June 12. "We truly are appreciative of what you do in terms of energy, the environment and economic development, and we want you to leave here with a better, deeper understanding of what we do here at Redstone Arsenal, and how we support the people of this great nation.
"Thank you for your support, thanks for your partnership, thanks for everything you do day in and day out to help us. We are proud at Redstone to not only be part of the federal government, but to be part of the Tennessee Valley, and to have you as our friends."
TVA employs 10,000 people and services 9 million customers across seven states. The federally owned corporation coordinates the gathering of congressional staffers at different spots throughout the Tennessee Valley annually. Previous years have included visits to Chattanooga, Memphis, Knoxville, Nashville and the Fort Campbell, Kentucky, area.
"We try to showcase partnerships that TVA has with other entities," said Bert Robinson, TVA government relations. "We're excited to be at Redstone to showcase our partnership with Redstone, because Redstone is a direct-serve customer of the Tennessee Valley Authority."
Daly noted the importance of TVA to the installation -- not only does it provide power, but Redstone today was made possible through a land-use agreement between TVA and the Army in the early 1940s to create Huntsville Arsenal.
"If TVA didn't do its job, Redstone Arsenal would not exist in its current abilities," Daly said.
In addition to lunch with Daly and Garrison Commander Col. Tom Holliday, the two-day tour included stops at the FBI, Space and Missile Defense Command, Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center's Systems Simulation, Software and Integration Directorate and the Marshall Space Flight Center.
"We chose to come to Redstone Arsenal and selected SMDC as a location to highlight the variety of work that is done in Huntsville," said Lauren Vandiver, TVA government relations. "The Arsenal and its organizations compete on a global scale. SMDC is very interesting and I had no idea of the extent of work the command does. It is impressive."
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