The Alliance for Regional Military Support or ARMS consists of a coalition between the Greater Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce, Alamogordo Chamber of Commerce and the Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce to support the three military bases in the region.
The three bases, White Sands Missile Range, Holloman Air Force Base, and Fort Bliss provide a significant economic impact to our communities; White Sands Missile Range, for example, pumps 2.3 million dollars a day into the local economy of Southern New Mexico.
The Alliance for Regional Military Support was extremely instrumental at interacting with the government’s Base Closure and Realignment Commission or BRAC. They had plans to move the Army research lab to Aberdeen, Md. This move would have reduced funding for White Sands Missile Range resulting in fewer jobs for the area. Collaborating with community leaders and the state, a successful argument was put forward as to why that wasn’t the best decision for the government.
Out of this action, the Chamber formed the permanent Military Affairs Committee to keep the community tied to what is going on at White Sands and provide ongoing interaction with the Alliance for Regional Military Support.
Currently, the Alliance for Regional Military Support is preparing for the next round of BRAC.