A chapter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Amtrak has struggled since its inception to earn sufficient revenues and operate efficiently. In June 2002, Amtrak's new president began major efforts to improve efficiency. However, the financial condition of the company remains precarious, requiring a federal subsidy of more than $1 billion annually. Capital backlogs are now about $6 billion, with over 60 percent being attributable to its mainstay Northeast Corridor service. GAO reviewed Amtrak's (1) strategic planning, (2) financial reporting and financial management practices, (3) cost containment strategies, (4) acquisition management, and (5) accountability and oversight."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Recent military operations have required that the Army rely extensively on Army National Guard forces, which currently comprise over 30 percent of the ground forces in Iraq. Heavy deployments of Army National Guard forces and their equipment, much of which has been left overseas for follow-on forces, have raised questions about whether the Army National Guard has the types and quantities of equipment it will need to continue supporting ongoing operations and future missions. GAO was asked to assess the extent to which (1) the Army National Guard has the equipment needed to support ongoing operations and (2) the Army can account for Army National Guard equipment left overseas. GAO also assessed the Army's plans, cost estimates, and funding strategy for equipping Guard units under its modular and rotational force initiatives."

BRAC Early Bird 4 October 2005

Dayton Ohio Region "The Wright Place for AFIT" Wright Patterson Community Input.

Executive Correspondence - Thank You Note from Senator Thune to Jason Cole.

FAX from Jacksonville, FL Mayor John Peyton to Chairman Principi dtd 3OCT05 regarding Cecil Field.

Letter from Dale Benedetti to the BRAC

Letter from Ed Harvey to the BRAC Commission dtd 7Sep2005

Letters from Peter J. Potochney to BRAC Commission dtd 6 Sep 05.

Letters from Concerned doctors in support of the AFIP dtd 1 Sep 05

Letter from Dr. Finkelstein to Chairman dtd 26 September 2005.

Letter from John and Mary Tarpey to BRAC Commissioners dtd 6 Sep 05 thanking them.

Letter from Mount Pleasant, SC to Analyst Joe N. Barrett dtd 28 Sep 05.

Letter from Debi and Mark Rochford to BRAC Commissioners dtd 27 Sep 05 concerning Cecil Field.

Letter from Concerned Niagra Falls Citizens dtd 23 Aug 05.

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This report reviews progress made on NA22 project LL251DP to develop a novel technique, Nuclear Acoustic Resonance (NAR), for remote, non-destructive, nonradiation-based detection of materials of interest to Nonproliferation Programs, including {sup 235}U and {sup 239}Pu. We have met all milestones and deliverables for FY05, as shown in Table 1. In short, we have developed a magnetic shield chamber and magnetic field, develop a digital lock-in amplifier computer to integrate both the ultrasound radiation with the detector, developed strain measurements, and begin to perform initial measurements to obtain a NAR signal from aluminum at room temperature and near the earth's magnetic field. The results obtained in FY05 further support the feasibility of successful demonstration of an NAR experiment for remote, non-destructive, non-radiation-based detection of materials of interest to Nonproliferation Programs.

We have studied pressure-induced chemical reactions in carbon monoxide using both a diamond-anvil cell and a modified large volume press. Our spectroscopic data reveal that carbon monoxide disproportionates into molecular CO{sub 2} and a solid lactone-type polymer; photochemically above 3.2 GPa, thermochemically above 5 GPa at 300K, or at 3 GPa and {approx}2000K as achieved by laser heating. The solid product can be recovered at ambient conditions with a high degree of conversion, measured to be up to 95% of the original CO. Its fundamental chemical structure includes {beta}-lactone and conjugated C=C, which can be considered a severely modified polymeric carbon suboxide with open ladders and smaller five-membered rings. The polymer is metastable at ambient conditions, spontaneously liberating CO{sub 2} gases exothermically. We find that the recovered polymer has a high energy density, 1-8 KJ/g, and is very combustible. We estimate the density of recovered CO polymer to be at least 1.65 g/cm cm{sup 3}.

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{sup 137}Cs transfer factors were computed for small mammals collected from the dried sediment areas of a partially drained, contaminated reservoir. Soil {sup 137}Cs concentrations were heterogeneous on small and large spatial scales, with a geometric mean of 253.1 Bq/kg dry weight. About 50% of the variance in cotton rat Sigmodon hispidus tissue {sup 137}Cs levels was explained by variation in soil {sup 137}Cs levels. Soil to animal transfer factors (whole body dry weight) averaged 6.0 for cotton rats and 1.2 for cotton mice Peromyscus gossypinus. These values are similar to {sup 137}Cs transfer factors for herbivorous, homeothermic animals from other contaminated ecosystems. Site-specific transfer factors can significantly affect the estimation of dose. In the RESRAD-BIOTA dose model, the default transfer factor for {sup 137}Cs in terrestrial animals is 110 resulting in an estimate of radiation dose to terrestrial biota that is 16 times more than the dose calculated with the actual measured transfer factor.

The Adaptive Optics (AO) Group in I Division develops and tests a broad range of advanced wavefront control technologies. Current applications focus on: Remote sensing, High power lasers, Astronomy, and Human vision. In the area of remote sensing, the AO Group leads a collaborative effort with LLNL's Nonproliferation, Arms Control & International Security (NAI) Directorate on Enhanced Surveillance Imaging. The ability to detect and identify individual people or vehicles from long-range is an important requirement for proliferation detection and homeland security. High-resolution imaging along horizontal paths through the atmosphere is limited by turbulence, which blurs and distorts the image. For ranges over {approx}one km, visible image resolution can be reduced by over an order of magnitude. We have developed an approach based on speckle imaging that can correct the turbulence-induced blurring and provide high resolution imagery. The system records a series of short exposure images which freeze the atmospheric effects. We can then estimate the image magnitude and phase using a bispectral estimation algorithm which cancels the atmospheric effects while maintaining object information at the diffraction limit of the imaging system.

The RF source requirements for the ITER ion cyclotron (IC) heating and current drive system are very challenging ? 20 MW CW power into an antenna load with a VSWR of up to 2 over the frequency range of 35-65 MHz. For the two present antenna designs under consideration, 8 sources providing 2.5 MW each are to be employed. For these sources, the outputs of two final power amplifiers (FPAs), using the high power CPI 4CM2500KG tube, are combined with a 180? hybrid combiner to easily meet the ITER IC source requirements ? 2.5 MW is supplied at a VSWR of 2 at ? 70% of the maximum tube power available in class B operation. The cylindrical cavity configuration for the FPAs is quite compact so that the 8 combined sources fit into the space allocated at the ITER site with room to spare. The source configuration is described in detail and its projected operating power curves are presented. Although the CPI tube has been shown to be stable under high power operating conditions on many facilities, a test of the combined FPA source arrangement is in preparation using existing high power 30 MHz amplifiers to assure that this configuration …

The purpose of this report is to describe our work on enhanced infrared (IR) surveillance using speckle imaging for NA-22. Speckle imaging in this context is an image post-processing algorithm that aims to solve the atmospheric blurring problem of imaging through horizontal or slant path turbulence. We will describe the IR imaging systems used in our data collections and show imagery before and after speckle processing. We will also compare IR imagery with visible wavelength imagery of the same target in the same conditions and demonstrate how going to longer wavelengths can be beneficial in the presence of strong turbulence.