Baker Visits Joint Base Cape Cod; Names Task Force Leader

CCB MEDIA PHOTO: Gov. Charlie Baker meets with members of the military at Joint Base Cape Cod Tuesday

BOURNE – Governor Charlie Baker was on Cape Cod Tuesday and toured Joint Base Cape Cod.

Baker said there has been tremendous progress at the base in the areas of environmental conservation management and remediation over the past 20 to 25 years.

He also received a brief tour of the command center and said it was “impressive.”

Baker said he will advocate to keep the base open.

“A lot of the work these folks are doing, particularly with the intel pieces,…is certainly incredibly valued by the men and women who are serving in combat theaters around the world,” he said.

Baker also named John Beatty as the new executive director of the Massachusetts Military Task Force. The task force works to promote and strengthen the state’s military installations and their impact on communities and economies at the federal, state and local levels.

“The Commonwealth’s six military installations play vital roles in our national defense and advancing the Massachusetts economy, from cybersecurity innovations at Hanscom Air Force Base to advanced robotics at Joint Base Cape Cod and Westover Air Reserve Base and pioneering smart, advanced materials at Natick Soldier Systems Center,” Baker said.

Beatty, who is a native of South Boston, retired from the military last May and was the inspector general for the Maine National Guard.

“I was very excited to join the task force and to help lead these guys in some of their initiatives to bring some economic development to the state of Massachusetts,” Beatty said. “It’s a great mission and I’m very passionate and excited about being here.”

Baker said almost all of the state’s bases are involved in a big way in the acquisition space of public-private partnerships.

“Having John on the team will help us,” Baker said. “He certainly is deeply imbedded in the knowledge and understanding of the role of the guard and all the rest of the bases generally. I do believe he will also help us continue to expand those private relationships which have turned out be really important to us as we go about trying to serve the country.”